Mike Littlewood

Michael Rory Littlewood is an American baseball coach. He played college baseball at BYU from 1985 to 1988, before playing professionally in 1988. He then served as the head coach of then Dixie State Rebels (later called "Red Storm", now Utah Tech Trailblazers) from 1996-2012, and then the BYU Cougars (2013–2022.)[1][2][3][4][5]

Mike Littlewood
Biographical details
Born1966 (age 56–57)
Playing career
1985–1988BYU
1988Beloit Brewers
Position(s)Third baseman / Shortstop
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1993–1995Salt Lake City (UT) Alta
1996–2012Dixie State Red Storm(Rebels until 2009)
2013–2022BYU Cougars
Head coaching record
Overall867–208
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
  • 3× WCC regular season (2016, 2017, 2019)
  • WCC tournament (2017)
Awards
  • WCC Coach of the Year (2019)

Playing career

Littlewood was a third baseman at BYU, earning All-Conference as both a junior and senior. He was drafted in the 27th round of the 1988 MLB Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers and played one season at Class-A Beloit Brewers.[1]

Coaching career

Shortly after his playing career ended, Littlewood accepted the head coaching position at Alta High School in Sandy, Utah. He remained for three seasons before moving to Dixie State, then a junior college in St. George, Utah. Under Littlewood, the Rebels (and Red Storm) won 563 games, won one national championship, made four appearances in the National Junior College World Series, and claimed eight league titles. Littlewood was named National JUCO Coach of the Year in 2004.[1] Dixie State transitioned to the Division II level under Littlewood in 2007. Littlewood also served during this time as an NCAA basketball referee, working three NCAA Sweet 16s and two Elite 8s.[3]

After being a finalist for the BYU head coaching position in 2000, when Vance Law earned the job, Littlewood was hired at BYU prior to the 2013 season. In his first season, the Cougars tied for second in the West Coast Conference and qualified for the first WCC tournament.[2]

He was named the West Coast Conference Coach of the Year in 2019.[6] On April 11, 2022, Littlewood resigned midseason for personal reasons.[7]

Head coaching record

This table shows Littlewood's record as a head coach at the Division I level.

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Dixie State Rebels (Scenic West Conference) (1996–2006)
Dixie State Rebels/Red Storm (Independent) (2007–2008)
2007 Dixie State 25–20
2008 Dixie State 25–22
Dixie State Red Storm (Pacific West Conference) (2009–2012)
2009 Dixie State 33–1915–91st
2010 Dixie State 31–1919–132nd
2011 Dixie State 32–1522–101st
2012 Dixie State 35–2025–152ndNCAA Regional
Dixie State: 605–249 (.708)
BYU Cougars (West Coast Conference) (2013–2022)
2013 BYU 32–2115–9T-2ndWCC tournament[lower-alpha 1]
2014 BYU 22–3112–157th
2015 BYU 28–2516–11T-3rdWCC tournament[lower-alpha 2]
2016 BYU 37–1718–9T-1stWCC tournament[lower-alpha 3]
2017 BYU 38–2120–7T-1stNCAA Stanford Regionals
2018 BYU 22–2811–16T-9th
2019 BYU 36–1719–81stWCC tournament
2020 BYU 7–90–0Season canceled due to COVID-19
2021 BYU 23–2715–124th
2022 BYU 17–127–3
BYU: 262–208 (.557)133–90 (.596)
Total:867–457 (.655)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

  1. The top four finishers in the nine team WCC qualified for the tournament in 2013.
  2. The top four finishers in the nine team WCC qualified for the tournament in 2015.
  3. The top four finishers in the nine team WCC qualified for the tournament in 2016.

References
  1. "Mike Littlewood Staff Bio". BYU Cougars. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
  2. Dick Harmon (May 27, 2013). "BYU baseball coach Mike Littlewood got Cougars close to NCAA postseason". Deseret News. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
  3. Jason Franchuk (June 28, 2012). "Littlewood gives up moonlighting gig to go full-time at alma mater". Daily Herald. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
  4. Andy Griffin (June 28, 2012). "BYU hires Littlewood for baseball post; Search is on for new Dixie State skipper". stgnews.com. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
  5. "BYU announces the abrupt in-season resignation of baseball coach Mike Littlewood". Deseret News. 2022-04-11. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
  6. "WCC Announces 2019 Baseball All-Conference Teams". www.wccsports.com. West Coast Conference. May 21, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  7. Kevin Reynolds (April 11, 2022). "BYU baseball coach Mike Littlewood resigns in the middle of season". www.sltrib.com. The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
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