Ronald George Polk (born January 12, 1944) is an American professional coach in
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
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 ...
. He was a long-time head baseball coach at
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 ...
and is considered to be the "Father of
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...
Baseball." Polk compiled one of the most successful winning records, as a coach, in both MSU and Southeastern Conference history. In 31 seasons as an SEC coach he compiled a 1218-638-2 () record. His career record stands at 1373-702-2. He currently ranks 9th on the all-time wins list nationally for 10+ year Division I coaches. His teams won five SEC championships and five
SEC tournament
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) sponsors nine men's sports and twelve women's sports. This is a list of conference champions for each sport. Also see the list of SEC national champions.
Members
The SEC was established on December 1932, when t ...
championships. His teams participated in the
NCAA tournament twenty-three times, and reached the
College World Series
The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...
eight times.
There were 185 players who played under him as a Head Coach, who signed professional baseball contracts, and 23 of these players played in the major leagues. He coached 35 All-Americans and 76 All-Southeastern Conference players. During his tenure at Mississippi State, Polk had eight players drafted in the first round of the professional baseball draft. He is one of only three coaches in college baseball history to coach at three different schools that have played in the
College World Series
The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...
in Omaha, Nebraska. Georgia Southern University – 1973; Mississippi State University – 1979, 1981, 1985, 1990, 1997, 2007; University of Georgia – 2001. He coached teams that played in Omaha over a period of five decades (nine appearances) including as an assistant coach at the University of Arizona in 1966.
Polk is a member of the following Six Halls of Fame; Georgia Southern University Hall of fame (1990). American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame (1995). State of Mississippi Athletic Hall of Fame (1998). Mississippi State University Athletic Hall of Fame (1998). National College Baseball Hall of Fame (2009). Phoenix, Arizona High School District Hall of Fame (2017). He is a Former President of the American Baseball Coaches Association (1985). Winner of the Lefty Gomez Award which is the highest award given by the American Baseball Coaches Association (1988). Received the highest award given out by the state of Mississippi Athletic Hall of Fame- The "Rube" Award (2017). Mississippi State University named the baseball stadium The Polk-Dement Stadium (1997). Coach Polk has also completed seven tours on the U.S.A. National baseball team coaching staff serving as the head coach two times and as an assistant five times. He has coached in the Olympic Games two times once Seoul, South Korea in 1988 when the team won the gold medal and the other in Atlanta, Georgia in 1996 when the team won the Bronze medal.
Polk authored ''The Baseball Playbook'', the leading textbook for baseball in college, and coauthored ''The Baseball-Softball Playbook'' with
Donna Lopiano Donna Lopiano (born September 11, 1946) is the President and founder of Sports Management Resources, a consulting firm that focuses on bringing the knowledge of experienced, expert former athletics directors to assist scholastic and collegiate athle ...
.
From 1972 to 1975, he served as the head coach at
Georgia Southern
Georgia Southern University (GS or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, and other locations include the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hin ...
. From 2000 to 2001, he coached at
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
. He has also served as an assistant coach at
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
, and
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
.
In July 2008, Polk was announced as a volunteer assistant coach for the
University of Alabama at Birmingham
The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a Public university#United States, public List of research universities in the United States, research university in Birmingham, Alabama. Developed from an academic extension center established i ...
Blazers baseball squad. The Blazers are coached by Polk's former MSU assistant
Brian Shoop.
Polk in 2009 and his former Mississippi State players,
Rafael Palmeiro
Rafael Palmeiro Corrales (born September 24, 1964) is a Cuban-American former Major League Baseball first baseman and left fielder. Palmeiro was an All-American at Mississippi State University before being drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1985. H ...
in 2009 and
Will Clark
William Nuschler Clark Jr. (born March 13, 1964) is an American professional baseball first baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 through 2000. He played for the San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, an ...
in 2006, were inducted into the
College Baseball Hall of Fame
The National College Baseball Hall of Fame is an institution operated by the College Baseball Foundation serving as the central point for the study of the history of college baseball in the United States. In partnership with the Southwest Collecti ...
. In 2018 he was named as a Legend in the Southeastern Conference.
In 2016 Coach Polk coached in the
Cape Cod Baseball League
The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...
as an assistant coach with the
Hyannis Harbor Hawks
The Hyannis Harbor Hawks, formerly the Hyannis Mets, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Harbor Hawks play ...
baseball team.
In May 2020, Mississippi State University announced that Ron Polk would be returning to the university as the Special Assistant to the Athletic Director.
Head coaching record
See also
*
List of college baseball coaches with 1,100 wins
This is a list of NCAA baseball coaches with 1,100 career wins through the completion of the 2021 season.
Key
Coaches with 1,100 career wins
References
{{College athletic coaching wins leaders in the United States
*
Baseball
Ba ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polk, Ron
1944 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Boston
Arizona Wildcats baseball coaches
Cape Cod Baseball League coaches
National College Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Georgia Bulldogs baseball coaches
Georgia Southern Eagles baseball coaches
Miami Dade Sharks baseball coaches
Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball coaches
New Mexico Lobos baseball coaches
UAB Blazers baseball coaches