New College launches athletic department, names director and baseball coach

New College of Florida ? undergoing a makeover orchestrated by Gov. Ron DeSantis ? hired Mariano Jimenez as its athletic director and head baseball coach, the college announced Friday afternoon.

The hiring marks a milestone for the college, introducing intercollegiate athletics outside of existing intramural sports at the public honors school with a reputation for its academics. Jimenez was the president of baseball operations and athletic director at Inspiration Academy, a faith-based school in Bradenton founded by DeSantis-appointed trustee Eddie Speir. Jimenez also coached for IMG Academy and Palm Beach Atlantic University.

"We’re looking forward to building a culture that emphasizes academic and athletic excellence," Interim President Richard Corcoran said of the hiring. "We’re going to bring in outstanding people to contribute to this amazing community."

The addition comes as New College leadership changes several aspects of the small liberal arts school on the bayfront. In January, DeSantis, who played baseball at Yale, appointed new board members to the college's board of trustees and laid out a vision to transform the school into the "Hillsdale College of the South." The firing of its previous president and subsequent replacement with GOP-ally Corcoran led to the abolishment of diversity, equity and inclusion policies and the removal of the college's dean of diversity.

https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/education/2023/03/31/new-college-of-florida-hires-mariano-jimenez-as-ad-and-baseball-coach/70069838007/

Just what New College didn't need -- and never wanted before: a college baseball team, coincidentally to be coached by a crony of Christofascist RWNJ trustee Eddie Speir.

Next on the agenda: hire a football coach for two million a year and petition to become a member of the SEC...