Matthew A. Bragga (born July 20, 1972) 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

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo. The ...

, who is the current head baseball coach of the

Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles The Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Tennessee Technological University (TTU), located in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. The TTU athletic program is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) and c ...

. 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 ...

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 ...

for coach Keith Madison from 1991 to 1994. He then served as the head coach of the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (2004–2018) and the

Rice Owls Rice University athletic teams are known as the Rice Owls. The name comes from the owls in Rice's crest. Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics. A member of Conference USA, Rice sponsors teams in seven men's and seven women's NCAA sanctio ...

(2019–2021).

Playing career

Bragga was a 4-year letter winner for the

Kentucky Wildcats baseball The Kentucky Wildcats baseball team represents the University of Kentucky in NCAA Division I college baseball and competes in the Eastern division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The current head coach of the Wildcats is Nick Mingione. Ke ...

team from 1991 through 1994. He signed as a free agent with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

organization and played two years of minor league baseball for the

Butte Copper Kings __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word meani ...

and the

Charleston AlleyCats The Charleston Dirty Birds are an American professional baseball team based in Charleston, West Virginia. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a partner league of Major League Baseball. The D ...

Coaching career

In 1996, Bragga began his coaching career as an assistant at

Tuscaloosa County High School Tuscaloosa County High School serves grades 9– 12 and is located in Northport, Alabama, America, forming part of the Tuscaloosa County Schools. History The original Tuscaloosa County High was opened near downtown Northport in 1926. In 2000, ...

Northport, Alabama Northport is a city in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Tuscaloosa County in the west central part of the U.S. state, State of Alabama. Located on the Black Warrior River across from downtown Tuscaloosa, it is currently the 21st largest city in Alabam ...

. The following season, he accepted the head coaching position at

Bevill State Community College Bevill State Community College is a public community college in Sumiton, Alabama. It enrolls 3,986 students and has been accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools since 1994. , the college had ...

. In 2001, Bragga accepted a position as an assistant coach at

Birmingham–Southern College Birmingham–Southern College (BSC) is a private college in Birmingham, Alabama. Founded in 1856, the college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). More than 1 ...

. The 2001, Birmingham–Southern finished 55–11 and won the

NAIA World Series The NAIA World Series (officially branded as the Avista NAIA World Series for sponsorship purposes from 2013) is a double-elimination tournament, held since 1957, to determine the baseball champion of the National Association of Intercollegiate At ...

. On December 5, 2003, Bragga accepted the position of head baseball coach at Tennessee Tech university. He spent 15 seasons as the head coach at Tennessee Tech. After Bragga's first 3 seasons, Tennessee Tech had compiled a record of 46-109 (.297), but in his last 12 years as head coach he accumulated 400 wins and 283 losses (.585). He compiled 6 conference championships in his last 10 years at TTU, culminating with a 53-win campaign in 2018 when his Golden Eagles were 1 win away from reaching the college World Series in Omaha Nebraska. On June 15, 2018, Bragga was announced as the new head coach of the

Rice Owls baseball The Rice Owls baseball team is the interscholastic baseball team representing Rice University in Houston, Texas, United States. The Owls have appeared often in the NCAA Tournament since the tenure of head coach Wayne Graham began in 1992. The pr ...

program. On May 23, 2021, Bragga was fired after compiling a record of 51–76–1 in 3 seasons. On November 8, 2021, Tennessee Tech announced that Bragga would return to Tennessee Tech as the 16th coach in program history (he was also the 13th) starting November 11, 2021.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bragga, Matt 1972 births Living people Baseball first basemen Baseball catchers Baseball third basemen Baseball outfielders Kentucky Wildcats baseball players Bevill State Bears baseball coaches Birmingham–Southern Panthers baseball coaches Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles baseball coaches Butte Copper Kings players Charleston AlleyCats players Rice Owls baseball coaches