Best College Pitching Programs and Coaches

UCLA with John Savage.

Duke, Clemson, University of Texas, Vanderbilt, San Jacinto College, University of Texas San Antonio, University of Lafeyette Louisiana, Baylor, not necessarily in that order. That's my short list and I'm sure I am missing some.

Why would you say Duke? They don't bring in nor turn out MLB talent.

Got to have UNC on any list

Duke may have the best pitching coach in the country. He is first year Sean Snedeker, great person, great coach. He can coach a person, not just a system. TR is right I forgot UNC. They would have to be on any short list.

One of the most honest, ethical and nicest coaches in the country is Sherman Corbett at UTSA. A D-1 program with success and Corbett pitched for the Angels.

San Jacinto College is great for power arms. According to Baseball America they had the best recruiting of pitchers last year including D-1 schools. Watch the draft this week -- many from San Jacinto will go high.

There are many schools I didn't name that are good for finesse pitchers. The one's I named can develop power arms and a few of them can develop both (UTSA for example).

the head coach at james madison university is very good and i believe has few books out. known for his development of pitchers both physically and mentally.

Steve Smith, head coach at Baylor, coached 4 first rounders in a row while he was at Mississippi State.

Now...He's had a few go in the first round, including Jason Jennings and others.

Give Steve a call. He's a former pro guy himself and everyone loves him at Baylor.

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Mike Dee...University of Illinois at Chicago...If you want a terrific pitching coach and a program on the rise....and you don't mind cold weather.

Jim Farr at the University of Maryland has a great track record at developing pitchers. Chris Ray of the Orioles and Bill Bray of the Reds are two real success stories.

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
Got to have UNC on any list

Agreed based on history of program

Pitching Coach Roger Williams (I think 11 years there?) is now at Louisville. Louisville went from about a 5.00 era to below 3.00 from 2006 to 2007 and won their Regional. Can't beat him as a coach or as person.

Anyone seen what Rice has turned out the last few drafts?

cr, Rice has also had quite a few pitchers end up with arm problems. Graham has a had a habit or running up high pitch counts on his pitchers. No arguing that Rice is a great baseball program and Graham has recruited great pitchers, but pitchers should do a great deal of investigation before deciding to go there.

Just from meeting him at a prospect camp, I thought that the pitching coach from St. John's was extremely good.

being a USC Trojan it kills me to say it, but gotta agree with jemaz, John Savage at ucla is super. Coach Savage was with USC during the Mark Prior years. An excellent coach and complete gentleman.

HeyBatter,
Wasn't Savage there Prior's first year when he had decent but not spectacular results? Dave Lawn was the pitching coach for Prior's big year at USC.

Duke will become a contender in the ACC in future yrs look out!! Sean McNally knows what hes doing and knows as much about the game as anyone.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris Davis:
Duke will become a contender in the ACC in future yrs look out!! Sean McNally knows what hes doing and knows as much about the game as anyone.

It will betough for him to overcome
UNC
UVA
GT
Miami
In their Division and in the other Division
NC State
Clemson
Florida State

University of California Irvine. A pitcher's paradise in terms of coaching.

bbdad47,
You needn't go far to find one of the very finest college pitching coaches there is. That's Tom Kunnis at Stanford. His students' success rate is as high as it gets. Take your son to a summer camp with Coach Kunnis and you'll see why.

spizzlepop,
Somewhat surprising local news but it has been announced that Coach Kunis is leaving Stanford and accepted a position as the head coach for a local JC program. No announcement on his replacement.

Wow. Which JC?

Coach McQueen, who will take over at Richmond this upcoming year, has previously coached at Virginia Commonwealth and developed pitchers such as Sean Marshall and Cla Meredith. He is a great man, and I don't think there is a better place you could send your son off to to learn how to pitch at the collegiate level.

quote:

Originally posted by spizzlepop:
Wow. Which JC?

Coach Kunis is now the head coach at Ohlone JC. I believe it is in Fremont, CA.
The new pitching coach is yet to be announced.

Just an update since I mentioned Dave Lawn at USC. He's left there to take the head coach position at Servite HS. Rumor at USC was the Tom House would be the pitching coach but I haven't heard anything more about that.

Tom House, intersting!
It would be a Big name hire for USC.

At one time he was one of the most well know and respected pitching gurus. Is it still the case?

