Former Oregon State baseball coach Pat Casey will not return to take over the program, OSU athletic director Scott Barnes said Tuesday.
Casey stepped away from the program last year after winning 900 games at OSU and guiding the Beavers to the NCAA title for a third time.
He had the option to return after a year away from the program. Barnes said Casey has decided not to do that, instead opting to remain in his current role as senior associate athletic director.
“My hope was that he would return as head coach after taking a break to refresh," Barnes wrote in an email addressed to Beaver Nation. "Unfortunately, we know now that will not be the case.”
Barnes told reporters late Tuesday afternoon that it became apparent in the past few days that Casey would not be returning to the dugout.
“Pat so loves this university and everything about it," Barnes said. "Over the course of nine months, obviously there are many conversations and requests for him to come back. … The last several days the writing was on the wall, we were waiting to give him the opportunity to talk to the team before we announced it.”
Oregon State now will turn its attention toward a national search to “consider the very best candidates in the nation,” Barnes said in his email. "We already have tremendous interest from individuals who aspire to lead this storied program, including from interim head coach Pat Bailey.”
Bailey guided the Beavers to a 36-20-1 record. OSU reached the NCAA Tournament and played host to the Corvallis Regional, but the Beavers were eliminated in two games.
Barnes said OSU pitching coach Nate Yeskie has not asked to apply for the job.
The Beavers hope to move quickly to name their permanent head coach, Barnes said, adding that he hoped to complete the hire “within a couple weeks.”
“It’s a great job,” Barnes said, “one of the best jobs in America.”
-- Ken Goe; Bob Lundeberg contributed to this report for The Oregonian/OregonLive