Rob Francis will be leaving the Ole Miss baseball program to take over as the head coach at St. Petersburg (Fla.) College.Francis, who informed head coach Mike Bianco of his decision earlier today, had been at Ole Miss since 2008, working his way up the coaching ladder from the director of baseball operations to volunteer assistant coach.
Francis, a native of Bridgewater, Mass., is no stranger to Florida, having graduated from Eckerd College (also located in St. Petersburg), and coached at Seminole High School, East Lake High School and Florida Gulf Coast University.
Bianco told RebelGrove.com’s Chase Parham he will handle the infield coaching duties until a replacement is found.
“We’ve got time, but I’m not sure,” Bianco said. “We’ll try to make a decision in the next week for what direction we’re going in.”
According to Francis, former Tennessee coach Rod Delmonico, Florida assistant Craig Bell and former South Florida coach Eddie Cardieri were also in the running for the job.
On Twitter.com, Francis posted this message at 3:22 p.m., “Thx 2 so many of u 4 ur thoughts & prayers. We are off to St Pete to serve as their next head baseball coach. Lookin 4ward 2 the challenge!!”
Check Tuesday’s edition of the Oxford EAGLE for a full story on Francis’ decision. (September 20, 2010)
