Big East Conference Baseball Coaching Staff of the Year
Awarded forMost outstanding baseball coaching staff in the Big East Conference
CountryUnited States
First awarded1985 (as "Coach of the Year")
2016 (as "Coaching Staff of the Year")
Currently held bySeton Hall (Rob Sheppard, head coach)

The Big East Conference Baseball Coaching Staff of the Year award is presented annually to the conference's most outstanding coaching staff, as voted by the conference's head coaches at the end of each regular season.

The award was Big East Conference Baseball Coach of the Year, honoring only the head coach, from the first season of Big East Conference baseball in 1985 through the 2015 season. Starting with the 2016 season,[1] the award was renamed the "Coaching Staff of the Year" award, honoring an entire staff. While the "Big East" name has been used by two separate conferences—the original Big East, which operated from 1979 to 2013, and the current Big East, formed when the original conference split in 2013—the current Big East claims the baseball history of the original conference.

The Big East is the only NCAA Division I baseball conference that presents an annual coaching award to an entire staff instead of only the head coach, although the head coach is cited by name in the award announcement.

In 2014 season, Creighton's Ed Servais won the new conference's inaugural award. Creighton had a 30-16 (14-4 Big East) regular season to win the conference title. Since the formation of the current Big East, all but three of the honorees have won at least a share of the conference's regular season title, although the two most recent awards (2022 and 2023) were won by teams that finished outside the top two in the conference. From 1999 to 2006, by contrast, only two regular-season champions won the award.[2]

Ed Blankmeyer of St. John's has won the award a record six times as an individual, and is the only head coach to date to have been part of an honored staff twice. This includes bask-to-back awards twice—individually in 2007 and 2008 and as part of the staff in 2017 and 2018, a feat matched only by his Red Storm predecessor Joe Russo (1990 and 1991) and UConn's Jim Penders (2010 and 2011).[2] Blankmeyer, Penders, and Servais are the only head coaches to have won the award as individuals and as part of an honored staff; Penders has three individual awards and one staff award, while Servais has one of each.

Providence is the only school to have three coaches win the award (Don Mezzanotte in 1986, Paul Kostacopoulos in 1995, and Charlie Hickey in 1999). Three other schools had multiple coaches win the award before 2016: St. John's (Russo and Blankmeyer), UConn (Andy Baylock and Penders), and Pittsburgh (Mark Jackson and Joe Jordano).[2][3]

Winners

By season

Coach of the Year

Season Coach School Conf. (Rk.) Overall
1985[2][4] Mike Sheppard Seton Hall 15-3 (1st, South) 44-19-1
1986[2][5] Don Mezzanotte Providence 11-7 (T-1st, North) 28-23
1987[2][4] Mike Sheppard (2) Seton Hall 16-2 (1st, South) 45-10
1988[2][6] George Bennett Villanova 16-2 (1st, South) 32-22
1989[2][4] Mike Sheppard (3) Seton Hall 16-2 (1st, South) 33-19-1
1990[2][7] Joe Russo St. John's 15-6 (2nd) 29-18
1991[2][7] Joe Russo (2) St. John's 18-2 (1st) 34-14-1
1992[2][8] Andy Baylock UConn 13-7 (3rd) 25-20-1
1993[2][6] George Bennett (2) Villanova 14-7 (1st) 27-15-1
1994[2][9] Mark Jackson Pittsburgh 16-5 (1st) 31-16
1995[2][10] Paul Kostacopoulos Providence 16-5 (1st) 44-15
1996[2][11] Ed Blankmeyer St. John's 14-10 (3rd, American) 26-18
1997[2][12] Greg Van Zant West Virginia 17-7 (1st, American) 36-19
1998[2][13] Fred Hill Rutgers 17-3 (1st) 33-16
1999[2][14] Charlie Hickey Providence 18-8 (3rd) 49-16
2000[2][15] Pete Hughes Boston College 12-11 (5th) 35-20
2001[2][16] Paul Mainieri Notre Dame 22-4 (1st) 49-13
2002[2][15] Pete Hughes (2) Boston College 15-11 (T-3rd) 30-25
2003[2][12] Greg Van Zant (2) West Virginia 18-6 (2nd) 36-19
2004[2][3] Joe Jordano Pittsburgh 17-9 (T-2nd) 38-18
2005[2][11] Ed Blankmeyer (2) St. John's 19-4 (1st) 41-18
2006[2][17] Jim Penders UConn 18-6 (2nd) 39-18-1
2007[2][11] Ed Blankmeyer (3) St. John's 20-7 (T-1st) 41-19
2008[2][11] Ed Blankmeyer (4) St. John's 20-7 (1st) 42-16
2009[2][18] Lelo Prado South Florida 18-9 (2nd) 34-25
2010[2][17] Jim Penders (2) UConn 20-6 (2nd) 48-16
2011[2][17] Jim Penders (3) UConn 22-5 (1st) 45-20
2012[2][11] Ed Blankmeyer (5) St. John's 18-9 (T-1st) 40-23
2013[3][19] Joe Jordano (2) Pittsburgh 18-6 (T-2nd) 42-17
2014 Ed Servais Creighton 14-4 (1st) 32-17
2015 Ed Blankmeyer (6) St. John's 14-3 (1st) 41-16

Coaching Staff of the Year

Season School Head coach Conf. (Rk.) Overall
2016 Xavier Scott Googins 14-4 (1st) 30-28
2017 St. John's Ed Blankmeyer (7) 13-5 (2nd) 42-13
2018 St. John's (2) Ed Blankmeyer (8) 15-3 (1st) 38-14
2019 Creighton Ed Servais (2) 14-4 (1st) 41-12
2020 Season canceled (COVID-19)
2021 UConn Jim Penders (4) 13-4 (1st) 30-16
2022 Georgetown Edwin Thompson 11–10 (4th) 32–24
2023[20] Seton Hall Rob Sheppard 13–8 (3rd) 31–24

By school

The following is a table of the schools whose coaches or coaching staffs have won the award, along with the year each school joined the conference, the number of times it has won the award, and the years in which it has done so.

