By By Rob Sigler/The Meridian Star
July 11, 2001
Carrying on the winning tradition and capturing a national championship are the main goals of Mike Federico, named Tuesday as the new head baseball coach at Meridian Community College.
Federico, a two-year assistant coach, takes over for Russ McNickle who resigned earlier this month after one season to become an assistant coach at Mississippi State.
"I'm just excited," said Federico about his first head coaching job. "I've wanted to be a head coach for a long time. It's been a goal of mine. This is a tremendous opportunity for me."
By most standards, last year's 37-18 record would be considered a success, but Federico said it was disappointing.
"This place has never had a national championship," said Federico. "That's something we want to change. We have some good guys coming in and some good guys coming back."
Federico played high school baseball at Pope John Paul in Slidell, La., and went on to play two seasons at Hinds Community College before completing his college career at the University of Southern Mississippi in 1997. He also coached two seasons with the Golden Eagles before coming to Meridian last year as part of McNickle's staff.