UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State baseball head coach Rob Cooper announced the addition of two staff members Friday, as Sean Moore joins as the team’s director of operations and player development and Dallas Burke joins as a volunteer assistant coach.
“We are extremely excited to welcome Sean Moore and Dallas Burke to Penn State,” said Cooper. “Both are extremely dedicated to the mission of Penn State athletics and our baseball program. We believe they will make a positive impact on our program, both on and off the field.”
Sean Moore
Moore, an Iowa graduate, joins the Nittany Lions in a newly-created position after most recently spending two seasons as the volunteer assistant coach for the Hawkeyes as the teams’ hitting coach.
“Sean will be instrumental in the day to day operation of the baseball program, while also assisting our coaching staff in determining the best practices to develop our players,” said Cooper. “His experience with technology, research, and the most recent training protocols will be a tremendous asset. His experience coaching and playing in the Big Ten will be invaluable.”
“I am very excited for the opportunity to help out the Penn State baseball program moving forward,” said Moore. “I believe in what Coach Cooper is trying to do and the culture he has created. The additions to the coaching staff are only going to enhance what they have already done and take this program to the top of the Big Ten where it belongs.”
During the 2018 season, Moore helped guide Iowa to its fifth-straight 30-win season, three series wins against ranked opponents and eight victories against top 25 teams. He coached four All-Big Ten selections, including three first-team selections and Iowa had a record-tying five players selected in the 2018 MLB Draft.
Iowa won 39 games in 2017 — Moore’s first season on the coaching staff — claimed the first Big Ten Tournament title in school history, and advanced to NCAA Regional play — the program’s second in three seasons. The Hawkeyes saw five players garner All-Big Ten recognition, including unanimous first-team All-Big Ten first baseman and unanimous Big Ten Player of the Year honoree Jake Adams, who hit an NCAA leading, Iowa school and Big Ten-record 29 home runs. The Hawkeyes ranked among the top three in the Big Ten in nine difference offensive categories, including leading the league in hits, RBIs, and slugging percentage, while ranking second in runs, doubles, home runs, and total bases. Individually, Iowa players led the Big Ten in runs, slugging percentage, hits, RBIs, home runs, and total bases. Four Hawkeyes were drafted in the MLB Draft.
After wrapping up his own playing career in 2015, Moore joined the coaching staff at Des Moines Area Community College as the program’s hitting and strength and conditioning coach. The Bears won 30 games during the 2016 season, where they hit .331 as a team with 78 home runs, 126 doubles, and 15 triples.
The Coralville, Iowa, native has also served as director of baseball operations at Diamond Dreams Sports Academy, where he has continued researching the biomechanical movements of each phase of the swing.
Moore’s collegiate playing career consisted of three stops. He played two seasons at DMACC, where he helped the Bears to an NJCAA World Series berth in 2011 before earning All-Region XI honors in 2012. He spent the 2013 season at Wichita State before transferring and wrapping up his career as a Hawkeye in 2015. Iowa won 41 games in his lone season and advanced to NCAA Regional play for the first time since 1990.
Moore, a certified hitting instructor, graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in leisure studies in 2015.
Dallas Burke
Burke also has an Iowa connection as he played there two years before completing his career at Missouri Southern State University. He has been a volunteer assistant at Division I schools for the past two seasons, with stops at Bowling Green (2016-17) and West Virginia (2017-18).
“Dallas is a young energetic coach who will help coach the hitters and catchers,” said Cooper. “He has a great way of connecting with players and teaching them the game of baseball. His experience playing in the Big Ten is also a plus.”
“I am very excited for the opportunity to coach at Penn State University,” said Burke. “This is a place where something extremely special can happen. Rob Cooper has put together a staff that will make the environment here for a baseball student athlete second to none. Now it is time to get to work!”
Most recently with the Mountaineers, Burke’s primary responsibilities included coaching the catchers and assisting with hitters, with one catcher earning an honorable mention for the All-Big 12 team. At Bowling Green, Burke held similar responsibilities, and his catchers threw out 51 percent of base stealers overall and 59 percent in Mid-American Conference play. Both totals ranked No. 1 in the MAC.
Burke spent the three previous seasons at Black Hawk Junior College in Moline, Illinois, as the program’s assistant coach/recruiting coordinator and camp coordinator. The team captured two-consecutive conference championships during his tenure, and he coached 19 first team all-conference players, seven all-region players, two All-Americans and nine academic All-Americans. Burke also built a strong track record of sending players to the next level at BHCC. Twelve players over his three seasons moved on to Division I programs, including both starting catchers that he worked with.
A catcher during his playing days, Burke continued his career after college at the professional level. He played one season with the Roswell Invaders of the Pecos League (Independent Professional Baseball) in New Mexico in 2013, before spending parts of 2014 with the Cologne Cardinals in Germany as a player and coach. Along with playing in Cologne, Burke worked camps at MLB Academies across Europe to help develop the game throughout the continent.
Burke began his collegiate playing career at the University of Iowa from 2008-10, where he was named a Freshman All-Big Ten selection as a catcher in 2009. He finished his collegiate career at Missouri Southern State University. In three seasons at Missouri Southern, Burke was named an All-MIAA selection twice and is ranked No. 10 in school history for career batting average and No. 12 in career fielding percentage. In 2013, he helped Missouri Southern win its first conference title in 21 years.
A native of Davenport, Iowa, Burke graduated from Missouri Southern State University with a bachelor’s degree in arts in history.
