After seven seasons at the helm, Clemson baseball coach Monte Lee will not return for an eighth season in 2023, Clemson’s athletic department announced Tuesday afternoon.
In athletic director Graham Neff’s first major move since taking over the department in December, Neff fired the 45-year-old Lee this week after the Tigers missed out on the NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive season.
“Monte and his staff have been nothing but professional in their approach to Clemson Baseball, and we appreciate the manner in which they’ve represented Clemson University,” Neff said in a statement. “The expectations for Clemson Baseball are very high, and the team’s recent on-field performance has not met those of our administration, our coaching staff, our student-athletes or our loyal fanbase. Clemson Baseball is a proud program, and we, as a department, are committed to doing all we can to return our program to national prominence. We will work with our student-athletes to ensure that the transition process is successful.”
Neff said assistant Coach Bradley LeCroy and Director of Operations Brad Owens will oversee the program while the search is conducted.
Prior to Monday, Clemson had not missed an NCAA Tournament in consecutive years since a four-season stretch from 1982-86.
Lee took Clemson to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first four seasons but was never able to get out of a regional as Clemson fell to Oklahoma State in 2016, Vanderbilt in 2017 and 2018 and Ole Miss and Jacksonville State in 2019. He finishes his Clemson career with a 242-136 overall record and a 102-86 mark against ACC opponents. The Tigers fell to North Carolina 9-2 and Virginia Tech 18-6 in the ACC Tournament last week, which sealed their fate for the postseason.
(Photo: John Byrum / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Why make the move now?
Grace Raynor, Clemson beat writer: Lee and Clemson started the year 14-0 and ultimately produced the ACC Player of the Year in infielder Max Wagner, but the Tigers finished the season ranked 10th in the conference for batting and eighth for pitching. The 2022 season marked the second consecutive season Clemson had a losing record in the ACC, with the Tigers going 29-36 in the conference in the past two seasons. That came after Clemson went .500 in the ACC in 2019 with a 15-15 record.
With 12 College World Series appearances and 44 NCAA Tournament appearances in program history, Clemson’s opening should attract a competitive list of candidates to replace Lee. The Tigers are based in a fertile area for recruiting and have the type of facilities that should allow Neff to be picky.
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