Vanderbilt lost one of the nation’s best recruiters when assistant coach Erik Bakich left to become the head coach at Maryland last week, but the Commodores will replace Bakich with another elite recruiter. A source with knowledge of the situation confirmed Wednesday that Vandy will hire Arizona State recruiting coordinator Josh Holliday to fill the same role in Nashville.

Holliday, who brought in the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class last fall to help the Sun Devils get back to Omaha with a very young team, has proven his recruiting mettle in two years at ASU and three years at Georgia Tech. He also had stints on the coaching staffs at North Carolina State and Oklahoma State. From 1996-99, he starred on the field for the Cowboys, who were then coached by his father, Tom (now the pitching coach at N.C. State).

This marks the second time this week that a highly regarded recruiting coordinator has left a good job for the Southeastern Conference, where assistants are simply paid better than they are anywhere else. On Tuesday, Auburn announced that it hired East Carolina recruiting coordinator Link Jarrett as its new director of player development. Among Jarrett’s responsibilities will be assisting Scott Foxhall with the Tigers’ recruiting efforts.

"The vision and plan that J.P. (head coach John Pawlowski) and Fox (Foxhall) shared with me was an exciting plan and I wanted to be a part of it," Jarrett said. "J.P. expressed to me the style of baseball he preferred to play, and also the type of players that he and Fox have been recruiting to Auburn. This balanced style of play and recruiting plan also excited me, and was a formula I am very comfortable with. The Auburn administration and community were very welcoming and accommodating to my family and me, and I am very excited to help J.P., the staff and players fulfill their vision of getting Auburn back into the national spotlight."