All years reflect baseball seasons. For schools that joined the Big East after it first sponsored baseball, the first season of play takes place in the calendar year after officially joining the conference.

School (year joined) Total awards Seasons (individual) Seasons (staff)
St. John's (1985) 10 1990, 1991, 1996, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2012,
2015 		2017, 2018
UConn (1985/2021)[a] 5 1992, 2006, 2010, 2011 2021
Seton Hall (1985) 4 1985, 1987, 1989 2023
Pittsburgh (1985)[b] 3 1994, 2004, 2013 —
Providence (1985)[c] 3 1986, 1995, 1999 —
Boston College (1985)[d] 2 2000, 2002 —
Villanova (1985) 2 1988, 1993 —
West Virginia (1996)[e] 2 1997, 2003 —
Creighton (2014) 2 2014 2019
Georgetown (1985) 1 — 2022
Notre Dame (1996)[f] 1 2001 —
Rutgers (1996)[g] 1 1998 —
South Florida (2006)[h] 1 2009 —
Xavier (2014) 1 — 2016

Notes

  1. ^ When the Big East split into two conferences after the 2013 season, UConn remained in the football-sponsoring league, the American Athletic Conference. It returned to the Big East after the 2020 season.
  2. ^ Pittsburgh left to join the Atlantic Coast Conference following the 2013 season.
  3. ^ Providence cut its baseball program after the 1999 season.
  4. ^ Boston College left for the Atlantic Coast Conference following the 2005 season.
  5. ^ West Virginia left to join the Big 12 Conference following the 2012 season.
  6. ^ Notre Dame left to join the Atlantic Coast Conference following the 2013 season.
  7. ^ When the Big East split into two conferences after the 2013 season, Rutgers remained in the football-sponsoring league, the American Athletic Conference. A year later, Rutgers moved to the Big Ten Conference.
  8. ^ When the Big East split into two conferences after the 2013 season, South Florida remained in the football-sponsoring league, the American Athletic Conference, where it remains today.

References

  1. ^ "2016 Baseball Regular Season Major Awards and All-BIG EAST Teams Announced" (Press release). Big East Conference. May 25, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae "2013 Big East Conference Baseball Media Guide". BigEast.org. Big East Conference. Archived from the original on March 26, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c "Briefs: Pitt's Jordano Named Big East Coach of the Year". Post-Gazette.com. May 22, 2013. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c Manuel, John (August 18, 2003). "Seton Hall Coach Mike Sheppard Retires". BaseballAmerica.com. Archived from the original on July 6, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  5. ^ Owens, Ed (April 12, 2005). "Pats Dedicate Diamond". CranstonOnline.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  6. ^ a b Morkides, Chris (April 16, 1999). "This Skipper Enjoys Days in the Dugout: George Bennett Has 407 Wins as Villanova Baseball Coach, But Fame Is Not His Objective". Philly.com. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  7. ^ a b "Joe Russo". QueensKnights.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  8. ^ "Big East Honors Two from UConn". Courant.com. The Hartford Courant. May 12, 1992. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  9. ^ "Three from UConn Are All-Big East". The Day. May 17, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved July 6, 2014.[dead link]
  10. ^ Warner, Pete (August 16, 1996). "Kostacopoulos Gets UM Baseball Job". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved July 6, 2014.[dead link]
  11. ^ a b c d e "#1 Ed Blankmeyer". RedStormSports.com. St. John's Athletic Communications. Archived from the original on July 5, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  12. ^ a b Casazza, Mike (June 1, 2012). "WVU Baseball: Van Zant Expects Many Hurdles for Next Coach". CharlestonDailyMail.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  13. ^ D'Alessandro, Dave (February 20, 2014). "Rutgers Baseball Coach Fred Hill Steps Down After 30 Seasons". NJ.com. Newark Star-Ledger. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  14. ^ "Charlie Hickey". CCSUBlueDevils.com. CCSU Sports Communication. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  15. ^ a b "Pete Hughes to Be Oklahoma Coach". ESPN.com. June 27, 2013. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  16. ^ Schneider, Steve. "Paul Mainieri to Be LSU's New Head Baseball Coach; Barbier to Join Team as Assistant". WAFB.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  17. ^ a b c "Mike Olt, Jim Penders, and George Grande to Appear at GNHCC Hot Stove Breakfast Jan. 23". NHRegister.com. The New Haven Register. January 11, 2013. Archived from the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  18. ^ "USF Bulls' Lelo Prado Named Big East Baseball Coach of the Year". TampaBay.com. May 18, 2009. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  19. ^ "2013 Big East Conference Standings". D1Baseball.com. Archived from the original on September 20, 2015. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  20. ^ "#BIGEASTbase Regular-Season Awards And All-Conference Announced" (Press release). Big East Conference. May 23, 2023. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
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