Jerry Manuel had options if he wasn’t offered the full time job as manager of the NY Mets.
As reported in a Newsday column, College baseball program a Manuel labor of love, Manuel was set to take the head coaching position at William Jessup University, a small NAIA school not too far from where Manuel resides in Northern California.
WJU does not presently have a baseball program, and the school’s athletic director, Farnum Smith, said that the schools’ president, Bryce Jessup, attended a conference with Manuel about four years ago, and the two “hit it off.” From their relationship, the idea of starting a baseball team at the university became intriguing to both. The baseball team is expected to begin competition in 2010.
Manuel, at a news conference prior to the 2007 Mets season, stated if he did not have a big league manager’s job by the time WJU started playing baseball, at the time expected to be in 2009, he would be the teams’ coach.
A lot has changed in the last 18 months or so, and Manuel is now the Mets manager.
Although Manuel should still be with the Mets when William Jessup University starts playing competitive baseball in 2010, he does plan on helping the team by someday coaching them.
Three days after the Mets were eliminated, Manuel spoke with Smith, and the two agreed to play golf together to “continue talks.”
As stated in Newsday, “It's a unique situation, something you don't see very often in professional sports, and Smith admittedly is ‘making things up as we go.’ But for Manuel, this makes sense. He carries himself as the wise teacher, so there's probably no better place than to finish his career working at a university.”
As reported in a Newsday column, College baseball program a Manuel labor of love, Manuel was set to take the head coaching position at William Jessup University, a small NAIA school not too far from where Manuel resides in Northern California.
WJU does not presently have a baseball program, and the school’s athletic director, Farnum Smith, said that the schools’ president, Bryce Jessup, attended a conference with Manuel about four years ago, and the two “hit it off.” From their relationship, the idea of starting a baseball team at the university became intriguing to both. The baseball team is expected to begin competition in 2010.
Manuel, at a news conference prior to the 2007 Mets season, stated if he did not have a big league manager’s job by the time WJU started playing baseball, at the time expected to be in 2009, he would be the teams’ coach.
A lot has changed in the last 18 months or so, and Manuel is now the Mets manager.
Although Manuel should still be with the Mets when William Jessup University starts playing competitive baseball in 2010, he does plan on helping the team by someday coaching them.
Three days after the Mets were eliminated, Manuel spoke with Smith, and the two agreed to play golf together to “continue talks.”
As stated in Newsday, “It's a unique situation, something you don't see very often in professional sports, and Smith admittedly is ‘making things up as we go.’ But for Manuel, this makes sense. He carries himself as the wise teacher, so there's probably no better place than to finish his career working at a university.”
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