MANHATTAN, Kan. – Mitch Gaspard, a 29-year college baseball coaching veteran with 13 years of head coaching experience, has been hired at Kansas State as Associate Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator, head coach Brad Hill announced Monday.
“We are extremely excited to welcome Mitch and his wife Kim to K-State and Manhattan,” Hill said. “Mitch has an outstanding reputation throughout collegiate baseball as a talent evaluator and exceptional offensive coach, while adding someone to the staff with his head coaching experience is a big positive. Throughout this process, I had multiple people call me to talk about not only his reputation as a baseball coach but also emphasize that he is a person of high character and integrity.
“Mitch has either been a part or led teams to multiple NCAA Regional and College World Series berths, so he understands what it takes to reach the pinnacle of college baseball. When you combine a track record of winning with the numerous recruiting relationships he has built throughout his tenure, it became clear he was the best possible candidate for this position. We are fortunate he has decided to continue his coaching career here, and he is a positive addition to the K-State Family and Manhattan community.”
Gaspard, who most recently served as the head coach at Alabama from 2010-16, replaces Andy Sawyers, who accepted the head coaching position at Southeast Missouri State last month.
“I am grateful to Brad and K-State for this exciting opportunity to be a part of this program and coaching staff,” Gaspard said. “With my background and experience, I am looking forward to helping Brad in any way that I can, being back on the recruiting trail and, most importantly, developing young men as not only baseball players but also preparing them for success after the game. Kim and I loved Manhattan on our visit, and we look forward to a new beginning at K-State.”
Gaspard’s resume also includes a head coaching stint at Northwestern State (2002-07), while he has been an assistant coach at Houston (1988), Louisiana (1989-92), Northwestern State (1993-94) and Alabama (1995-2001, 2008-09).
Boasting a career head coaching record of 439-326 (.574), Gaspard led UA to consecutive NCAA Regional appearances on two occasions in 2010 and 2011, and again in 2013 and 2014. His 2010 squad won 42 games and advanced to a Super Regional, finishing just one victory shy of the College World Series. The Crimson Tide also advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Tallahassee Regional in 2011 and 2014.
Gaspard received his first head coaching opportunity in 2002 at Northwestern State and hit the ground running, accumulating a 210-138 (.603) record in six seasons and winning a pair of Southland Conference championships, one SLC Tournament championship and a berth in the 2005 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional.
Gaspard’s head coaching opportunities have come due to his hard work as an assistant and chief recruiter. As an assistant, Gaspard has been a part of five conference championship teams, 11 NCAA Regional squads, one conference tournament championship and three College World Series berths. As both an assistant and head coach, Gaspard has been in the dugout for more than 2,000 games and his teams have compiled a 1,280-718-3 (.640) record.
During Gaspard’s time as an assistant at Alabama from 1995-2001 and again from 2008-09, the Crimson Tide won the 1995 SEC Tournament and finished one victory shy of the College World Series. Throughout the rest of his first tenure in Tuscaloosa, Gaspard helped UA earn six NCAA Regional appearances and three CWS berths, including a national championship game loss to LSU in 1997. He came back in 2008 and helped UA to another regional showing in 2009 before taking over the program prior to the 2010 season.
Gaspard has also been proven to be an accomplished talent evaluator as, from 1995-2001 as Alabama’s chief recruiter, the Crimson Tide’s recruiting classes ranked in the top-20 nationally five times, including three straight top-10 classes according to Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball.
Although he may be an accomplished recruiter, Gaspard has been equally successful in developing talent as his career record has shown, but he has also coached players to a combined 77 draft picks in his 29 years, including 25 that were selected in the top 10 rounds of the MLB Draft.
Gaspard began his collegiate playing career for the legendary Skip Bertman as LSU before transferring to Houston. Born on May 26, 1965, Gaspard is married to the former Kim Howell, and the couple has two daughters, Brae and Paeton.
