No one could figure out why Cliff Godwin left LSU.\u00a0Fresh off a trip to the College World Series in 2008, why would the hitting coach leave for a similar position at the University of Central Florida?<\/p>\n
Godwin, who joined Ole Miss\u2019 baseball staff Tuesday, heard the question a lot in the last three years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to do it for the betterment of myself,\u201d Godwin said. \u201cIt sounds selfish but it prepared me to be a head coach more than anything. That\u2019s what I wanted at the time and I think it helped me a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
At UCF, he called the offense. He wasn\u2019t just a hard-working recruiter who \u201cwaved runners around\u201d from third like he did at LSU. When Terry Rooney, the assistant head coach at LSU, got the call to take over UCF, Godwin followed him.<\/p>\n
At UCF, he helped recruit the fourth-ranked class in the country in 2010 and the Knights set the school record in batting average (.343), home runs (78) and slugging percentage (.538).<\/p>\n
Fresh on the job, Godwin hit the recruiting trail and watched a baseball tournament in Starkville on Friday and Saturday. As for the pieces coming back at Ole Miss, which missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time in nine years, Godwin doesn\u2019t expect much of a letdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re very close,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason next year we can\u2019t get to Omaha.\u201d<\/p>\n