On June 27, 2006, Dan McDonnell, one of the top young minds in college baseball, was named the 18th head coach of the University of Louisville baseball team. And on June 15, 2007, McDonnell and the Cardinals took the field at hallowed Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha for game one of the 2007 College World Series. Not bad for 353 days on the job. As the first rookie head coach to lead his team to Omaha in 27 years and guiding the Cards to a school-record 47 wins, McDonnell was named National Coach of the Year by Rivals.com. He followed that impressive debut season by leading Louisville to two more NCAA appearances in 2008 and 2009, including back-to-back BIG EAST Conference Tournament titles as well as the program's first BIG EAST regular-season title in 2009. The 2009 season concluded with Louisville advancing to an NCAA Super Regional for the second time in three years and a No. 14 national ranking by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. The Cardinals advanced to the NCAA Super Regional with a win in the NCAA Regional at Jim Patterson Stadium, the first ever NCAA Regional hosted by Louisville. The BIG EAST titles and NCAA appearances are the perfect payoff for University of Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich, who secured the Port Chester, New York native and his assistants with long-term contracts immediately after the team returned from Omaha in 2007. Just a year prior to that, it was immediately evident that he would be the next skipper of the Cardinals. "When we met him, he was the most prepared of any candidate that I have brought in on an interview in any sport. Recommendations for him came from across the country about his ability to recruit and handle student athletes," Jurich noted. In McDonnell's three seasons as head coach, Louisville ranks sixth nationally in wins with 135, including a school record tying 47 wins in 2009. The Cardinals, which also earned 40 regular-season wins for the first time in school history last season, were led in 2009 by All-American third baseman and BIG EAST Player of the Year Chris Dominguez, All-American left-handed pitcher and BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year Justin Marks and All-American utility player and All-BIG EAST selection Phil Wunderlich. Joining that trio as All-BIG EAST selections in 2009 were RHP Thomas Royse (Second Team), first baseman Andrew Clark (Second Team) and second baseman Adam Duvall (Third Team), while Clark also earned the Jack Kaiser Award as the Most Outstanding Player of the BIG EAST Championship. Following the season, Louisville had three players from the 2009 team as well as five signees selected in the MLB Draft. Leading the way was Dominguez, who was selected in the third round by the San Francisco Giants, and Marks, a third round selection by the Oakland A's. The off-season was also a busy one for McDonnell, who served as an assistant coach for the 2009 USA National Baseball Team, which won the World Baseball Challenge and finished with an impressive 19-5 record overall. The Cards' head coach was joined on Team USA by U of L right-handed pitcher Tony Zych, who worked out of the US bullpen throughout the summer, as well as Cards' catcher Justin Haywood (bullpen catcher for Team USA) and U of L strength and conditioning coach Eric Hammer (strength coach for Team USA). The 2008 season featured the continued rise of Dominguez as one of the nation's top players as he was named to five All-America teams, earned BIG EAST Co-Player of the Year honors and was named MVP of the BIG EAST Tournament. Joining Dominguez with All-BIG EAST honors in 2008 was catcher Derrick Alfonso (First Team), Marks (First Team), Clark (Second Team), outfielder Stewart Ijames (Third Team), second baseman Justin McClanahan (Third Team) and B.J. Rosenberg (Third Team). Marks was named Third Team All-America by two publications in 2008. Overall, the Cardinals won 41 games in 2008 to earn back-to-back 40-win seasons for the first time in school history and earn back-to-back NCAA Championship bids for the first time in the program's history. Following the season, the Cards also had five players from the 2008 squad and four signees selected in the MLB Draft. Leading the way was Dominguez, a fifth round pick by the Colorado Rockies who elected to return to Louisville for his junior season. The first season under McDonnell was more than just the first trip to Omaha in school history as five different players were named to All-American teams. A school record nine players were named to the All-BIG EAST teams, including three first-team selections and five members of the second team. Senior Zack Pitts was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year and Justin Marks was tabbed as BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. Overall, the Cardinals did not lose three straight games and only lost consecutive games five times in 2007. U of L finished the 2007 season ranked 6th or 7th in all five major college baseball polls. The team set 20 individual career and single season records as well as U of L team records for at bats, doubles, stolen bases, wins, inning pitched and strikeouts. Six players and four signees were tabbed in the 2007 MLB Draft, including Trystan Magnuson who was selected 56th overall - the highest pick in school history. Seven players played pro ball following the `07 season. In the 12 team categories ranked statistically by the NCAA, the Cards were in the top 62 in 11 of them, the top 50 in nine categories and top ten in two. Twenty-six