"Boy was I naive": Kentucky baseball HC Nick Mingione reveals turning point of his career with Wildcats

Nick Mingione has made a massive impact on Kentucky baseball in his eight seasons as the Wildcats' coach. Since taking over in 2017, he's made the team a championship contender, and the ongoing season is among the Wildcats' strongest.

While the Wildcats are on the rise, the challenges Mingione faced when he took the job were big. On "The Paul Finebaum Show" on Tuesday, he talked about the turning point of his career involving his debut season at UK.

"We host our second-ever regional, but we make it to our first-ever super and we were two wins from Omaha," Mingione said. "Boy, was I naïve! I thought it was easy, Paul, but was I fooled.

"Because what came after that was just a three- or four-year run where we were really close, and we were short. Then, we had a year where we’re the worst team in the SEC. So, there was peaks and valleys.

"To your point, to be able to do it for the first time and for me to do it the first time as a head coach, for our program to do it the first time, there’s just a bunch of firsts. This is my sixth time going to the College World Series, and four of those were NAIA World Series, but to me, when you have a group of men, it all means the same.

"But to do it for the first time in school history, it’s definitely special."

Nick Mingione wins National Coach of the Year honor

Mingione's work with the Wildcats this season earned him the Perfect Game National Coach of the Year award for the second time in his career. This comes just under a month after he won the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year award by leading the team to its first regular season title in 18 years.

Nick Mingione has made the Kentucky Wildcats one of the most feared outfits in college baseball today.

The Wildcats also earned the No. 2 national seed for this year's NCAA Tournament, the highest in program history. They made more history by securing a spot in the College World Series for the first time.

Despite being CWS debutants, they are among the favorites to win their maiden NCAA title in Omaha. UK (45-14) will take on the NC State Wolfpack on Saturday at 2 p.m. EDT.