It took MSU athletic director Ron Mason four weeks to find the next MSU head baseball coach, but on Wednesday morning at the Kellogg Center he announced David Grewe will take over that position.
"The final decision was mine, but I had some help along the way from some baseball people that I trust," Mason said. "At the end of the day, David was the person who emerged as the person who was going to come in here and do the kinds of things we wanted done with Michigan State baseball."
Grewe comes to MSU after a three-year stint as an assistant coach at Notre Dame, where he was the main recruiting coordinator, hitting coach and catching instructor.
As an assistant with the Fighting Irish, he was 134-54-1 with a winning percentage of .712, won three consecutive Big East Tournament Championships, as well as three straight NCAA Regional appearances.
"The past several years for me at Notre Dame have been very special," Grewe said. "I have been able to work for and with tremendous people - Notre Dame is a very classy institution, and it's hard to leave those type of places.
"However, I believe Michigan State is just the same."
Standing at the podium at the Kellogg Center, Grewe spoke passionately about the players and future of baseball at MSU.
"Player development is very important," Grewe said. "One of the key components for player development is to have the facilities in place and plans for facilities to be able to work year-round, within the guidelines of the NCAA rules, to reach maximum potential of the players.
"I believe we will be able to attract the blue-chip recruits because the facilities at MSU will compare to those of the best in the Midwest," he added. "I believe recruiting is the life bread of a program."
As a recruiter at Notre Dame, Grewe put together two top 10 recruiting classes, a class ranked No. 6 by Baseball America in 2004 and a 2006 class ranked No. 7 by Team One Baseball.
MSU does have a plan in action to update the baseball facilities in the next few years. First though, Grewe will have to meet all of his new players and hire assistant coaches to his staff.
"I promise to the players in the program and the future players in the program that I will bring in assistant coaches who are dedicated, loyal and have the ability to develop players to the best of their ability," Grewe said.
"I want to develop lives, I want to create memories and I want to win."
The 29-year old Royal Oak native thanked Notre Dame head coach Paul Mainieri, American Baseball Coaches Association Executive Director David Keilitz and his parents for their efforts in helping him get to this point.
Prior to MSU and Notre Dame, Grewe was an assistant coach at Central Michigan University in 2001 and 2002 and was an assistant coach at the University of Chicago the two years before his time in Mount Pleasant.
So what was on Grewe's agenda for his first day on the job?
"On day one of my job, (I plan) to sit down in my office and write my first alumni letter - that's very important to me," he said.
