Kansas Jayhawks Baseball prepares to start 2023 season with head coach Dan Fitzgerald
The Kansas Jayhawks hired their new head baseball coach, Dan Fitzgerald, back in June 2022 as he takes over for long-time coach Rich Price who decided to retire from Kansas after 20 seasons. Coach Price is the winningest coach in Kansas Baseball history with 581 victories. Kansas athletic director Travis Goff had this to say about his new head coach,
“Dan Fitzgerald is a man of exceptional integrity, proven leader, developer of men, tremendous baseball mind, elite recruiter, and the perfect fit for Kansas Baseball. Dan clearly articulated his vision for the future of Kansas Baseball and passionately demonstrated his desire to be at the University of Kansas. We could not be more excited about the outlook for our program with Coach Fitzgerald at the helm. We are ecstatic to welcome Dan, his wife, Kelly, and three boys, Will, Max and Ben, to the Jayhawk family.”
Coach Fitzgerald comes to Kansas after spending one year at LSU as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. The Tigers had a 40-win season and were able to participate in the NCAA Regional. Before LSU, he spent nine seasons at Dallas Baptist, holding numerous positions. In his tenure with the Patriots, they participated in seven NCAA Regionals.
According to kuathletics.com, "Fitzgerald has earned respect among his peers. In a survey of 90 head coaches conducted by Baseball America in 2020, Fitzgerald was rated No. 7 on a list of assistant coaches from across the nation that will one day make the best head coach. Baseball America also rated Fitzgerald as the No. 7 assistant coach in the nation in 2018, while D1Baseball ranked him as the 17th-best recruiter in the country in 2016."
Since he joined Kansas, Fitzgerald has brought in 18 transfers to go with returning Jayhawks. Some of those players include Cole Elvis, Luke Leto, Janson Reeder, Jackson Cobb, and Thaniel Trumper.
Coach Fitzgerald has also quickly acted upon his 2023 recruiting class by announcing 13 signees. An even more impressive feat is coach Fitzgerald received the No. 1 ranked junior college recruiting class by Perfect Game in 2023.
The start of the season is quickly approaching for Kansas Baseball as they head on the road to Corpus Christi, Texas, to take on Valparaiso.