Steve Bieser’s tenure as Missouri baseball head coach has come to an end. Mizzou athletics announced Sunday that Bieser will not return for the 2024 season.

Bieser, who went 188-155-1 in 7 seasons, thanked MU for the opportunity.

“I would like to thank the University of Missouri for entrusting me to lead this program for the past seven years,” Bieser said in a program release. “We have faced many challenges along the way, but the bottom line is we just didn’t win enough games in this tough and rugged conference. I want to thank all of the players that I have had a great opportunity to coach. You’ve always represented this program in a first-class manner and I’m proud of you. I wish our current players great success and I will be pulling for you. God has a different plan for me. Keep representing the C2E way.”

Bieser guided Mizzou to a 30-24 record in 2023. The Tigers went 10-20 against SEC teams in the regular season. MU’s season ended Tuesday with a loss to Auburn in the opening round of the SEC Tournament.

Mizzou athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois thanked Bieser for his time in Columbia.

“Coach Bieser represented the University with a high level of character and integrity,” Reed-Francois said in a program release. “We are grateful for his contributions to our program, on and off the field, and we wish him, Diahann, and their family the very best in the future.”

Bieser’s firing has been met with some surprise in the college baseball world, considering the state of the program and the injuries that the Tigers dealt with in 2023. After reporting the coaching change, college baseball insider Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball described Mizzou baseball as “another dimension” behind the rest of the SEC.

Reed-Francois says Mizzou is committed to increasing its investment in baseball.

“Baseball is important to our University, our conference, and our state,” Reed-Francois said in Sunday’s announcement. “We understand the vital role baseball plays, and we are committed to further increasing our investment in the program and look forward to future successes. We will work quickly and expeditiously to find the candidate who is the best fit to return Mizzou Baseball to the national stage.”

Featured image via Mizzou Athletics on YouTube