Five things to know about new UC baseball coach Jordan Bischel

Announced as the University of Cincinnati's new baseball coach on Father's Day, Jordan Bischel was officially introduced Wednesday afternoon to Bearcat fans at the Lindner Center.

Bischel was hired Sunday as UC's 33rd baseball coach after five seasons at Central Michigan, 177 wins and three NCAA tournament appearances. His overall coaching record is 314-156 with 10 winning seasons and eight conference championships (four in the Mid-American Conference at Central Michigan and four at Division II Northwood). He also coached two seasons in NAIA at Midland University in Nebraska.

The Green Bay, Wisconsin native gets a six-year contract. He replaces Scott Googins who resigned at the end of May after a 24-33 mark this past year and just one winning season in the last six years. On hand with Bischel were his wife Katie and sons Luke, Parker and Chase. All were given baseballs to hold and when one dropped his during his press conference, Bischel declared it an error.

Here are five things to know about UC's new baseball skipper who will lead them into the Big 12:

1. A thorough search was decided quickly

Bischel was amazed and appreciative of how many calls John Cunningham made in researching him as a coach. When the call finally came, his wife Katie shrieked in delight.

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"I called John and said I'm accepting it but I better confirm that with Katie first," he said. "I accepted it immediately contingent on family approval."

Mrs. Bischel was all grins Wednesday afternoon.

2. The Midwest is the South for Bischel

Bischel mentioned what a special place Mount Pleasant, Michigan (home of CMU) was for his family. He would tell recruits that he would only leave for a special opportunity. The UC job was that special opportunity for a lot of reasons.

"We love the Midwest, this is the South for me," Bischel joked. "This is going to be tropical in the winter guys, you don't know what cold is! We wanted to stay in the Midwest and this gave us the opportunity to do that."

Bischel mentioned driving in and seeing the Cincinnati Zoo and wanting to stop. He also cited Cincinnati being a baseball town.

"I wasn't quite born in the 70s, but the Big Red Machine and the success, this is a baseball town!" he said. "Why wouldn't I want to be a part of that?"

From an NFL standpoint though, the native of Green Bay is a Packers stock holder.

3. Bearcat Hall of Famer Kevin Youkilis was involved

From Cunningham's point of view, he talked to "The Greek God of Walks" getting his blessing on the new hire. Youkilis now broadcasts Boston Red Sox games, but the former Sycamore Aviator/Cincinnati Bearcat reached out to the new coach.

"He texted me yesterday and talked with me during the process," Bischel said. "The people I've heard from have been amazing!"

Bischel mentioned others had reached out and he was trying his best to get back to everyone. Once renovations are complete, Bischel will have a much better field than where Youkilis had his No. 36 retired.

"The new turf going in will be sparkling and tremendous, the fencing, the new video board," Bischel said. "It's going to be a fun place to watch baseball. It's going to continue to be enhanced. The facility does matter. I've seen the Twitter pictures of that cold mid-week game and there's 1,500 people there. There's some excitement for this thing. If we start pounding out a few more wins and stealing bases and hitting baseballs in the gap, I can't wait 'til this place is full!"

4. What is Bischel Ball?

Bischel finds three-hour baseball marathons of strikeouts and walks not much fun. He prefers to play fast. He preached the "three E's" to his team: Energy, Enthusiasm, and Excitement. He's not opposed to the long ball, but is far from one-dimensional in his game plans.

"We're going to play fast, energetic exciting baseball!" Bischel said. "Hopefully, some of that will be 360 feet around the bases on home runs, but we're going to go first to third, we're going to steal bases. we're going to bunt for base hits."

Bischel has taken pride in the past in coaches telling him his teams were difficult to play. That goal continues in Cincinnati.

"We're going to get'em (baserunners) on a lot," Bischel said. "It's kind of funny that Kevin Youkilis played here because if you look at our on-base percentage the past five years, the cumulative might lead the nation. I haven't done the math. We are going to get on base at a high clip."

Bischel's background is in pitching but guarantees someone will be on staff with a specific pitching emphasis. His staff hires are still in progress.

5. Bischel keeps good culture with good teams

Cunningham's vision and the Big 12 resources meant a lot to Bischel in taking the job. He doesn't care for losing and statistically wins more often than not. UC's AD was looking for someone to change the culture within the building. His research showed Bischel as a culture builder.

"Every level he went to, he found a way to win quickly," Cunningham said. "His teams loved to play for him. I talked to a lot of different people and players about him. One of the things that kept coming up is just that they love the game when they play. Some of them had lost some of the fun over the years and he brought that back. That energy was infectious and led him to so many wins and one of the highest winning percentages in the country."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Jordan Bischel introduced as UC's new baseball coach for Big 12 play