John Savage is in his 13th season at the head coach of the UCLA Bruins. Since the 2005 season, he has posted a 419-301-1 (.581) record upon entering the 2017 campaign. He was named the 2015 Pac-12 Coach of the Year and has led the Bruins to the postseason in eight of the last 11 seasons, compiling a 35-16 record with three College World Series appearances and winning the 2013 National Championship. He has coached 82 draft selectees during his time in Westwood and is one of only five coaches in baseball history to lead his team to a national championship, coach the number one overall pick in the MLB Draft and coach a USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award winner (Trevor Bauer, 2011). A sixth-round draft pick in 1983 of the New York Yankees, Savage opted to attend Santa Clara University where he pitched for three seasons before being selected in the 16th round of the 1986 draft by the Cincinnati Reds. He later was a pitcher on the 1987 Salt Lake City team that posted an incredible 29-game winning streak. He began his coaching career in high school at his alma mater in Reno, Nevada, before joining the collegiate ranks. He was an assistant coach at the University of Nevada and later served as an assistant at Southern Cal, where he concluded his time with the Trojans as their pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. At USC, he was an assistant with the 1998 national champions, and Collegiate Baseball recognized him as the National Assistant Coach of the Year in 1998. In 2013, Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America and the American Baseball Coaches Association named Savage as the National Coach of the Year. Late last year, USA Baseball named Savage as the manager of the 2017 Collegiate National Team. He was an assistant coach on the 2000 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team that finished its summer with a 27-3-1 record and won a gold medal at Haarlem Baseball Week in the Netherlands.

Jim Callis is a senior writer for mlb.com and mlbpipeline.com. A graduate of the University of Georgia, he began his career at Baseball America magazine in 1988 and quickly became recognized as one of the premier writers and evaluators of baseball talent in the country. He has covered both the major and minor leagues, college baseball and the annual MLB draft for nearly three decades, forming an encyclopedic knowledge of all levels of the game. He also worked at STATS, Inc., in the Chicago area in between his pair if stints with Baseball America prior to joining mlb.com in 2014. In this episode of College Baseball Now, Callis and CBN host Bill Ballew discuss the state of college baseball, including Callis’ observations of TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha. He also talks about the talent level found today in college baseball and discusses the effects the recent slotting rules have had on both college baseball and the major leagues. In a recent article that he co-wrote for mlb.com, Callis revealed his preliminary top 10 projected picks for the 2017 draft, which includes seven college players. These players include University of Florida right-handed pitcher Alex Faedo, Vanderbilt University right-handed pitcher Kyle Wright, University of North Carolina right-handed pitcher J.B. Bukauskas, Vanderbilt University center fielder Jeren Kendall, University of Louisville left-handed pitcher and first baseman Brendan McKay, University of Missouri right-handed pitcher Tanner Houck and University of Virginia first baseman and outfielder Pavin Smith. Callis also goes in depth about the potential of Brendan McKay, who is intriguing scouts with his outstanding two-way abilities on the field, which is creating a complex process for scouts and their teams. After watching Coastal Carolina University win the College World Series last year, Callis reveals the under-the-radar programs that he feels could break through the glass ceiling and emerge as strong contenders for the national championship during the 2017 campaign.

Rusty Stroupe has worked his way up the coaching ranks since his playing days at Appalachian State University. A native of Cherryville, North Carolina, Stroupe’s first job came as a middle school teacher when he was told his responsibilities also included coaching the baseball team. Though reluctant at first, Stroupe put his heart and soul into the job and wound up loving the idea of furthering his baseball coaching career. He proceeded to coach two years in the junior college ranks at North Greenville (1991-92) before turning conference foe Brevard College (1993-97) into a nationally ranked program and guiding the Tornadoes to the JUCO World Series. That performance led to Stroupe becoming head coach at Division II Lander in Greenwood, South Carolina, before he was named head coach of the Division I Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs. In 2003, his first at the Boiling Springs, N.C., university, Stroupe guided the team to a 33-23 record, including an 18-15 mark in the Atlantic Sun. Since then Stroupe has led GWU to at least 25 wins in 11 of his 14 seasons at the dugout helm, and has posted seven finishes in the top five in conference play. He crossed the 700-win mark during the early part of the 2015 season, which came one year after he became the all-time wins leader at Gardner-Webb by moving past Hall of Famer Clyde Miller. One of his biggest personal achievements occurred in December 2012 when he was named the recipient of the FCA Jerry Kindall Character In Coaching Award at the annual ABCA Convention in Chicago. After going 37-21 during the 2016 season, the Runnin’ Bulldogs enter the current campaign as the favorites to win the Big South Conference. Second baseman Collin Thacker, who led the Division I ranks last year with 28 doubles, received Pre-Season All-America recognition from Collegiate Baseball and will be counted on to help guide the potent Runnin’ Bulldog offense this spring.

