Reports: Mike Bianco set to return for 25th season as head coach at Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco will return to the Rebels for his 25th season according to sources who spoke with The Rebel Walk Thursday afternoon.
The news was first reported by Chase Parham.
After Ole Miss’ first-round exit from the SEC Tournament Tuesday, speculation had been rampant about Coach Bianco’s future in Oxford. He and Athletics Director Keith Carter held their annual end-of-the-season meeting on Wednesday to discuss the direction of the program and Bianco’s future with it.
After finishing the regular season with a record of 27-29 overall and 11-19 in league play, Ole Miss made it in to the SEC Tournament as the No. 12 seed out of 12 teams. They lost in gut-wrenching fashion Tuesday night as State defeated them 2-1 in walkoff fashion.
There will be no NCAA postseason berth for the Rebels this year, just the fifth time in 24 years that Ole Miss has missed the tournament under Bianco.
After that SEC tournament loss Tuesday night, Coach Bianco was asked about his future.
“You’ll have to ask my boss, but I expect to be back.“
Coach Mike Bianco
Coach Bianco has made an indelible mark on the program, these last two years notwithstanding, as he has reached 40 wins nine different times in Oxford and has won 906 games as the head coach of the Rebels. He reached his 1000th overall win earlier this season and now sits at 1006 career victories, including a national title in 2022.
After the loss to State in Hoover, junior Will Furniss commented on what Coach Bianco means to the program.
“Believe it or not, the baseball program used to be nonexistent until Coach Bianco came here. He took it from nothing. We wouldn’t even have fans to be mad about us losing if he didn’t turn it around. He’s done it before. He has a track record of doing it…Everybody wants to come to Ole Miss. They love Oxford, they love our fans. Our fans, they’ll be back next year, even though we had a bad year — with hope. That’s all it takes — hope.”
Ole Miss’ Will Furniss
With the transfer portal opening Monday Ole Miss will look to retain its players as well as plug holes from this season’s upcoming departures.
Stay tuned to The Rebel Walk for more information as it happens.
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
