As new head coaches, Andy Kennedy and Neal Holliman are in the same boat in a lot of ways, although Holliman is the first to say Kennedy’s boat is a whole lot bigger.

Holliman was recently named head baseball coach at East Central Community College, while Kennedy was named the men’s head basketball coach at Ole Miss.

Both face the task of rebuilding programs coming off losing seasons and both must do so despite being among the smallest schools in their respective leagues.

It won’t be easy for either, but both have hit the ground running.

“We’ve jumped right in,” said Kennedy of himself and his staff at a recent Newton County Ole Miss alumni meeting in Decatur. “First and foremost, we had to try to get our arms around the situation and see what we were dealing with as it relates to personnel. Once we saw the needs of our immediate team, we had to try to do as best we could to fill those through recruiting. You have to hire a staff. You have to get a schedule. I’ve done a number of these alumni meetings just trying to get out and talk to the Ole Miss faithful around the state.

“And amidst all that, you’re still trying to sell a house, buy a house, and move a family. It has been a rather adventurous first couple of months.”

“We’ve been pretty busy,” said Holliman of himself and assistant Michael Avalon. “We’ve had two tryouts. There’s several things going on in the Southeast over the next three to four weeks that we’ll be covering.”

Holliman has some idea of what he has returning and what he has to choose from in ECCC’s five-county district.

“I’ve seen almost 100 percent of them because I saw East Central play a few times last year as I was recruiting for West Alabama,” Holliman said. “Being close to the Mississippi line when I was at West Alabama, I saw several of those high schools play also.”

While Holliman returns to ECCC after a stint as assistant coach at an NCAA Division II school, Kennedy comes to Ole Miss from the University of Cincinnati where basketball holds its own with football as far as fan interest. That hasn’t been the case in Oxford and may never be.

“I don’t think there’s a clause that says you have to be exclusively better in one than the other,” Kennedy said. “I just want to make sure that people look to Ole Miss as a viable option.

“Obviously, Ole Miss, like any job, has its challenges, but I see it as a great opportunity and a situation with a world-class university and a town, for its size, that has as many amenities as any in the country. And there’s a very prideful, faithful contingent. I’m excited about being a part of it.”

One of the drawbacks over the past two decades has been top Mississippi athletes leaving the state to continue their careers, including Kennedy, who signed with North Carolina State after his high school career at Louisville, then finished at the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

“I’ve experienced that first hand,” Kennedy said. “I think we’ve got to show them that we’re a viable option. Obviously, the Southeastern Conference speaks for itself. It’s the highest level that you can possibly play at at the intercollegiate level.

“We have to show people that there’s a passion, that there’s a focus, that there’s a vision and sell that vision. Once we get kids on campus and they have an opportunity to see all the things that the university has to offer, I’m hopeful that will certainly help create an opportunity where people will say Ole Miss is an option they want to explore.”

Turning ECCC into a baseball power won’t be easy for Holliman, but he does have a plan and doesn’t mind getting out to observe potential players. He attended both weekends of the State Games baseball action.

“Being a championship team is just a matter of getting good players that are good people,” Holliman said. “There are good players in our district and our job is to get those guys and add to them with players from other areas as we need to.”

Kennedy faces a rebuilding task with one of the smallest playing facilities in the SEC. Many point to Ole Miss’ Tad Smith Coliseum as a drawback in recruiting due to its size and age.

“At the end of the day, you want to give yourself as many competitive advantages as possible, but I’ve been doing this 11 years and my business as it relates to recruiting is relationship-based. Brick and mortar has never allowed us to sign a player, nor has it ever cost us a player,” Kennedy said.

“I think we need to create an atmosphere of excitement. If we can put out a product that people will be proud of, I think there can be some inroads made as far as our facilities.”

Both have personalities that will help them get their ship to port. It will be interesting to see who arrives first.