STARKVILLE — The first thing Andy Cannizaro learned about Trevor Fitts, his new director of baseball operations, was he very much had the program’s alumni on his side.
Cannizaro, MSU’s baseball coach, learned that when the program’s inner circles heard Fitts’ predecessor, Lee VanHorn, would take another position in the athletic department. Knowing Cannizaro would be looking to hire someone, he said several former players “I respect a great deal” reached out to praise Fitts.
On Thursday, MSU officially announced Fitts as VanHorn’s replacement.
“I was looking for someone that’s extremely bright, someone that had extreme organizational and administrative skills,” Cannizaro told The Dispatch. “To put the cherry on top, he was an incredible Mississippi State pitcher. He was a guy I believe got the most out of his ability. Mississippi State baseball and the university is very near and dear to his heart, and he takes a lot of pride in it when he walks into the office every day.”
Fitts pitched for the Bulldogs from 2012-2015. He started Game 1 of the national championship series against UCLA in 2013, and served as the team captain in 2015.
Fitts spent last spring as the pitching coach at Daphne High School in southern Alabama and was coaching an Atlanta summer team, the East Coast Sox, when he received the call from Cannizaro offering him the job. Fitts told The Dispatch he left for Starkville the next day.
“I’m super glad to be back,” Fitts said. “This is a university I love. I spent a lot of time here. It’s a great fit. It’s easy for me to take someone around and tell people why this is the best university in the country, and the best one in the SEC to play baseball for.”
Fitts had interest in a job like this one last spring, so he approached VanHorn about what he would be expected to do while in town one weekend. VanHorn gave him all the details and the inside track to the job, telling Fitts he was on his way to another position.
Since then, Fitts has learned what the job entails. Recently, he has worked to secure MSU’s final midweek games that would complete the 2018 schedule and to fill gaps in the 2019 schedule.
Cannizaro told The Dispatch that NCAA rules bar the director of operations position from any on-field duties, but that he uses the position as “a really vital and important role” to handle nearly everything else. Fitts will be responsible for a variety of things, including communication with NCAA compliance and players’ families, alumni relations, and scheduling.
In his first week on the job, Fitts updated the nameplates on the players’ lockers. It is part of the process to renovate Dudy Noble Field. He admits it’s “interesting” to see the stadium he played in undergo a face lift, but he eagerly awaits the finished product.
“It’s going to be the best in the nation. The only thing it won’t match is TD Ameritrade (Park),” said Fitts, referring to the venue that serves as the host site for the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
Fitts will play a key role to help MSU get back there.
“I just assume I’ll be there to do whatever needs to get done,” Fitts said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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