ESPN: Commodores a new-era power program in college baseball

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Tim Corbin moved to Nashville in June 2002 to run the Vanderbilt baseball program, and there were no mixed messages for him, either. The Commodores had never been to the College World Series and hadn't seen the NCAA tournament since 1980. Corbin came from Clemson, where he was an assistant coach for nine seasons, four of which ended in Omaha. This wasn't that. Paul Carlisle/Icon SMI Since coming to Vanderbilt, Tim Corbin has made the Commodores a national power. In his introductory press conference, Corbin said, "I like the idea of selling Ivy League education with Southeastern Conference baseball." He put on his selling shoes, but the challenge became clear immediately: In the SEC, winning sells. "Right after I took the job I had a conversation with a recruit's dad," says Corbin, now in his 11th season at Vanderbilt. "He said, 'Vanderbilt isn't even a blip on the college baseball screen. You guys have a good school, but my kid isn't going there.' And I thought, 'Wow, we have a long way to go.'"

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The Commodores open the 2013 season ranked No. 2 by Baseball America and are in the top five of all major national polls. They've been an elite team for a half-dozen seasons now. In 2007, Vandy spent 13 weeks ranked No. 1 in the country -- the first time in school history -- and earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. They won regular-season SEC titles in '07 and '11, a season in which the program went to Omaha for the first time ever. It's been a relatively quick climb with Corbin, who you could argue has built a new-era power program.

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