Gary Henderson is an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

coach and former pitcher, who is the current head baseball coach of the

Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City. The athletic department is named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans. The men's basketball team is known as the Runnin' ...

. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

at Linfield in 1980 and at

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

for head coach Jim Dietz from 1982 to 1984. He was the head coach of the

Chapman Panthers Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scien ...

(1993), the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

(2009–2016) and

Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State Bulldogs is the name given to the athletic teams of Mississippi State University, in Mississippi State, Mississippi. The university is a founding member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA Division I. Sports sp ...

(2018).

Playing career

Henderson pitched one year at

Linfield College Linfield University is a private university with campuses in McMinnville, and Portland, Oregon. Linfield Wildcats athletics participates in the NCAA Division III Northwest Conference. Linfield reported a combined 1,755 students after the fall ...

before transferring to

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

, compiling a 19-5 career record at the two schools.

Coaching career

Henderson started coaching at his alma mater,

, as the

junior varsity Junior varsity (often called "JV") players are the members of a team who are not the main players in a competition (such as any football, basketball, or baseball game), usually at the high school level–– and formerly at the collegiate level� ...

head coach. He had assistant coaching stints at

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

Riverside Community College Riverside City College (RCC) is a public community college in Riverside, California. The college is part of the Riverside Community College District, as well as the larger California Community Colleges System. History RCC first opened in 1916 at ...

Chapman College Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scien ...

(served as head coach for 1 season), and

Pepperdine Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and th ...

. Henderson became an assistant at

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in 1995. Following a trip to the

1996 College World Series The 1996 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1996 NCAA Division I baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series ...

, he was named the National Assistant Coach of the Year by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. With Henderson's assistance, Florida returned to the 1998 College World Series. After a successful stay at Florida, he moved back to the west coast as an assistant coach at

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

. In 2003, he joined John Cohen's staff at

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

as the associate head coach. Following the 2008 season, Cohen accepted the head coaching position at his alma mater,

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

, resulting in Henderson's promotion to head coach. In 2012, Henderson was named Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year. On June 1, 2016, Henderson resigned as Kentucky Baseball Coach, citing burnout due to the demands of being a head coach in the SEC. In June 2016, Henderson was named pitching coach at Mississippi State, re-joining John Cohen. In February 2018, Henderson was named interim head coach at Mississippi State after

Andy Cannizaro Andrew Lee Cannizaro (born December 19, 1978) is a former Major League Baseball infielder who played for the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays between 2006 and 2008, and a former head baseball coach for the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Playin ...

resigned due to off the field indiscretions. After a poor start, the team turned around and reached the college world series. As a result, Henderson was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Coach of the Year. Despite the success of the team, Mississippi State did not retain Henderson as head coach. On June 20, 2019, Henderson was named the associate head coach at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

. When Bill Kinneberg resigned as head coach of the Utes, Henderson was elevated to head coach.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Gary Living people Cal State Fullerton Titans baseball coaches Chapman Panthers baseball coaches Florida Gators baseball coaches Kentucky Wildcats baseball coaches Linfield Wildcats baseball players Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball coaches Oregon State Beavers baseball coaches Pepperdine Waves baseball coaches San Diego State Aztecs baseball coaches San Diego State Aztecs baseball players Riverside City Tigers baseball coaches Utah Utes baseball coaches 1961 births