The right candidate was under Middle Tennessee State's nose all along.

The Blue Raiders conducted a national search for their new head baseball coach after Steve Peterson retired on July 5, and today they announced that Peterson's long-time assistant, Jim McGuire, has been elevated to head coach.

MTSU did not handle the end of the search with an abundance of grace. After Liberty's Jim Toman withdrew his name from the mix last week, the Blue Raiders offered the job to Arkansas State coach Tommy Raffo earlier this week. Raffo turned it down, electing to stay put at Arkansas State, so MTSU went back to McGuire, who knows the program inside and out after 20 years on Peterson's staff.

"We had a thorough process that allowed us to talk with some of the most accomplished baseball coaches in the country," MTSU director of athletics Chris Massaro said in a release. "We were able to develop an outstanding pool of candidates that were interested in this job, which is a testimony to the work of Coach Peterson and Coach McGuire.

"From the beginning, I knew the great qualities of Coach McGuire, and he was able to demonstrate them further during the interview process. I am confident he will lead us to national prominence and a trip to Omaha."

McGuire, who was elevated to associate head coach in 2000, has served as recruiting coordinator and worked with the infielders and hitters during his MTSU tenure. He has helped lead the Blue Raiders to 14 winning seasons, six regionals, seven conference titles and five conference tournament titles.

He is very well respected by his peers, and he is more than ready to assume the head coaching job.

"I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to serve as Middle Tennessee's head coach," McGuire said in the release.

Chicago State Hires Joslyn

In other coaching news, Chicago State hired former Northern Illinois associate head coach Steve Joslyn as its new head coach yesterday. Joslyn spent 10 years as an assistant under Ed Mathey at NIU, helping the Huskies reach five Mid-American Conference tournaments and win a school-record 34 games in 2003 and 2007.

"Steve's recruiting success at NIU, combined with his unmatched knowledge of the Chicagoland baseball landscape, makes him the perfect choice to lead the Chicago State baseball program," athletic director Dan Schumacher said. "I'm looking forward to watching Steve grow the program and put Chicago State back on the baseball map."

He'll have plenty of work to do that. The Cougars have been one of worst Division I programs of the last decade, reaching double-digits in wins just once since 2001 (they went 13-40 this year). Chicago State went 29-171 (.145) in four years under Joslyn's predecessor, Michael Caston.