Smoke Laval interested in Oklahoma position?

[Greenhead22]

The hot news coming out of LSU yesterday was that Smoke Laval will interview for the Oklahoma job early next week, according to reports out of Oklahoma and Baton Rouge. In my opinion, Laval must be very interested in the job and would not interview for the job if he did not feel as if he would get it. Laval is already very unpopular with many LSU fans and would become more unpopular by interviewing for the job and not being offered. This is a very interesting development, to say the least, and I will let all of you know if I get some inside information. Below are a couple of articles of interest concerning the job.

By John Shinn
Transcript Sports Writer

The search for Oklahoma's next baseball coach entered its 31st day Wednesday and still there's no official word when a new coach will be named.

Initially, OU wanted to have a coach named by July 1. That date has sailed by and the search continues to linger.

It's been nearly two weeks since interim coach Sunny Golloway officially interviewed for the position.

However, the Transcript has learned LSU coach Smoke Laval has emerged as a candidate to become the next Sooner coach. Laval is expected to interview for the position this week.

Laval, 49, became the Tigers‚ coach in 2002 and has gone 175-85-1 over four seasons. His 2003 and 2004 teams reached the College World Series.

The Tigers went 40-22 this past season and were eliminated by Rice in NCAA regional play. Laval also coached Louisiana-Monroe from 1994-2000 where he went 240-159 over seven seasons.

Laval's name has come up once already. At the time, he deflected the possibility of his being a candidate for the Sooner job.

"I don‚t know anything about it," he told the New Orleans Times-Picayune, in a story that appeared June 23. "I haven't talked to anyone about it."

But Laval continues to face increasing pressure from LSU's fans and boosters. This past season was the first in which LSU failed to advance out of regional play in 11 seasons.

Laval spent 10 seasons as an assistant to former LSU coach and current athletic director Skip Bertman, who won five national titles in 17 years as the Tigers‚ baseball coach.

Bertman told the Associated Press Laval is in awkward spot.

"The expectations here are incredibly high and sometimes unrealistic" he said.

The Transcript has also learned Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso, who played his college ball at Oklahoma State, has interviewed for the position.

Several coaches have flirted with the idea of coming to Norman before choosing to keep the job they have, the most recent being Cal State Fullerton's George Horton. The Orange County Register reported July 2 Horton had withdrawn his name from consideration.

He joined Clemson‚s Jack Leggett, South Carolina‚s Ray Tanner, Tulane's Rick Jones and Arizona's Andy Lopez, who have all publicly acknowledged being contacted by an OU representative before choosing to stick with their current jobs.

To read another story concerning Smoke Laval and the OU job, go to http://www.normantranscript.com and click on the sports page.

[GordonGekko]

This just in...Bertman donates $1,000,000 to OU to hire Laval ...but seriously LSU might not be to concerned since Smoke ain't been burnin' it up the past 2 years....

[Greenhead22]

Bertman said days ago that he wouldn't give Smoke a raise to keep him around in hopes that he'd leave........well he got beat to the job. I can't believe Gene left WSU.

BASEBALL

Oklahoma hires Stephenson: Longtime Wichita State coach Gene Stephenson was hired as the new coach at Oklahoma on Sunday, succeeding Larry Cochell, who resigned last season after using a racial slur during off-camera interviews.

The 59-year-old Stephenson, who ranks second in Division I career victories, returns to the program for which he was a recruiting coordinator and hitting instructor for five seasons in the 1970s. He replaces former Oral Roberts coach Sunny Galloway, who took over as interim coach when Cochell resigned May 1.

Stephenson, who will be officially introduced today, has a career coaching record of 1,506-489-3, second in victories to Texas' Augie Garrido (1,542). Stephenson's .754 winning percentage is the best among active coaches with at least five years at the Division I level.