Dan Fitzgerald (baseball)
American baseball player and coach
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Daniel Fitzgerald (born 1977 or 1978) is an American 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 | 142–88 (.617) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | 1977 or 1978 (age 47–48)[1] 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 | 249–101 (.711) (NJCAA) 142–88 (.617) (NCAA) |
| Tournaments | Big 12: 6–4 NCAA: 1–2 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| |
| Awards | |
| |
Early life and education
Fitzgerald grew up in Edina, Minnesota, where he attended Edina High School.[2] He attended the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) and played for the Tommies.[3] He is also the uncle of Jack Fitzgerald.
Coaching career
Fitzgerald began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant for the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2000.[4][5] He then 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.[6] He was an assistant on Dave Barnett's staff for the Flagler Saints in 2005 and 2006.[7] 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.[4] 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.[5]
Fitgerald joined Dan Heefner's staff as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator of the Dallas Baptist in 2012.[8] Prior to the 2017 season, he was promoted to associate head coach.[9] After 9 years on Heefner's staff, he accepted the recruiting coordinator position with the LSU Tigers.[10][4]
On June 15, 2022, Fitzgerald was named the 19th head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks.[11]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DMACC Bears (ICCAC) (2008–2012) | |||||||||
| 2008 | DMACC | 48-18 | 17–7 | 1st | NJCAA National World Series Qualifier | ||||
| 2009 | DMACC | 55-11 | 20-4 | 1st | NJCAA National World Series Qualifier | ||||
| 2010 | DMACC | 47–11 | 20-4 | 1st | NJCAA Regional Qualifier | ||||
| 2011 | DMACC | 48-18 | 17-7 | 1st | NJCAA National Runner Up | ||||
| 2012 | DMACC | 51-15 | 22-2 | 1st | NJCAA National Quarter-Finals | ||||
| DMACC: | 249–73 | 96-24 | |||||||
| Kansas Jayhawks (Big 12 Conference) (2023–present) | |||||||||
| 2023 | Kansas | 25–32 | 8–16 | 8th | Big 12 tournament | ||||
| 2024 | Kansas | 31–23 | 15–15 | T–6th | Big 12 tournament | ||||
| 2025 | Kansas | 43–17 | 20–10 | 2nd | NCAA Fayetteville Regional | ||||
| 2026 | Kansas | 43–16 | 22–8 | 1st | NCAA Regional | ||||
| Kansas: | 142–88 | 65–49 | |||||||
| Total: | 391–161 (.708) | ||||||||
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National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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