Rick Barnes/USA Today Sports
Penn State Tabs Boston College's Mike Gambino as Baseball Coach
Mike Gambino, who recently signed a contract extension as Boston College's baseball coach, will rejoin his former boss at Penn State. Patrick Kraft, the Penn State athletic director who formerly worked at Boston College, announced that Gambino will be the Nittany Lions' new baseball coach. Gambino replaces Rob Cooper, who resigned in May after 10 seasons as head coach.
Boston College on June 16 announced a five-year contract extension with Gambino, who guided the baseball team to a 37-20 season and a trip to the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional. In a statement announcing the extension, Boston College Athletic Director Blake James, who took over for Kraft in 2022, said, "We are excited that Mike has committed to Boston College for the foreseeable future, and he has clearly earned this extension."
Just over two weeks later, Kraft hired Gambino as Penn State's next baseball coach. Gambino arrives at Penn State after spending 13 years as head coach at Boston College, his alma mater where he was an All-Big East second baseman in the 1990s. Gambino led Boston College to two appearances in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship and, in 2016, guided the team to its first appearance in an NCAA Super Regional.
"We worked with Mike at Boston College and know how he grows a program to find success on a national stage," Kraft said in a statement. "Mike guided BC to the best season in program history this past season, which is impressive in a conference with historical baseball success like the ACC. Mike is a tremendous teacher and has a track record for developing players' skills to prepare them for the next level."
In 2023, Boston College tied the program's best single-season record and was ranked for 12 straight weeks in the D1Baseball poll, reaching as high as No. 9 nationally. The Eagles went 16-14 in the ACC, their best season since joining the conference.
In his first 12 years at Boston College, Gambino had 33 players selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. Among his former players currently in the majors is New York Yankees pitcher Michael King.
"I couldn't be more excited to get to work with these young men and develop this program into a national contender and challenge to make the College World Series," Gambino said in a statement. "We will work tirelessly each and every day to make our alumni, former players and everyone involved in the program proud."
Kraft recently told Ben Jones of StateCollege.com that Penn State should expect to reach the College World Series. The Lions have made five College World Series appearances, the last in 1973.
"I fully expect to get to Omaha [for the College World Series]," Kraft told StateCollege.com. "Like that’s what we’re in this for. And we got to put the right things and the right pieces in place. And that goes back to health and wellness, the mental health we’ve added the sports performance people we’ve added the training table all of those things go to helping you win and being successful. And in whatever sport, baseball included. We can win at baseball."
Gambino has coached at Boston College and Virginia Tech, where he was an assistant for four years. He also was regional scout for the Detroit Tigers and briefly played and worked for the Boston Red Sox, coaching in their minor league system. As a player at Boston College, Gambino posted a career batting average of .313.
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