Jamieson steps down
UPDATED AT 10:31 A.M.
After 22 years, Tim Jamieson is stepping down as the Missouri baseball coach, PowerMizzou.com has learned from sources. Multiple sources indicate that Jamieson is telling his players in a team meeting set to begin at 10 a.m. this morning.
The school has now confirmed Jamieson's resignation.
"I would like to express my appreciation for all the players and coaches who I have had the honor of working with during my 28 baseball seasons at the University of Missouri,” Jamieson said in a release. “I am proud of what they have accomplished in the sport of Baseball but more importantly how positively they have represented the Mizzou Baseball Program as well as the University of Missouri. I am also thankful for the opportunity that I have had to lead this program and for all the great people that I have met along the journey. This is a special place and I wish great success as the program moves in to the future."
Jamieson, a Rock Bridge High school graduate, returned to Columbia as an assistant for Gene McArtor in 1988. When McArtor retired following the 1994 season, Jamieson got the head coaching job. Over the next 21 seasons, Jamieson won 698 games, while losing 565.
Missouri won the Big Eight Conference in Jamieson's second season. The Tigers then missed the NCAA Tournament six seasons in a row before starting a seven-year run that matches any in school history. From 2003 to 2009, the Tigers made the NCAA Tournament every year, finishing in the top four in the Big XII Conference five times and advancing to the 2006 Super Regionals.
That run coincided with the careers of Max Scherzer, Aaron Crow and Kyle Gibson, each of whom was drafted in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft between 2006 and 2009. Scherzer was the first first-round pick in the program's history.
But since 2009, Missouri has qualified for the NCAA Tournament just once, needing to win the Big XII Tournament to make it in 2012. The Tigers are 182-209 in that span, having lost at least 26 games every season and never finishing above .500 in conference play (spanning the Big XII and the SEC).
Following the 2015 season, Jamieson's contract was up and a new athletic director was in place. After a few weeks of speculation, Mack Rhoades announced a new three-year contract for Jamieson. But he is stepping aside after the first year of that deal.
Sources indicate to PowerMizzou.com that Jamieson will receive four months salary. At this time, it is unknown what Jamieson's future with the University will be, or if he will have one. A source said that will be determined in the next four months.
“Coach Jamieson has been an outstanding leader for Mizzou for more than two decades,” Rhoades said in the school's release. “We are grateful for his devotion to Mizzou, and more importantly, the tremendous impact he’s had on hundreds of young men.”
Following Missouri's loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament on May 24th, Nate Latsch of Black and Gold Illustrated tweeted that Jamieson would retire and take a job in the athletic department. Multiple Missouri officials immediately denied that report to PowerMizzou.com and other media outlets.
At this time there is no word on Jamieson's potential replacement, but former Mizzou assistant Tony Vitello, now at Arkansas, and Southeast Missouri State head coach Steve Bieser are logical starting places.