Wake Forest head coach Tom Walter is the only active head coach and one of seven all-time to have led the Division I teams to the NCAA Tournament. In 2016 Walter guided the Demon Deacons to the College Station Regional and an opening-game victory over Minnesota after putting together an impressive season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. After playing baseball and receiving his undergraduate degree in finance at Georgetown University, Walter decided against entering the business world and opted to take a graduate assistant coaching job at nearby George Washington University while earning an MBA. After two years as an assistant at GW, Walter was an assistant general manager for the Greensboro Bats of the South Atlantic League before being named head coach at George Washington. He later took the dugout helm of the University of New Orleans and had to overcome the challenges associated with Hurricane Katrina. He relocated his team to New Mexico and lost eight of his 38 players in the process to other schools. Nevertheless, the Privateers fought through the difficulties and won 30 games the next season before following it up with a Sun Belt Conference championship a year later. Shortly after UNO decided to cut back on its athletic program, Walter was named head coach at Wake Forest. He achieved considerable attention when he proved to be a match and donated a kidney to incoming freshman Kevin Jordan. Walter has helped 18 players get drafted or sign pro contracts over the last five years and led the Demon Deacons to five straight winning seasons for the first time since Wake Forest posted seven straight from 1997-2003. Those pro Deacons are highlighted by big leaguers Mac Williamson (Giants) and Tim Cooney (Cardinals), while Will Craig, who received National Player of the Year accolades last year as a junior, was the 22nd overall pick in the first round by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2016.

Mike Fox was a former walk-on who became a three -year letterwinner at the University of North Carolina as a second baseman from 1976-78 and helped lead the Tar Heels to the 1978 College World Series. He graduated from UNC in 1978 with a degree in physical education before earning his Master of Arts in teaching at the school in 1979. He also served as a graduate assistant at Carolina during the 1979 season prior to being named head coach at Millbrook High School in Raleigh in 1980. After two years in the high school ranks, Fox was named head coach at Division III North Carolina Wesleyan in September of 1982.

During his 15 seasons in Rocky Mount, Fox led the Battling Bishops to 14 NCAA tournament appearances, eight Division III College World Series appearances and the 1989 NCAA Division III national championship. In 1999 he returned to Chapel Hill as head coach of the Tar Heels and over the last 18 seasons he has averaged nearly 45 wins per year and guided the Tar Heels to 50 or more victories five times, including a school-record 59 in 2013. He recorded his 1,300th career victory late in the 2015 season and enters the 2017 season three wins shy of 800 at North Carolina. On January 19, 2017, the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame announced that Fox will be among the inductees later this year, on May 5.

One of only six men to play in and then coach his alma mater in the College World Series, he has led Carolina to 15 postseason trips, including an incredible run of six CWS appearances in eight years from 2006-13. Fox also has either played or coached in all 17 of Carolina’s victories in the CWS. A total of 83 Tar Heels over the past 18 years have been drafted by Major League Baseball organizations, including 11 first-round or supplemental first-round selections. In 2016 thirty of Fox’s former players at UNC were in the big leagues, including Cleveland Indians reliever and 2016 ALCS MVP Andrew Miller, 2014 AL Gold Glove winner Kyle Seager of the Seattle Mariners and New York Mets righthander Matt Harvey, who started the 2013 MLB All-Star Game

Jake Boss Jr. became the 16th head coach in Michigan State baseball annals in 2008, and since that time he has emerged as one of the most successful coaches in the program’s 130-year history. Over the past eight seasons Boss has guided the Spartans to a 264-181 record, which represents the most triumphs over any eight-year period in East Lansing. Michigan State has also registered five of the top 10 seasons in MSU history under Boss, including 30-win seasons in each of the past seven years. During that span MSU won the Big Ten regular-season championship and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2012. In 2016, the Spartans posted an impressive 36-20 record and reached the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. In addition to recording the fourth-highest win total over the course of the season, the Spartans jumped out to a 14-1 start, which also represents the best in MSU history. At the end of the season Cam Vieaux (sixth round, Pittsburgh), Jordan Zimmerman (seventh round, Los Angeles Angels), Dakota Mekkes (10th round, Chicago Cubs) and Matt Byars (24th round, Minnesota) were drafted in professional baseball, which increased the number of Spartans drafted to 26 during Boss’s tenure.

