Erik Bakich Photo

Erik Bakich Bio, Age, College, Michigan Baseball, Maryland, Salary, Twitter

Erik Bakich Biography

Erik Bakich is an American college baseball coach who is currently the head baseball coach at Michigan.

He previously was the head coach at Maryland and served as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt and Clemson.

Erik Bakich Age

Erik was born on November 27, 1977, in San Jose, California. He is 44 years old as of 2022.

Erik Bakich College

Erik attended Bellarmine College Preparatory, graduating in 1996. Later in 1999 and 2000, he played baseball at East Carolina University.

He played as a left fielder with a 1.000 fielding percentage with 91 putouts, .315 batting average, 14 home runs, 85 RBIs, and 87 runs.

Erik Bakich Photo
Erik Bakich Photo

In both years, the Pirates secured the Colonial Athletic Association championship and earned No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Regionals.

Eric was awarded all-conference honors in 2000. He graduated from East Carolina with a sports science degree in 2000.

Erik Bakich Coaching career

Clemson University

After his short professional playing stint, Erik embarked upon his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Clemson University in 2002. He worked as a hitting coach, and with both infielders and outfielders. Later that season, he advanced to the College World Series.

Vanderbilt University

In 2003, Erik moved to Vanderbilt University to become the school’s recruiting coordinator, hitting coach, and outfield instructor.

He was ranked first recruiting class the 24th best in the nation by Collegiate Baseball. In 2004, Vanderbilt University increased its batting average from .258 the previous season to .304, the largest jump in school history.

The school brought in the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in 2005. Baseball America ranked the 2006 recruiting class 25th, and the 2007 class 12th. Each year of Erik’s seven-year tenure saw a top-25 ranked recruiting class.

University of Maryland

In June 2009, Erik was hired by the University of Maryland to replace former nine-year head coach Terry Rupp. Erik sought to rebuild the program and eventually achieve regular appearances in the NCAA tournament, an event Maryland has not qualified for since 1971.

Erik’s long-term strategy focused on recruiting, player development, and improving facilities. By September, he had secured eleven commitments in the 2010 recruiting class and one in the 2011 class.

He stated his plan to build a “recruiting wall” around the state to keep local talent at home. He said, “Patience is not a virtue of mine. We don’t have any time for that shit.”

In its first season under Erik, Maryland finished with a 17–39 mark and 5–25 in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Terrapins matched the worst finish in program history.

Erik said, “I know it sounds odd, but wins and losses have never been important to me.

I wanted to change the attitude of this team first and foremost, and you can already see that happening. Our seniors have done a great job of leading this team, and the transformation has already been made.”

The 2011 recruiting class was described as one of the best in school history.

On June 27, 2012, Erik resigned as Maryland’s head baseball coach in order to pursue his new head coaching career for the Michigan Wolverines baseball team.

 Michigan Wolverines

On June 27, 2012, Erik was named the 19th coach in the history of Michigan Wolverines baseball. On the same day of he was hired, he made his first public press conference as head coach of Michigan.

He was most noted for his quote, “We want to catch that softball program” meaning Michigan’s softball program, and showed great praise for head Michigan Softball coach Carol Hutchins.

Erik also talked a lot about pitching and defense for Michigan, and bringing in the best recruits locally, regionally, and nationally.

On May 24, 2015, Michigan defeated Maryland 4–3 in the Big Ten Conference Tournament championship game, securing a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008.

During the 2019 season, Erik led the Wolverines to a 46–20, including a 16–7 Big Ten Conference record, as they advanced to the College World Series for the first time since 1984.

Erik was named the NCBWA National Coach of the Year on June 15, 2019.

Erik Bakich Salary

According to USAToday Erik’s contract includes annual base pay of $450,000.

 

chevron_left
chevron_right

You cannot copy content of this page