Let’s take a look at the winningest men’s college baseball head coaches over the years. Undoubtedly, a coach makes his mark by how many wins he can rack up in a season or over a coaching career. It doesn’t necessarily mean there will be a lot of National Championships along the way, but it does translate into conference titles, postseason appearances, possible trips to Omaha for the College World Series…and long coaching careers.
Here’s a rundown of the top five winning coaches, present and past.
All-Time Leaders
2,029 Wins. Mike Martin: Florida State
Martin won all of his games with Florida State over a 40-year career. Under his leadership, the Seminoles never won fewer than 40 games per season. They reached the College World Series 17 times (tied for the record) and were two-time runners-up but never took home the title. Martin was the National Coach of the Year twice. He is the winningest coach in NCAA history for any sport. His record is 2,029-736-4. He passed away in February of last year.
1,975 wins. Augie Garrido: Cal State Fullerton, Texas, San Francisco State, Cal
Garrido is best remembered for his successful runs with the Titans of CSUF (twice) and the Texas Longhorns, his last two coaching stays. He garnered national titles five times, three with Fullerton and two with Texas, making him the only coach to win multiple championships with two schools. He coached for 48 years and retired in 2016.
1,768 wins. Gene Stephenson: Wichita State
Stephenson turned the Wichita State Shockers into a powerhouse during his 36-year coaching career from 1978 to 2013. He led the team to their first tournament in team history in his third season and to the title game two years later, which they lost. In 1982, they set the NCAA record with the most wins in a season, 73, and eight times they had the most season wins in Division 1. They took their one championship title (in seven tournament trips) in 1989, defeating the Texas Longhorns. It remains the only national team title for the school in any sport.
1,627 wins. Mark Marquess: Stanford
Marquess played in the College World Series for Stanford in 1967 and became the Cardinal skipper 10 years later. In the late 1980s, he led the team to two consecutive National Championships and came close in 2000 and ’01 with two runners-up finishes. He was coach of the year three times and led the Cardinal to 14 College World Series appearances.
1,594 wins. Jim Morris: Georgia Tech, Miami
Jim Morris split his head coaching career between the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Miami Hurricanes. When he took over at Miami in 1994, he took the team to the College World Series in his first six seasons there. In 1999, Miami won the National Championship and followed up two years later with another title. The Hurricanes played their way to Omaha in 11 of Morris’s first 15 years with the program.
Active Coaches with the Most Wins
1,411 wins. Danny Hall: Georgia Tech
In 1994, after six seasons as head coach at Kent State, Hall took over the program at Georgia Tech. He had just wrapped up his 31st season. In addition to racking up the most wins of any active coach, Hall has led the Yellow Jackets to three College World Series appearances and finished runner-up to Oklahoma in the 1994 title game.
1,396 wins. Keith Guttin: Missouri State
(Guttin retired just recently at the end of the ’24 season, but his record deserves recognition till it’s surpassed.) Guttin was with the Missouri State Bears his entire head coaching career, starting when the school was called Southwest Missouri State in 1983. His teams made the NCAA tournament 11 times and reached the College World Series in 2003.
1,390 wins. John Anderson: Minnesota
Anderson took over the helm for the Minnesota Gophers men’s baseball team when he was 26, shaping them into a formidable team. Over his 42-year career, they’ve made it to the NCAA tournament 18 times under his leadership and garnered 10 Big-Ten Tournament titles. His teams have won more than 40 games per season in 10 seasons.
1,371 wins. Gary Gilmore: Coastal Carolina
Before Gilmore arrived at Coastal Carolina in 1996, the men’s baseball team had made only one postseason appearance. Since then, Gilmore has taken the Chanticleers to the NCAA Regionals 19 times, hosting six times as a number one seed. In 2016, they made it to their first College World Series, defeating Arizona to win the National Title, and Gilmore was named National Coach of the Year.
1,242 wins. Elliott Avent: North Carolina State
In 28 seasons at NC State, Avent has led the Wolfpack to 21 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 16 of the last 19 seasons. He has also made five superregional appearances and two trips to Omaha, in 2021 and ’24. During that season, he earned his 1,000th win with NC State. With 36 years of head coaching experience, he’s among the winningest active coaches in Division I baseball.
Men’s College Baseball Is Competitive
Only one of the winningest active coaches has a national title, which tells you how hard it is to reach the top in men’s college baseball. Since the 2006 season, only Oregon State and South Carolina have repeated as the College World Series winners. Since 2011, when South Carolina won its second consecutive title, there have been 13 different National Champions.
Resources: baseballamerica.com/stories/top-25-winningest-active-head-coaches; gopack.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/elliott-avent/690; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_World_Series; wikipedia.org/ wiki/Baseball_America_College_Coach_of_the_Year; wikipedia.org/ wiki/NCAA_Division_I_baseball_tournament; ncaa.com/news/2023-06-26/10-college-baseball-coaches-most-career-wins; ncaa.com/news/ baseball/programs-most-mens-college-world-series-titles; seminoles.com/news/2024/2/1/baseball-mike-martin-1944-2024; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wichita_State_Shockers_baseballgopack.com/sports/ baseball/roster/coaches/elliott-avent; GoogleSerp/top-college-baseball-coaches-past-20-years. https://www.ncaa.com/news/baseball/article/2017-02-16/college-baseball-stanford-coach-mark-marquess-enters-final-season
