http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=274582&pub=1&div=Sports By Gregg Ellis Daily Journal STARKVILLE - Why leave Kentucky? Why now? After all, he had built the program into a national contender practically overnight, and was about to welcome one of the top recruiting classes in the country to campus this fall. And had he stayed to continue the rebuilding process, he would have received a pay increase that would have made him one of the highest paid coaches in all of college baseball. Those were some of the issues John Cohen faced this past Thursday night as he sat down with his family and weighed the pros and cons of leaving Kentucky for Mississippi State. And they were certainly questions he entertained Saturday afternoon when he was officially introduced as the Bulldogs’ 15th head coach in school history, replacing Ron Polk. But rather than provide his own take as to why the timing was right for change, he felt his wife, Nelle, summed it up best in a conversation he overheard her having with her sister, Alice, explaining the decision to return to Mississippi State. "She said, 'The greatest musicians want to play at Carnegie Hall, and Dudy Noble Field is the Carnegie Hall of college baseball,'" Cohen recalled. And with that, the 200 people in attendance at the Bryan Building erupted with cheers, while at the same time Nelle, who was sitting with daughters Jordan Baker and Avery Lawson, fought back tears. For Cohen, who leaves Kentucky after five years, 175 wins and the school’s first SEC title, it was all about coming home. Growing up in nearby Tuscaloosa, Ala., he played baseball for the Bulldogs under Polk from 1988-90 and has always dreamed of returning to campus one day as the man in charge of the program. Well, that day is today. Northeast Daily Journal 6/8/08