Rob Childress, Texas A&M Aggies Baseball

One of the top pitching coaches and recruiters in the country, Rob Childress enters his 13th season as the head coach of the Texas A&M; baseball program. Childress has led A&M; to a school-record 11 consecutive NCAA Championship appearances, six NCAA Regional titles, two conference regular-season crowns, four league tournament titles and the 2011 and 2017 College World Series.

In 2017, the Aggies were a young team that endured several highs and lows. The Texas A&M; baseball team entered the Houston Regional having lost eight of its previous 10 games but emerged victorious by defeating Baylor, Iowa and host Houston. The Aggies proceeded to outlast Davidson in the College Station Super Regional, including a 15-inning contest in the lidlifter, to advance to Omaha for the sixth time in program history.

The 2016 Aggies earned their first-ever SEC Tournament crown with a 12-5 victory over No. 1 Florida in the championship game. Texas A&M; finished the season with a 49-16 record, including a four-week stretch in which the Maroon and White won 10 of 14 games against squads ranked in the Top 10. The Aggies finished third in the SEC with a 20-10 and captured their eighth NCAA Regional trophy. The magical campaign included Kyle Simonds’ complete-game no-hitter against Vanderbilt, a top 10 squad.

The 2015 squad started the season with an SEC-record 24-game win streak en route to a 50-14 campaign, the highest victory tally for the Aggies since 1999. The Maroon and White finished third in the SEC with an 18-10 league ledger and won their seventh NCAA Regional title. The Aggies came up one run shy of the College World Series, dropping game three of a Super Regional against TCU, 5-4, in 16 innings.

The 2015 campaign was one of the best coaching performances Childress has put in, as his pitching staff posted a 3.04 ERA (22nd in the nation) despite losing two weekend starters for most of the season. Matt Kent and Grayson Long, who both posted 9-1 records on the year, went on to get drafted, along with A.J. Minter, who went 2-0 with a 0.43 ERA in four starts before succumbing to a season-ending injury. The Aggies had four different players earn All-America honors on the year, including Grayson Long, Logan Taylor, Nick Banks and Blake Allemand.

In 2014, Childress guided the Aggies through their second season in the Southeastern Conference, securing a spot in the SEC Tournament for the second consecutive year and earning a...