Inside Look At Notre Dame Baseball Coach Shawn Stiffler
Notre Dame baseball just finished its best two-year stretch in program history. Now, the Fighting Irish will turn to new head coach Shawn Stiffler to keep that success going.
In 2021, Notre Dame went to the program’s second Super Regional and followed that with their third ever College World Series in 2022. It's the first time in program history that Notre Dame made back-to-back Super Regional appearances, and the result was head coach Link Jarrett going back to his alma mater, Florida State, as head coach.
Jarrett’s departure gives Stiffler, 43, the opportunity to continue the success he’s had over the past 11 seasons as head coach at Virginia Commonwealth University. Stiffler averaged better than 36 wins in his nine full seasons at VCU (not counting 2012 when he took over as interim head coach in 2012 and the 2020 pandemic-shortened season).
Stiffler led VCU to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two seasons and also reached the program’s only Super Regional in 2015.
STIFFLER COACHING RECORD
Overall Head Coach Record: 352-207 (11 seasons at VCU)
Record includes overall record, conference record, conference finish
2012: 12-9 / 8-9 - 5th - Colonial (interim coach)
2013: 28-26 / 12-12 - 8th (tied) - Atlantic 10
2014: 37-20 / 15-10 - 4th - Atlantic 10
2015: 40-25 / 14-10 - 4th (tied) - Atlantic 10
2016: 38-19 / 17-9 - 2nd - Atlantic 10
2017: 35-22 / 21-7 - 1st - Atlantic 10
2018: 34-23 / 14-10 - 5th (tied) - Atlantic 10
2019: 39-19 / 19-5 - 1st - Atlantic 10
2020: 9-8 / 0-0
2021: 38-16 / 13-3 - 1st (South) - Atlantic 10
2022: 42-20 / 19-5 - 2nd - Atlantic 10
Postseason Results
2012 (CAA): Beat VCU, lost to UNC-Wilmington, beat Towson, lost to Hofstra
2014 (A10): Beat Richmond, beat Saint Louis, lost to George Mason, beat, Saint Louis, lost to George Mason
2015 (A10): Beat Davidson, beat Saint Louis, beat VCU, beat Rhode Island
2015 (NCAA Regional/Super): Beat Dallas Baptist, beat Oregon State, lost to Dallas Baptist, beat Dallas Baptist, lost to Miami twice
2016 (A10): Beat George Washington, lost to Davidson, lost to St. Joseph's
2017 (A10): Beat George Washington, beat Davidson, lost to Davidson twice
2018 (A10): Lost to Fordham, lost to George Washington
2019 (A10): Lost to Fordham, lost to Richmond
2021 (A10): Beat St. Joseph's, beat Rhode Island, Beat Dayton
2021 (NCAA Regional): Beat Campbell, lost to Mississippi State, lost to Campbell
2022 (A10): Beat Richmond, beat St. Joseph's, beat Davidson, beat Richmond
2022 (NCAA Regional): Beat Georgia, beat North Carolina, lost to North Carolina twice
Here’s more on the foundation of Stiffler’s success as a college coach:
AS AN ASSISTANT
Stiffler’s coaching career started at his alma mater, George Mason, where he was a pitcher from 1998-2001. He was just 4-9 in 11 career starts in college, but Stiffler’s pitching background is apparent throughout his career. George Mason’s team ERA dropped in each of his five seasons as the Patriots’ pitching coach.
He arrived at VCU in 2007 to take over as the Rams’ pitching coach. Stiffler recruited 13 pitchers who went on to be drafted by MLB teams during his 11 seasons as an assistant coach. His 2009 class at VCU garnered a top-40 national ranking by Collegiate Baseball Magazine.
TOP NOTCH PITCHING
In Stiffler’s nine full seasons as head coach at VCU (discounting 2012 and 2020) his Ram pitching staffs have never ranked worse than 5th in the Atlantic 10 Conference. They ranked 5th in 2013 and 4th in 2014 and have never ranked worse than 3rd over the past seven seasons.
The high-water mark was a 2.92 ERA in the 2015 Super Regional season. That ERA led the A-10 and ranked 13th in the nation. His Rams also led the conference in fewest walks per 9 innings, strikeout to walk ratio and WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) that season.
VCU’s WHIPs have ranked first or second in the A-10 in six of the past seven full seasons, with a 4th place finish in 2016. The Ram pitching staff was also either first or second in ERA, WHIP, strikeouts per 9 innings, and strikeout to walk ratio in each of the last two seasons. This year’s 3.91 ERA tied Notre Dame for 9th nationally.
CONSISTENT OFFENSE
Stiffler’s offenses at VCU haven’t put up gaudy numbers, but they’ve been consistent through the years. His 2019 and 2021 teams led the A-10 in runs per game and on-base percentage and finished second in the league in batting average both years.
Bunting isn’t sexy, but it’s a big part of the college game. Some of the top bunting teams in the nation, like Vanderbilt, UCLA and Virginia to name a few, have manufactured their way to national championships in recent seasons. VCU has been first or second in the A-10 in sac bunts for four years running and they’ve had two other top-2 finishes since 2013 under Stiffler.
GOOD DEFENSE
VCU’s last two teams have finished seventh and fifth, respectively, with a .964 fielding percentage both years. Those rankings are more the exception than the rule under Stiffler, though.
His Rams were tops in the A-10 and 17th in the nation with a .979 fielding percentage in 2019, a year after also leading the conference with a .981 mark in 2018. His 2013 was also No. 1 in the conference and 7th nationally with a .980 mark. They were no worse than third in the Atlantic 10 in fielding percentage from 2013-2019.
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