It took MSU athletic director Ron Mason four weeks to find the next MSU head baseball coach, but on July 13 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 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."
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.
Grewe announced the hiring of two assistant coaches, Mike Steele and Tony Baldwin, on July 26.
Steele has been playing Minor League Baseball for the last five years as a pitcher and is a former Central Michigan player and Midland, Mich., native. Baldwin has been at Dartmouth University for the past six seasons and spent the last two as an assistant coach.
"The main focus for me was to surround myself with coaches that can not only compliment my strengths, but can add to the overall coaching staff and the effort we will put forward," Grewe said in a written statement. "The most important thing for me when determining my staff was I wanted to make sure I found coaches that had the same passion and desire to take Michigan State to the top of the Big Ten.
"Tony and Mike are totally committed and excited about being in East Lansing and a part of the program. Both are high-energy guys and have an extremely strong commitment level to coaching at the college level. They are both guys I can really trust to work hard and do it the right way."
Steele will be the pitching coach, as well as helping out with the catchers, and Baldwin will be the Spartans recruiting coordinator and will assist Grewe with fielding and hitting.