I'm pretty sure Tom House IS the new pitching coach at USC. Heard it from a very reliable source.

Just an FYI...Stanford has hired a new pitching coach (see link below):

Jeff Austin hired as Stanford pitching coach

Jeff worked with the pitchers 2 seasons ago as a volunteer. He was extremely well-liked and will be seen as a positive (++) to the current pitchers who know him.

He is a former 1st round draft pick out of Stanford who briefly made it to the big leagues before injuries prematurely ended his career. I know from meeting him personally that he has a wealth of information to share/give to future pitchers about not only the college game, but the minor leagues and big leagues as well. He is a highly competitive person (thats a big plus to me), is a Stanford graduate and is extremely bright and articulate. And he knows pitching as well or better than anyone I've ever met.

IMO, they couldn't have made a better choice.

quote:

Originally posted by blue cat:
how about villanova!

2 2nd rounders in 5 seasons and an additional 12 pitchers drafted over Coach Godri's 6 seasons?

Burrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! Not only is the weather cold, it's one windy field. I guess a pitcher could like it usually blows in from left or left to right.

It might be more superior coaching, OR better recruiting, BUT:

5x Central Missouri State (DII) pitchers were drafted in first eleven rounds of the 2005 Draft.


HaverDad/Brussels

I would throw Fred Corral from Oklahoma into the mix.

No one mentioned Brent Kemnitz from Wichita State? He has to be considered one of the top in the country. year in and year out WSU has a top 5 pitching staff.

Couldnt tell you the coaches name, but UNC Greensboro has had one of the tops staffs in the nation for the last couple years in terms of statistics. I think in '07 they lead the nation in ERA. Could be wrong though

quote:

Originally posted by redbird5:
Why would you say Duke? They don't bring in nor turn out MLB talent.

Ahem...Chris Capuano- Duke - Milwaukee Brewers

Here's an old topic I would like to hear some updated opinions on. The first guy the comes to mind and was mentioned even back when this thread was running, is Scott Brown, former St Johns coach and now at Vandy. Any other good ones?

Greg Moore at Cal State Northridge (formerly USF)

There have been a lot of changes since this thread was started in 2007.  O'Sullivan left the pitching coach job at Clemson to take the head job at Florida.  Clemson is on their second pitching coach since then.  The current guy, Pepicelli, is very good.  Corral was at Oklahoma in 07, then Memphis, and now Georgia.  I look for Georgia in get better quickly.  Duke has a completely new staff.  Not sure what happened to the guy mentioned in 07.  House was in at USC for awhile, but no longer.

 

The guy at UVA, Kuhn, has always impressed me.  And Meyer continues to do a good job at USCe, as does Forbes at UNC.  (Meyer was the head coach at Old Dominion back when this thread started).  

 

Former UNC pitcher Robert Woodard (Prepster's son) is considered to be one of the rising stars.  He recently took the Va Tech job after a couple of years at UNC Wilmington.  I believe his replacement at Wilmington, Matt Williams, also has a bright future.  Matt was the pitching coach at Spartanburg Methodist for a number of years.   

 

 

People are probably going to laugh me out of the forum for this one.

 

Dave Koblentz, Bench coach/Pitching coach at Ohio Wesleyan University:

 

http://www.battlingbishops.com...53&path=baseball

 

He has coached at many levels from D1 to Pro's. He handles pitchers and catchers very well.

 

He is one of the reasons my son chose this school.

BLD,

Not exactly laughing.  Possibly....I was thinking the same thing as you....that the best can take many forms across a broad range of college baseball.  Certainly the top programs have most of the best pitching coaches otherwise they wouldn't be at the top.  But I think we can agree there are some gems not at the D1 top.  You've identified one.   In addition, my son's pitching coach (former UCLA pitcher Scott March) has been with my son's school the program for 18+ years, and is frequently recognized as a top pitching coach and head coaching candidate.  He seems to adapt and work extremely well with different personalities, pitching styles and experience levels to bring out the best in each pitcher.  Selfishly, I'm glad he has remained with the program for my son's college career.

I agree that there are great coaches at all levels that decide to coach for reasons beyond money I will think about this one and post a few that I am aware of when I get a chance. 

Dave Edwards, the associate HC/pitching coach at Chapman University, a D3 powerhouse in Southern California has a great reputation for developing talent.  He's had a handful of his guys drafted, some in the higher rounds, when they were not pro prospects entering college.