individuals ranked in the top 100 nationally and 16 in the top 50. The Cards were second in the nation in steals and senior Boomer Whiting won the NCAA stolen base crown with his BIG EAST record 73. What went unmeasured was the entire region of baseball fans riding the wave of excitement of the postseason as the Cardinals went 7-4 against ranked opponents in their final 11 games. Winning is nothing new to McDonnell. In McDonnell's 21 seasons in NCAA baseball as a player and coach, teams he has been a part of have averaged 38 wins per season and have advanced to a NCAA Regional in 13 of those seasons, including 10 of the last 12. As the top assistant and recruiting coordinator for Mike Bianco at the University of Mississippi for six seasons prior to taking over as head coach at Louisville, McDonnell and the Rebels had four top-20 recruiting classes and three groups that ranked in the top ten nationally. The first full recruiting class for the Rebels under McDonnell's direction was ranked #6 in the nation by Collegiate Baseball. In each of the last two seasons with the Rebels, Ole Miss was one win away from advancing to Omaha. His recruiting classes have produced three first team Freshman All-Americas, one second team Freshman All-America and two honorable mention Freshman All-America selections. Former Rebel OF Seth Smith, who played for the Colorado Rockies in the 2007 MLB World Series was the SEC Freshman of the Year winner in 2002 and 1B/LHP Stephen Head earned the honor in 2003. Head was also selected as one of four National Freshmen of the Year by Collegiate Baseball in 2003. As the Rebels' infield coach, McDonnell helped coach Head to All-America honors in 2003, 2004 and 2005 to become the first three-time All-American in school history. Head also earned SEC Co-Player of the Year honors in 2004 and was a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, the most prestigious in college baseball. A pair of Ole Miss infielders that were signed and coached by McDonnell, Zack Cozart and Justin Henry were tabbed in the 2007 MLB draft (2nd and 9th respectively). Four of McDonnell's signees and players in the past two seasons have competed in the USA Baseball trials including Cozart. In the five seasons that preceded McDonnell's arrival at Ole Miss, the team averaged just 28 wins per season and finished no higher than fifth in the SEC Western Division. In his six seasons in Oxford, the team averaged just over 40 wins per season and finished in the top three on four occasions, winning the 2006 SEC Tournament and sharing the 2005 regular season title. Infielders Josh Christian, Cooper Osteen, Brian Pettway, Jon Swearingen, Matt Tolbert and Head have all advanced to play professional baseball following their tutelage under McDonnell. Head and Pettway were both First Team All-America selections in 2005, while Head was joined by Smith on the US National Team that took home the silver medal in the 2003 Pan American Games. In the 2005 MLB draft, Ole Miss was the only team in the nation with four players selected in the top 100. A total of 21 Mississippi players have been drafted over the past three seasons including six Rebels in the 2006 draft. Before his arrival in Oxford, Miss., McDonnell was an assistant and recruiting coordinator at his alma mater, The Citadel for eight seasons. The Bulldogs advanced to four NCAA Regionals and won five Southern Conference titles during that span. He was the top assistant from 1995-2000. Primarily working with the Bulldog infielders and hitters, McDonnell also worked with the baserunners, establishing a conference record for steals in a single season in 2000 with 198 in 240 attempts over 59 games. The Citadel was paced by junior outfielder Chris Morris, who led the nation with 84 bags. During his playing days for the Bulldogs McDonnell earned four letters, helping The Citadel to the 1990 College World Series, marking the first time a military school has made the trip to Omaha. He was a member of the All-Atlantic Regional team in Miami that same season. As a second baseman, he was named first team All-Southern Conference as a junior. He finished his career as the league's all-time leader in stolen bases with 99, a total that now places him fourth in school history. He is the school's all-time leader in walks, picking up 185 bases on balls, and is ninth in runs scored in Bulldog history with 165. McDonnell, 39, graduated from The Citadel in 1992 and later completed his master's degree in business administration in 1995. He is married to the former Julie Anne Underwood of Charlotte, N.C. The couple has two sons, Jake (11) and Justin (8). McDonnell Year-by-Year Year Record Postseason The Citadel - Player 1989 30-20 SoCon Tournament 1990* 46-14 College World Series - Omaha, Nebraska 1991* 34-19-1 SoCon Tournament 1992 35-20 SoCon Tournament The Citadel - Assistant Coach 1993 32-25 SoCon Tournament 1994* 32-34 NCAA East Regional 1995* 39-21 NCAA Mideast Regional 1996 33-26 SoCon Tournament 1997 37-21 SoCon Tournament 1998* 37-24 NCAA East Regional 1999* 41-20 NCAA Tallahassee Regional 2000* 39-20 SoCon Tournament Mississippi - Assistant Coach 2001 38-21-1 NCAA Regional 2002 37-19 None 2003 35-27 NCAA Regional 2004 39-21 NCAA Regional 2005 48-20 Super Regional Final 2006 44-22 Super Regional Final Louisville - Head Coach (135-63 record, 3 seasons) 2007 47-24 College World Series 2008 41-21 NCAA Regional 2009 47-18 NCAA Super Regional Total(21 years) 811-454-2 |
2009-10 Season2008-09 SeasonMiscellaneous |
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