Why Brian O’Connor retained Justin Parker as Mississippi State baseball pitching coach

• New Mississippi State baseball coach Brian O’Connor retained interim coach Justin Parker as pitching coach.
• O’Connor was impressed with Parker’s pitching staff during the Charlottesville Regional matchup between Mississippi State and Virginia last season.

This story was updated to change a photo.

STARKVILLE — New Mississippi State baseball coach Brian O’Connor brought two assistant coaches with him from Virginia, Kevin McMullan and Matt Kirby. However, he picked one MSU assistant to stay with him on staff.

The Bulldogs retained Justin Parker as the pitching coach. The news was announced just hours before O’Connor’s introduction at Dudy Noble Field on June 5.

Parker was the interim MSU coach after Chris Lemonis was fired on April 28. He led the Bulldogs to a 9-1 finish to the regular season and an NCAA tournament at-large bid.

“I felt like that we really needed on this staff, somebody who had connections in the southeast from a recruiting standpoint,” O’Connor, hired on June 1, said. “A couple of things in Justin Parker’s favor is that he’s coached four years in the SEC. He knows this league.”

O’Connor also recalled last season’s Charlottesville Regional where Mississippi State and Virginia played each other twice. The Cavaliers won both games, but O’Connor said he was impressed with Parker’s pitching staff.

He mentioned Parker’s development with young pitchers, specifically Charlie Foster, Ryan McPherson and Dane Burns.

“Not only is he a developer of their skill and going to help them not only win for Mississippi State, but also be successful after their time here, I happen to feel he’s also a good man,” O’Connor said, who’d been the Virginia coach since 2004. “That is the fiber of what he’s about, is what I’m about.”

O’Connor’s hiring was announced an hour after the MSU season ended in the Tallahassee Regional. The team bussed back to Starkville the next day, where O’Connor was already there. O’Connor said he’s completed 30-minute exit interviews with every player on the team that has eligibility, but also spent time with Parker. He said they’ve been together on six different occasions since June 2 ranging from 30 minutes to two hours.

“I certainly had conversations with other candidates and things like that,” O’Connor said. “That’s part of the process, right? But ultimately landed on he is the man that is most qualified and best here at Mississippi State to lead this pitching staff moving forward.”

MORE: Brian O’Connor contract: Mississippi State baseball coach salary, bonuses

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.