David Tollett (born March 30, 1966) is an American college baseball coach who has been the head coach of Florida Gulf Coast since 2002, the program's first season. Under Tollett, the Eagles have appeared in two NCAA Division I Tournaments and won Atlantic Sun Conference (A-Sun) regular season championships in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2019, and 2021.Tollett's 2017 season was the most successful in program history as the Green and Blue won a program record 43 games, claimed the program's first ASUN Tournament championship, and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time. After starting the season 24–3 and defeating then #2 and eventual National Champion Florida, then #1 FSU and Miami in the same season for the first time ever, FGCU rose to as high as #9 in the Collegiate Baseball News poll - marking the highest ranking ever achieved by any athletics program in school history. Following the hot start to the season, Tollett was named the Perfect Game Midseason Coach of the Year. The Green and Blue suffered a number of tough losses in April, but ended the regular season by sweeping its way through its final three conference series and earned the No. 3 seed in the ASUN Tournament. After falling into the loser's bracket following a loss on day two, FGCU won an improbable four elimination games in less than 30 hours and defeated top-seeded Jacksonville twice, including an extra-inning thriller in the winner-take-all championship. With the ASUN's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in hand, the Eagles earned the No. 2 seed in the Chapel Hill Regional and defeated No. 3 Michigan, 10–6, in its first-ever NCAA tournament game. Tollett was named the A-Sun Coach of the Year in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, and 2019. Worst loss of career came during the 2013 season when Tollett and the Eagles lost to an NAIA school, Ave Maria. Tollett has had 47 players at FGCU drafted or signed as free agents in Major League Baseball including Chris Sale, Casey Coleman, Richard Bleier, Jacob Barnes, Jake Noll, and Kutter Crawford.[1][2][3]
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Florida Gulf Coast |
| Conference | ASUN |
| Record | 743–452–3 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | March 30, 1966 |
| Alma mater | Tusculum College '88 |
| Playing career | |
| 1985–1988 | Tusculum |
| Position(s) | Third base |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1987–1996 | Charlotte HS (FL) |
| 1997–2001 | Edison CC (assistant) |
| 2002–present | Florida Gulf Coast |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 743–452–3 (college) 175–96 (high school) |
| Tournaments | A-Sun: 22–21 NCAA DII: 3–4 NCAA DI: 1–2 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| |
| Awards | |
| |
Head coaching record
editBelow is a table of Tollett's yearly records as a collegiate head baseball coach.[4][5]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Gulf Coast (Independent – NAIA) (2003) | |||||||||
| 2003 | Florida Gulf Coast | 35–15–2 | |||||||
| Florida Gulf Coast (Division II independent) (2004–2007) | |||||||||
| 2004 | Florida Gulf Coast | 39–17 | |||||||
| 2005 | Florida Gulf Coast | 37–18 | |||||||
| 2006 | Florida Gulf Coast | 41–17 | NCAA Regional | ||||||
| 2007 | Florida Gulf Coast | 40–17 | NCAA Regional | ||||||
| Florida Gulf Coast: | |||||||||
| Florida Gulf Coast (Atlantic Sun Conference – DI) (2008–present) | |||||||||
| 2008[a] | Florida Gulf Coast | 38–15 | 25–8 | 1st | |||||
| 2009[a] | Florida Gulf Coast | 36–18 | 23–7 | 1st | |||||
| 2010 | Florida Gulf Coast | 38–20 | 25–5 | 1st | |||||
| 2011 | Florida Gulf Coast | 27–28 | 16–14 | 7th | |||||
| 2012 | Florida Gulf Coast | 26–31 | 15–12 | T-4th | |||||
| 2013 | Florida Gulf Coast | 37–20 | 19–8 | 2nd | |||||
| 2014 | Florida Gulf Coast | 39–22 | 19–8 | 1st | |||||
| 2015 | Florida Gulf Coast | 30–26–1 | 11–9 | 5th | |||||
| 2016 | Florida Gulf Coast | 27–32 | 9–12 | T-5th | |||||
| 2017 | Florida Gulf Coast | 43–20 | 13–8 | 3rd | NCAA Regional | ||||
| 2018 | Florida Gulf Coast | 32–21 | 8–13 | 7th | |||||
| 2019 | Florida Gulf Coast | 34–21 | 16–7 | 1st | ASUN tournament | ||||
| 2020 | Florida Gulf Coast | 9–7 | Season canceled on March 12 due to Coronavirus pandemic[6] | ||||||
| 2021 | Florida Gulf Coast | 28–20 | 12–6 | 1st (South) | ASUN tournament | ||||
| 2022 | Florida Gulf Coast | 35–23 | 17–13 | 3rd (East) | ASUN tournament | ||||
| 2023 | Florida Gulf Coast | 42–18 | 20–10 | T-2nd | ASUN tournament | ||||
| 2024 | Florida Gulf Coast | 30–26 | 20–10 | T-1st | ASUN tournament | ||||
| Florida Gulf Coast: | 743–452–3 | 268–148 | |||||||
| Total: | 743–452–3 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ a b Until the 2010 season, FGCU was ineligible for the postseason while it transitioned to Division I.
References
edit- ^ "Dave Tollett". FGCUAthletics.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
- ^ Soffian, Seth (May 20, 2014). "FGCU Baseball Bags Trio of Top Awards". News-Press.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
- ^ Caldwell, Dana (May 24, 2010). "College Baseball: Tollett Has Built FGCU into Conference Power, NCAA tournament Contender". NaplesNews.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
- ^ "2013 Atlantic Sun Conference Baseball Record Book" (PDF). AtlanticSun.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
- ^ "2009 Florida Gulf Coast Baseball Media Guide". Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
- ^ "ASUN Conference Cancels Intercollegiate Competitions for Remainder of Academic Year". Archived from the original on May 4, 2022. Retrieved March 15, 2020.