Boss is about as well-versed in Michigan baseball as anyone could be. He played baseball at Division III Alma from 1989-93 before earning his master’s degree at Eastern Michigan in 2000. After initially coaching for a couple of years in high school (assistant coach at Lakeview High School in 1994 and head coach at Webberville High School in 1995), Boss’s college coaching career began in 1996 and 1997 as an assistant baseball coach at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, Iowa. He was an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan for seven seasons (1997-2004) before coaching three years at the University of Michigan. Boss then served as head coach at Eastern Michigan in 2008 and made quite an impact during his lone season as the Eagles’ leader. Boss was selected as the 2008 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year and entered the record books by becoming just the second coach in league history to win the MAC Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament in his first season. That performance led to his becoming head coach of the Spartans on July 1, 2008.

For a complete recap of Boss’s career, please click here for the Michigan State baseball website.

When he was hired to guide the Samford Bulldogs’ baseball program in 2004, Casey Dunn became the youngest head coach at the Division I level. In just his second season at Samford, he took the baseball team from not qualifying for the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament to being the league’s regular season champion as well as the top seed in the OVC Tournament. The Bulldogs also won a then school-record 34 games and Dunn was named the OVC Coach of the Year. Since then, the Bulldogs have moved to the Southern Conference, and over the past five years Samford has more victories than any other D1 school in the state of Alabama. The Bulldogs will field one of the youngest teams in the veteran-oriented Southern Conference in 2017, yet Dunn is confident that his energetic and aggressive group of young players will be up for the challenge once league play begins in mid-March. To get a look at the Bulldogs’ 2017 schedule, simply click here.

Paul Mainieri has had unprecedented success at every stop in his coaching career. He began his career with a six-year stint at St. Thomas where he emerged as the school’s all-time winningest coach before becoming the first civilian head coach in the history of the Air Force Academy. From there he went to the University of Notre Dame and guided the Fightin’ Irish to the College World Series in 2002. Over the past 10 years, he has served as the head coach of the LSU Tigers and led the program to one national championship, four College World Series appearances, three Southeastern Conference overall titles, five SEC West Division crowns and five SEC tournament championships. His 2017 squad enters the campaign ranked as the number two team in the country while boasting an impressive combination of talented returning players and a promising class of 13 newcomers.

Texas Christian University made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 1956; thirty-eight years later, in 1994, the Horned Frogs reached the annual baseball event for a second time. That scenario has changed over the past decade and a half, which coincides with the arrival of head coach Jim Schlossnagle in 2003. Under the structured and disciplined guidance of Schlossnagle, the Horned Frogs employed their all-out hustle to reach the College World Series for the first time in 2010. TCU has returned to Omaha in each of the past three years and finished in third in 2016 before losing to eventual national champion Coastal Carolina. Along the way Schlossnagle has been named the National Coach of the Year on two occasions, receiving the honor from the NCBWA in 2010 and Baseball America in 2016. He also served as the head coach of the 2013 Collegiate National Team. With eight of nine starting position players returning as well as most of the 2016 pitching staff and a talented class of newcomers, TCU enters the 2017 season as the nation’s top-ranked team by Collegiate Baseball.

If you are looking for a podcast about passion for the game of baseball, you’ve come to right place because this episode’s guest is Gregg Ritchie, head coach of the George Washington Colonials. The upcoming season will mark Coach Ritchie’s fifth as the Colonials’ head coach. His team is coming off their fourth consecutive campaign with at least 20 victories and the program’s first back-to-back trips to the postseason since 2005-06. A 1986 alum of GW, Ritchie returned to his alma mater prior to the 2013 season after serving as the hitting coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his first season with the Colonials he was named the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year after leading GW to a 15-9 record in conference games and to the program’s first Atlantic 10 championship berth since the 2006 season.