After a heartbreaking loss on Tuesday to the West Virginia Mountaineers in the play-in round of the Big 12 Tournament, and after yet another disappointing season from KU baseball, the time has come for KU to move on from head coach Ritch Price.
The Jayhawks’ season-ending loss on Tuesday night was emblematic of many seasons under Price – frustrating and hard to watch. The Jayhawks blew an early 5-0 lead and ended the game in the bottom of the ninth by walking the final player at bat with bases loaded.
Price just wrapped up his 18th season at the helm of KU baseball, and there is nothing (on the field or off) that suggests he deserves a 19th.
The Jayhawks finished the 2020-21 season with an 8-16 record in conference play. They haven’t had a winning conference record since the 2013-14 season when they finished 15-9 and eventually made the NCAA Tournament.
2014 marks the last time KU reached the NCAA Tournament – losing to Kentucky in the Louisville Regional. They have had just three total NCAA Tournament appearances under Price (2014, 2009, 2006).
The Jayhawks have also never won a conference championship under Price and have just one Big 12 Conference Tournament Championship, which happened 15 years ago in 2006.
Off the field, things haven’t been much better as Price was arrested on a DUI charge back in February and suspended for two weeks by previous Athletic Director Jeff Long.
Price has been a mainstay of KU Athletics for the past two decades and he was a critical proponent for renovations to the Jayhawks’ home stadium of Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence. He’s also the winningest head coach in KU baseball history and the longest-tenured coach in the Big 12 Conference.
While he has done a lot for the program, his longevity does not earn him the right to continue coaching this team with the same, lackluster results year after year.
KU should expect more than finishing at the bottom of the Big 12 each year and posting six consecutive sub .500 conference records. They should have higher expectations than that and of their head coach.
After the past seven years, I don’t expect KU to get out of the hole they’ve consistently been under with Ritch Price. Unfortunately, it’s time for Travis Goff to make yet another difficult decision early into his tenure as athletic director and find a replacement for the slumping skipper.