Head coach Bill Brown of the George Mason Patriots has been involved with the GMU program for four decades, including the last 35 as head coach. The native of Northern Virginia transferred to a junior college after his freshman season at the University of Georgia and joined the Georgia Mason program for his junior campaign. The former catcher is on the verge of winning his 1,000th game as the leader of the Patriots and has guided the team to 30 or more victories 15 times in the last 25 campaigns. He was the Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year on six occasions and led the Patriots to the program’s first Atlantic 10 title in 2014, when George Mason advanced to the Houston Regional, marking the school’s seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor is in his 14th season as the skipper of the Cavaliers. Just prior to O’Connor’s arrival to Charlottesville, University of Virginia officials were considering moving baseball and several other non-revenue sports to an intramural level. Instead, O’Connor has built his program into a college baseball powerhouse and turned Virginia Baseball into a national brand. After leading the Virginia baseball program to its first NCAA Championship in 2015, the five-time ACC Coach of the Year and three-time national coach of the year continues to reach new level of success with the Cavaliers.

Progress on the diamond has been achieved via baby steps for Presbyterian College since the Blue Hose joined the Division I ranks as a member of the Big South Conference in 2008. Head coach Elton Pollock, who is guiding the program for the 13th season, has seen his team take subtle yet significant strides over the last several campaigns, including back-to-back 27-win showings in 2015-16, which represent the highest total in PC’s D1 era, and a school-record 12 conference victories last spring. After playing professionally in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization and spending seven years in the business world, Pollock returned as an assistant coach under Doug Kovash prior to taking the reins as head coach in 2005. The 2017 campaign will be Presbyterian’s 10th as a D1 program, and Pollock believes the pieces are in place for the Blue Hose to post their best season to date and contend for their first conference championship. PC welcomes back six starters among the position players, two of three members from last year’s weekend rotation, and nine pitchers who saw extensive activity in relief roles a year ago.

Kennesaw State head coach Mike Sansing has guided the Owls for the past 25 years. After serving as head coach at Shorter College in Rome, Georgia, for three years, Sansing took over the Owl program in the fall of 1991 and won the NAIA national championship in 1994 and the NCAA Division II national championship in 1996. Earlier in this decade, the rapidly growing university located in the northwest suburbs of Atlanta made the jump to Division 1, and shortly thereafter, in 2014, the Owls advanced to the Super Regional in Louisville. Last season Kennesaw State won its first regular season championship in the Atlantic Sun Conference after going 17-4 in league play. Over the course of his tenure, Sansing has had 28 players drafted into professional baseball, including catcher Max Pentecost, who was the 11th overall pick in 2011 when he was taken by the Toronto Blue Jays. Kennesaw State regularly plays such in-state rivals as Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Mercer and Georgia Southern, which results in some of the best mid-week matchups in the country.

Belmont head coach Dave Jarvis is in his 20th season as the leader of the Bruins. He is the program’s only head coach since the Bruins moved from the NAIA ranks to Division I in 1998 and has guided the program to more than 550 victories and 15 winning seasons. Jarvis’ teams won the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2011 and 2012 before making the move to the Ohio Valley Conference. After going 33-27 a year ago, the Bruins welcome back a handful of seniors in outfielder/pitcher Brennan Washington, catcher Clay Payne and shortstop Tyler Walsh along with sophomore Chas Hadden, who garnered Freshman All-America honors last spring. Belmont also should be in good shape on the mound with weekend starters Tyler Vaughn and Dylan King back in the rotation and closer Dom Veltri focusing strictly on pitching for the first time in his career. Possessing a lineup with both power and speed, the Bruins should be a force in the OVC and will be a strong contender to earn their third NCAA Regional appearance in the last seven seasons.

Scott Stricklin became a household name in the world of college baseball when he guided his alma mater, the Kent State Golden Flashes, to the 2012 College World Series. After nine seasons at Kent State, Stricklin was named head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs in June 2013. Georgia was a perennial national and Southeastern Conference favorite during much of the 1990s and 2000s under Dave Perno before falling upon hard times during the latter part of his tenure. In recent years the Bulldogs have been affected by losing top recruits to the major league draft but appear to have reversed that trend heading into the 2017 season after Stricklin kept his entire freshman class intact, resulting in a strong fall performance. As a result, the Dawgs will field one of the youngest teams in the country but open the upcoming campaign with more hope than at any point in Stricklin’s four years in Athens.

Georgia Tech head coach Danny Hall moved to Atlanta in late 1993 when he arrived from Kent State University and replaced the Miami-bound Jim Morris. A former president of the American Baseball Coaches Association, Hall proceeded to guide a star-studded team that included the likes of shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, catcher Jason Varitek and outfielder Jay Payton to the program’s first appearance in the College World Series. The Yellow Jackets have returned to Omaha two other times under Hall’s direction, and Georgia Tech has reached the NCAA Tournament in 20 of Hall’s 23 seasons. The 2017 campaign will mark Hall’s 40th season in college baseball and he has never coached a team that had a losing record. Last year’s Yellow Jacket team won 38 contests as well as a couple of games in the Gainesville Regional and should be a force once again in the Atlantic Coast Conference this coming season, particularly if the pitching proves to be as good as advertised.

South Carolina head coach Chad Holbrook is the leader of one of the most passionate fan bases in college baseball. Chad played for head coach Mike Roberts at the University of North Carolina and later served as an assistant coach for the Tar Heels under Roberts as well as current UNC head coach Mike Fox. He joined Ray Tanner’s staff at South Carolina in 2009, and a year later the Gamecocks won their first of what  proved to be back-to-back national championships. Holbrook was named head coach of the Gamecocks in 2013 when Tanner became athletic director. Since then, South Carolina has made three NCAA Regional appearances in four years, including a stellar season in 2016 when the Gamecocks won the SEC Eastern Division before advancing to the Super Regional round. With some of the best pitching in the nation back in Columbia, the Gamecocks are a strong favorite to earn one of the eight spots in Omaha in June. In this podcast, Holbrook talks about what he learned after coaching under three legends and what he envisions for the Gamecocks this spring.

Jim McGuire enters his fifth season as head coach of the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders and is looking to help his team bounce back from a 20-35 record in 2016. The long-time assistant coach at MT will have a rejuvenated pitching staff as well as eight returning starters in the lineup, led by senior shortstop Riley Delgado and 2016 Freshman All-American Blake Benefield. In the podcast, McGuire discusses his long career in Murfreesboro as well as some of the outstanding players in Blue Raider history, including Bryce Brentz and Dewon Brazelton. He also talks about the potential of the 2017 season for the Blue Raiders and some tweaks he would make to college baseball if given the opportunity.

In his first season as head coach at Clemson, Monte Lee guided the Tigers to the 2016 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship. The Spartanburg, South Carolina, native rejuvenated the perennial national power with the help of several veterans as well as Seth Beer, who became the first freshman to be named the recipient of the Dick Howser Trophy as the country's top player. Lee previously served as head coach at College of Charleston for seven years after coaching under South Carolina head coach Ray Tanner for six years. Considered to be one of the nation's top young coaches, Lee explains in the College Baseball Now podcast why so many of his clubs have had success.