Jack Leggett was familiar with Florida baseball coach Kevin O'Sullivan's baseball background when he first hired him at Clemson in 1999.
O'Sullivan was a former catcher in the ACC at Virgina before moving on to coach in professional baseball, working in the Minnesota Twins organization.
Clemson needed a pitching coach to replace John Pawlowski, who had left to take an assistant coaching job at Arizona State. Leggett, then in his fifth year of a legendary 21-year run as coach at Clemson, turned to one of his assistants, Tim Corbin, for advice.
"Tim had some history with Sully, had some good things to say about him," Leggett said
The first question Leggett asked O'Sullivan was, "can you throw batting practice?" When O'Sullivan responded yes, Leggett offered him the job.
"I really didn’t know much about him at the time except that he was a really good baseball guy and can throw batting practice," Leggett said. "And I’ve always thought catchers have always been good, had a good feel for what pitching is all about."
What Florida baseball coach Kevin O'Sullivan learned from Jack Leggett
O'Sullivan did more than throw batting practice during his eight years at Clemson. He soaked up information from Leggett like a sponge, molding a pitching staff while hitting the road recruiting the country for talent. It helped O'Sullivan prepare for his first head coaching job with the Florida Gators, where he's led UF to eight College World Series trips and one national title in 17 seasons.
“What I learned from Jack is what encompasses the entire program,” O’Sullivan told Baseball America in 2018. “What you need to do from A-Z to run a program for the long haul. When you’re young, you think it’s all X’s and O’s but it’s tremendously more than that.”
Leggett said O'Sullivan brought a well-rounded approach to his job at Clemson.
"He was not only a good pitching coach but really good about the whole game, whether it be base running or offense or defense or hitting or whatever," Leggett said. "I think Sully had a really good feel for what the game was all about."
With O'Sullivan, Corbin and current Clemson coach Erik Bakich together on the same staff under Leggett in 2002, the Tigers reached the College World Series. Corbin has since moved on to become the head coach at Vanderbilt, where he's led the Commodores to two national titles. Bakich took Michigan to the CWS Finals in 2019 before returning to Clemson as head coach in 2023.
"We had some really good years with Sully, during his time, nine years with me and he was a relentlessly hard worker, a really good recruiter, and really worked hard with the players on the field and was very passionate," Leggett said. "So, I saw at a young age, that he’s a very good coach for us but I saw him being a very good coach head coach down the road and it’s turned out extremely well for Florida.”
Leggett said O'Sullivan still called him from time to time during his head coaching tenure at Florida to bounce ideas off him.
"We’ve talked baseball a lot," Leggett said. "He will vent at times. We’ll talk at times. He’ll ask questions at times, he’ll tell me what’s happening with him and his life and what his team is doing."
Florida baseball coach Kevin O'Sullivan coaching against Clemson for the first time
Leggett will be in the opposing dugout when Florida begins its Super Regional series against Clemson on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN). After being let go by Clemson in 2015, Leggett has rejoined the Clemson baseball staff under Bakich, where he's assisting with player, staff and program development.
It will mark the first time that O'Sullivan has coached against Clemson. Florida hasn't played Clemson in baseball since 1983. UF holds an 18-12 edge in the all-time series between the two schools, which started in 1924.
Stakes are high with a College World Series berth on the line, but Leggett said he's looking forward to seeing his friend and former colleague this weekend. They will shake hands and exchange pleasantries prior to the game before pushing their respective teams to try to win the contest.
"We’ve known each other over 20 years, and we’ve always been good friends, we’ve got mutual respect," Leggett said. "I know he does a good job I’ve always followed his team once he left Clemson and he’s always kept in contact with me and we’re great friends and we appreciate each other, and we care about each other and that’s always going to be the case.”
