John McCormack is an American
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 p ...
coach who has been the head coach of
Florida Atlantic (FAU) since the start of the
2009 season. McCormack was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year in 2010, and the Owls have appeared in two
NCAA tournaments under him. Previously, he served as an assistant at FAU from 1991 to 2008. McCormack is an
alumnus of both
Indian River Community College and
Lynn University
Lynn University is a private university in Boca Raton, Florida. Founded in 1962, the university awards associate, baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral degrees. It is named for the Lynn family (Christine E. and Eugene M. Lynn). It has a total ...
.
Coaching career
McCormack began his coaching career in 1991 and spent 18 years as an FAU assistant under head coach
Kevin Cooney Kevin Cooney may refer to:
* Kevin Cooney (actor), American actor
* Kevin Cooney (baseball)
Kevin Cooney (born August 12, 1950) is an American former college baseball coach who was the head coach at Montclair State from 1984–1987 and Florida ...
. During that time, the Owls appeared in six NCAA tournaments. McCormack handled much of the program's
recruiting during his time as an assistant, focusing on players from the
South Florida region where FAU is located. Although he was offered coaching positions at other schools and professional scouting jobs, McCormack chose to stay at FAU.
When Cooney retired at the end of the 2008 season, McCormack was hired to replace him.
The Owls spent his first five seasons in the Sun Belt, winning two regular season titles and one tournament.
They reached the NCAA tournament in
2010 and
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
, losing in the regional final both times. In 2010, McCormack was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year. In 2013, after losing their opening game, the team reached the decisive seventh game of the Chapel Hill Regional against #1 national seed
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
. The Owls lost, 12–11, in a game that multiple media outlets described as "epic."
Trailing 6–2 in the ninth, the Owls took an 8–6 lead, then gave up two runs in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings. They scored three in the top of the 12th, but UNC answered with three in the bottom half and walked off in the bottom of the 13th.
The Owls moved to
Conference USA following the 2013 season and missed
the conference tournament in their first season in the league.
In 2019, John McCormack was inducted into the FAU Athletics Hall of Fame.
Head coaching record
Below is a table of McCormack's yearly records as a collegiate head baseball coach.
[Division I Conference Standings at www.d1baseball.com. Accessed July 8, 2014.]
Personal
McCormack played youth and high school baseball with former
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
head coach
Brian Cleary.
McCormack has two children; a sons Conor and Shane.
See also
*
List of current NCAA Division I baseball coaches
The following is a list of current NCAA Division I baseball coaches. Currently, 297 programs compete at the Division I level in NCAA college baseball. Each program employs a head coach. The longest-tenured head coach is Tony Rossi, who has been ...
*
Florida Atlantic Owls
The Florida Atlantic Owls are the athletics teams of Florida Atlantic University. The Owls participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division I as members of Conference USA. On October 21, 2021, Florida Atlantic accep ...
References
External links
John McCormack, Head Baseball Coach Florida Atlantic University Owls
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCormack, John
Living people
Indian River State Pioneers baseball players
Florida Atlantic Owls baseball coaches
Lynn Fighting Knights baseball players
Year of birth missing (living people)
Baseball coaches from Florida
Baseball coaches from New York (state)
Baseball players from Boca Raton, Florida