Dan Fitzgerald (baseball)
Daniel Fitzgerald is a baseball coach and former player, who is the current head baseball coach of the Kansas Jayhawks. He played college baseball for the St. Thomas Tommies and the Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons He served as the head coach of the Des Moines Area Bears (2008–2012).
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Kansas |
| Conference | Big 12 |
| Record | 25–32 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | 44–45 Edina, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1997–1998 | St. Thomas (MN) |
| 1999 | Wisconsin-River Falls |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2001 | Iowa (asst.) |
| 2003–2004 | North Iowa Area CC (asst.) |
| 2005–2006 | Flagler (asst.) |
| 2007 | Des Moines Area CC (asst.) |
| 2008–2012 | Des Moines Area CC |
| 2013–2016 | Dallas Baptist (asst./RC) |
| 2017–2021 | Dallas Baptist (AHC/RC) |
| 2022 | LSU (asst./RC) |
| 2023–present | Kansas |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 25–32 (NCAA DI) 249–73 (NJCAA) |
| Tournaments | Big 12: 1–2 NCAA: 0–0 |
Playing career
Fitzgerald grew up in Edina, Minnesota, where he attended Edina High School.[1] He attended the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) and played for the Tommies[2]
Coaching career
Fitzgerald began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant for the Iowa Hawkeyes.[3] He moved to North Iowa Area Community College where he was an assistant, while also holding the roles of housing head resident and intramural coordinator for the 2003 and 2004 seasons.[4] He was an assistant on Dave Barnett's staff for the Flagler Saints in 2005 and 2006.[5] He would spend the 2007 season as an assistant coach for the Des Moines Area Bears, before being promoted to head coach starting with the 2008 season. He led the Bears to a 249–73 record and to the JUCO World Series in 4 of 5 seasons (2008–2012) as the head coach.
Fitgerald joined Dan Heefner's staff as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator of the Dallas Baptist in 2012. Prior to the 2017 season, he was promoted to associate head coach. After 9 years on Heefner's staff, he accepted the recruiting coordinator position with the LSU Tigers.[6]
On June 15, 2022, Fitzgerald was named the 19th head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks.[7]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas Jayhawks (Big 12 Conference) (2023–present) | |||||||||
| 2023 | Kansas | 25–32 | 6–18 | 8th | |||||
| Kansas: | 25–32 | 6–18 | |||||||
| Total: | 25–32 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
- John Sherman (September 10, 2016). "Edina's Fitzgerald rises in college coaching ranks". www.hometownsource.com. hometownsource.com. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
- "Kansas baseball tabs former LSU assistant Dan Fitzgerald as next head coach". www.wbrz.com. Louisiana Television Broadcasting LLC. June 15, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
- Jordan Guskey (June 22, 2022). "Dan Fitzgerald waited for a chance like this. Now, he's Kansas baseball's new head coach". www.cjonline.com. The Topeka-Capital Journal. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
- "NIACC adds faculty, staff members for fall term". www.globegazette.com. Globe Gazette. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
- "LSU baseball hires former Flagler assistant Dan Fitzgerald". www.staugustine.com. The St. Augustine Record. July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
- Spencer Chrisman (July 7, 2021). "DBU's Dan Fitzgerald joins Jay Johnson at LSU". www.wafb.com. Gray Media Group, Inc. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
- Madelynn Hartley (June 15, 2022). "Kansas baseball names Dan Fitzgerald from LSU as next head coach". www.kansan.com. University Daily Kansan. Retrieved July 20, 2022.