By: Colin Lacy

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

In this crazy business of sports media that we love, one of my favorite parts of it is the relationships that you create and grow over the years.

One that I’ve been blessed to grow for over a decade now is with Georgia Southern Baseball head coach Rodney Hennon.

Last week on a weekend game in Buies Creek, NC, Coach Hennon collected his 860th career win at Georgia Southern in a game against Campbell.

With that win, he passed legendary head coach Jack Stallings to become the all-time winningest coach in Georgia Southern Baseball history.

That feat for any college baseball coach raises eyebrows but for a program like Georgia Southern, that is a monumental accomplishment.

Georgia Southern Baseball has been consistently one of the best and most respected baseball programs in the mid-major ranks because of the consistency.

That consistency isn’t only in wins and on-field successes (which has been plentiful over the years), but also within the staff. Rodney Hennon is in his 26^th season at the helm of the Eagle Baseball program and only adds to the lore of Georgia Southern baseball of continuity at the top of the program.

Since 1949, the blue and white have only seen five head coaches. Two of those five have their names on the facility Georgia Southern calls home in J.I. Clements (Stadium) who was the head man from 1949-1966 and in 1968 along with Jack Stallings (Field) who manned the dugout for twenty-four years from 1976 until 1999.

The other two are Ron Polk (1972-1975) who is regarded as the “Father of SEC Baseball” with his career at Mississippi State, and Bill Spieth who led the Eagles for four years in the early 70’s.

While it’s impressive what Hennon has been able to do as the longest tenure head coach in Eagle history, it’s the consistency of excellence that rises above.

In the 25 previous seasons under Coach Hennon, Georgia Southern Baseball has won 30 games in all but two of those and have seen 40 wins in eight seasons including 2022 when Georgia Southern secured the 16 seed in the NCAA postseason and hosted the first ever regional in Statesboro.

Although the list of accomplishments for Hennon could cover the Blue Monster wall in right field at J.I. Clements Stadium, when talking to those closest to “10” like former players, coaches, staffers, etc., the first thing that comes up is the character and the type of man Coach Hennon is day in and day out.

Getting to see and get to know Coach Hennon for the 10 years I was lucky enough to cover Georgia Southern Baseball for the Georgia Southern Sports Network and was one of the true pleasures of my career to this point.

He truly is one of the greatest molders of young men I’ve been around. There’s a lot of “old school” coach in him where when someone needs a wakeup call, he will get into a player, but it’s always coming from a place of caring about them both as a player, but even more-so as a young man.

Coach Hennon credits a lot of his mentors to not only his dad, Lamar, but also Keith LeClair and Jack Leggett from his days at Western Carolina both as a player and coach.

The great part of this is the tree doesn’t end with the branch of Coach Hennon. While we’ve mentioned the impact that “Skip” had on his players, it also applies to those that were lucky enough to coach with him.

Names like BJ Green, who was the pitching coach for Hennon for many years has since moved on to be the Associate Head Coach at UAB.

Recently Alan Beck was the hitting coach for the Eagles who took the head coaching job at both his and Coach Hennon’s alma mater Western Carolina after the 2022 season.

Jason Richman, who was not only a standout pitcher for Coach Hennon, but also on his staff for a few years is now the Director of Pitching for Georgia Tech Baseball.

The list goes on and on of those impacted by the coach, mentor, and man of God that Rodney Hennon is and now (and likely forever) holds the distinction of the winningest coach in Georgia Southern Baseball history.