John Cohen

John A. Cohen

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.

• School Mississippi State University, University of Missouri
• High School Tuscaloosa Academy High School

• Born September 21, 1966 in Tuscaloosa, AL USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

John Cohen has been a college coach.

Cohen was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference outfielder as a senior, helping Mississippi State make the 1990 College World Series. Through 2009, he ranked among the all-time school leaders in at-bats (785, 3rd), runs (180, 7th), hits (248, 6th), doubles (53, 3rd), total bases (390, 6th) and RBI (168, 10th).

The Minnesota Twins picked him in the 22nd round of the 1990 amateur draft. He hit .302/.333/.396 in 49 games for the Visalia Oaks that year but fell to .244/~.269/.300 in 52 contests for Visalia in '91.

Cohen then was an assistant coach at the University of Missouri from 1992-1997, earning his Master's Degree during that period.

In 1998, he was appointed head coach at Northwestern State University. He was named Southland Conference Coach of the Year in 1998 and 2001. He was hitting coach at the University of Florida in 2002 and 2003; in 2002, Florida led NCAA Division I in hits and was second in homers.

From 2004-2008, he was head coach at the University of Kentucky. He was named National Coach of the Year by the College Baseball Foundation in 2006, when Kentucky won their first SEC title and set a school record with 500 runs. Kentucky was 175-113-1 under Cohen. During 2007, Kentucky led NCAA Division I with a .437 OBP. In 2008, the team set school records in runs (510) and fielding percentage (.974).

In June 2008, Cohen was hired as head coach at his alma mater, Mississippi State, replacing the legendary Ron Polk, despite Polk's objections to the hiring. Polk had urged the school to hire Tommy Raffo, a teammate of Cohen's on the 1990 College World Series squad. When Cohen was picked, Polk threatened to take his name off the stadium and remove the MSU athletic department from his will.

In November 2016 Cohen was promoted to athletic director at MSU. He hired Andy Cannizaro away from the Louisiana State University staff to replace him as head coach.

Sources

• Mississippi State bio
• 1991 Baseball Guide
• 1992 Baseball Almanac