Baseball head coach Mike Bianco yells to team in a previous season. File Photo
Following a College World Series appearance and the most successful season in program history, Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco’s contract has been extended to run through the 2018 season, Athletics Director Ross Bjork announced Friday. Bianco’s four-year deal is the longest allowed by the state of Mississippi and includes a base salary of $640,000. It also includes incentives for both academic and on-field accomplishments. The base salary will increase each year in an amount equal to the incentives earned from the previous season. In addition to the base salary increase and the incentives, Ole Miss also agreed to an increase of 15 percent in the salary pool for the assistant coaches. “Mike has set the tone for ultimate success for Ole Miss baseball since his arrival in 2001,” Bjork said. “I have had the fortune of working with many high level coaches over the years, and I have not seen a head coach operate a complete program in all phases exactly like Coach Bianco. He believes in competing at the highest level just as much as he believes in the academic and social success of our student-athletes, and for that, we are grateful of his leadership.” “The trip to Omaha and a top four national finish validates that we can and should compete on the biggest stage in college baseball and across our athletics department,” Bjork said. “We know there is more to come under our coaching staff, and we are super excited that Coach Bianco will lead Ole Miss baseball for many years into the future.” “I’d like to thank Chancellor Dan Jones and our athletics director, Ross Bjork, for their continued support of myself and our program,” Bianco said. “We’re very excited about the future of Ole Miss Baseball. We’ve had a lot of success over the years, and it’s been a team effort. I’m also proud of what we accomplished last year and we couldn’t have done it without the support of our administration and fans. This is a great day for my wife Camie and I, and our family. We love Oxford, Ole Miss and this community, and we’ve always considered this our home.” The all-time winningest coach in Ole Miss history, Bianco guided the Rebels to the program’s fifth College World Series appearance in 2014. Ole Miss tied the school record for wins in a season at 48 as the Rebels claimed the SEC Western Division title and played for a spot in the national championship series. Through his 14-year career at Ole Miss, Bianco has posted a 557-323-1 record (.633 winning percentage) and has posted 12 seasons with a .500 or better record in SEC play – the second most of any program in the league since Bianco became the Rebel skipper. He has led Ole Miss to 12 NCAA Tournaments in his 14 years and claimed three SEC Western Division Titles (2005, 2009, 2014), the SEC Tournament (2006) and the SEC Championship (2009). Under Bianco’s guidance, the Rebels are one of only 16 teams in the nation to have advanced to an NCAA Tournament 12 of the last 14 seasons and one of 17 teams to have advanced to a Super Regional in five of the last 10 seasons. Ole Miss is also one of only 15 schools in the nation to have advanced to a Regional Championship game in seven of the last 10 seasons. The 2014 season saw the Rebels produce three All-Americans, the most players ever to garner selection to an All-America team in a single season in school history, while also producing a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award for the second consecutive season. It’s the first time in the history of the award a school has produced different finalists in consecutive seasons (Stuart Turner, 2013; Will Allen, 2014). Turner claimed the award as the first recipient from Ole Miss.
