Marlin Ikenberry 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

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

, who is the current head baseball coach of the

James Madison Dukes The James Madison Dukes are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent James Madison University (JMU), in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The name "Dukes" is derived from Samuel Page Duke, the university's second president. The Dukes play as me ...

. 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 VMI for coach

Chris Finwood Chris Finwood (born January 20, 1966) is an American baseball coach and former shortstop, who is the current head baseball coach of the Old Dominion Monarchs. He played college baseball at the Virginia Military Institute for coaches Donny White ...

from 1992 to 1995. He served at head coach of the

VMI Keydets The VMI Keydets are the athletic teams that represent the Virginia Military Institute. All sports participate in the NCAA Division I, and all but three compete in the Southern Conference (the exceptions being men's and women's swimming and diving ...

for 11 seasons, from 2004 to 2014. He was hired on July 22, 2003,Marlin Ikenberry - VMI Baseball Bio
/ref> the successor to Tom Slater, who departed for a coaching position at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. Ikenberry resigned the position to after the 2014 season to pursue a business opportunity. Ikenberry is a 1995 graduate of VMI. He is the Keydets' winningest head baseball coach, as well as the program's longest tenured head coach. He had a career coaching record of 282–307–1 (.475) in his eleven seasons at VMI.

Playing career

As a cadet at VMI, Ikenberry played

and started all 4 years. He caught for former major league pitcher

Ryan Glynn Ryan David Glynn (born November 1, 1974) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, and Oakland Athletics. College and MLB career Glynn attended college at t ...

who played for the Texas Rangers,

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

, and

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

. He was a part of both the 1993 team, which made the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

tournament finals, and the 1994 team, who finished third in the conference and set a then-school record for wins in a season. He graduated in 1995.

Coaching career

William & Mary

Ikenberry spent three years at the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III a ...

as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator in the late 1990s. In his final season with the

Tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

, William & Mary went on to win a

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title as well as a berth in the NCAA tournament. Ikenberry coached major leaguers

Brendan Harris Brendan Michael Harris (born August 26, 1980) is an American retired professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs, Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Minnesota T ...

and

Chris Ray Christopher Thomas Ray (born January 12, 1982) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants, and Seattle Mariners. Early life and c ...

VMI

Ikenberry was initially hired as VMI's recruiting coordinator in 2000, as well as a pitching and catching coach. He was later hired in 2003 as a head coach. After two losing seasons in 2004 and 2005, VMI went 30–25 in 2006, which was the program's first winning season since 1965, a drought of over 40 years.VMI Baseball Year-by-year Records
/ref> Ikenberry also led the Keydets to winning campaigns in 2007 and 2008, marking the first streak of three straight winning seasons for VMI baseball since 1954 to 1956 (which was the only other occasion). Ikenberry coached automobile dealership mogul, Miles McQuaig. Ikenberry garnered six winning seasons, the same amount the program had in its history before Ikenberry's tenure. He resigned to take on a business opportunity with ARMS software.

James Madison

Ikenberry was named the head coach of James Madison's baseball team on June 30, 2015. He led the Dukes to a 26–26 record in 2018, the team's best finish since 2011.

Head coaching record

Personal life

Ikenberry was born in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. His twin brother Merlin and elder brother Steve were both graduates of VMI; Merlin was also a teammate of Marlin's, and they were commonly known as the Fish and the Wizard. Ikenberry is married to his wife Shannon and they have two sons, Owen and Gavin. Merlin (Marlins brother) is married to Tracey and they have three kids named Annabel, Kyla, and Levi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ikenberry, Marlin 1973 births Living people Ikenberry Ikenberry Ikenberry Ikenberry Baseball players from Richmond, Virginia Baseball coaches from Virginia