HATTIESBURG, Miss. – There is a great deal of hype building for Southern Miss baseball in 2027, and for good reason. The Golden Eagles had about as good an offseason as they could've hoped for, bringing in arguably the best freshman class they've ever had, along with several key transfer portal additions.
Another key aspect of Southern Miss' offseason that probably hasn't been talked about enough yet is the reshuffling of head coach Christian Ostrander's staff after former hitting coach Travis Creel left to take a head coaching job at Jacksonville State over the summer. With Creel's departure, Ostrander promoted former recruiting coordinator Ladd Rhodes to hitting coach, hired Kyle Cheesebrough as the new recruiting coordinator, and hired former Golden Eagles star Dustin Dickerson to an infield player development role.
We'll touch on the Cheesebrough and Dickerson hires in more depth in the coming weeks, but today, we're focusing on Rhodes taking the reins of the offense. Last week, we sat down with Coach Oz to discuss several different Southern Miss baseball topics, including Rhodes' promotion and how he's already putting his fingerprints on the Golden Eagles' offense.
"He's Earned It ... It Was Evident"
Coach Oz said that Rhodes was naturally next in line for a promotion, but make no mistake, it was a hard-earned promotion. The timing of it just happened to work out perfectly with Creel moving on and Rhodes making his way up the ladder.
"He's earned it," Ostrander told Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI. "I think we all earn things in this, your promotions, moving up and covering more, whatever titles and stuff. And Ladd, it was evident to me, he did a great job as a recruiting coordinator. But when Travis left, it was pretty evident that, 'Hey, man, it's your turn. This is your opportunity to create your legacy as a hitting coach, as an offensive coach.'"
Although Ostrander does a great job of delegating responsibilities to his talented staff, he still has an overall idea of what he wants his team to look like. Ostrander and Rhodes' offensive ideas aligned, making the transition even more seamless.
"I felt very good and convicted [about his promotion]," Ostrander said. "And obviously, I've known Ladd for years. Played for me in junior college, played for me a year in high school, and has coached with us. He knows me. He knows exactly what I want, just like Travis did.
"We speak the same language, and I think Ladd's a tremendous, tremendous communicator. I think that's the essence of being a good coach: being able to connect with players, getting them to buy into your message and with conviction. I think he does a great job with that. He's ready. I can see it. I can hear it. I like what he's doing, and I think everybody will too."
Enhancing a Style Change That Was Already Planned
Although it's early in fall, Ostrander is already seeing how Rhodes' influence on the Golden Eagles' offense. He's expecting the Southern Miss offense to be more dynamic in 2027.
"Anytime there's change, there's a transition period," Ostrander said. "We clearly knew after last year, with the departure of who left, with what we tried to bring in in the portal, with our freshman class that was coming in, a transition time [was here]. I'm a pitching defense guy, right? I love the three-run home run. I love offense. But I also want to be able to be dynamic."
Truth be known, Ostrander and the Golden Eagles were already planning to change how they play on offense even before Rhodes got his promotion, due to the athleticism of the players who came to Hattiesburg. But Rhodes' style fits what Ostrander already had in mind, which, again, speaks to how perfect the timing of it all was.
"I thought, the recruiting class coming in, the pieces we had in the portal … It looks like there's going to be opportunity for some more athleticism, being a little bit more dynamic offensively instead of just station-to-station," Ostrander said. "So that was by design anyway, and then now the [coaching] change ... I think, again, it's something me and Coach Rhodes spent a lot of time this summer talking about and knowing this is what I want. And it all lines up with his convictions and beliefs. So just a good time, man. ... It's all lining up pretty good."
As good as Southern Miss was last season, extending its nation-leading 40-win-season streak to 10 and winning a third Sun Belt championship in four years, the roster didn't necessarily have a lot of speed and sometimes relied on the deep ball a little too much.
You never truly know how it will all play out until real games start being played in February, but as things currently look, the Golden Eagles appear poised to take another step forward with a deep roster and a versatile, revamped offense led by Rhodes.
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