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Mike Deegan
Mike Deegan returns for his 12th season as the Head Baseball Coach at Denison University in 2024. He was also named Assistant Director of Athletics in August 2023 and was promoted to Associate Professor of Physical Education in the summer of 2023.
In his time in Granville, Ohio, Deegan has established Denison baseball as one of the top programs in the mid-east region and a contender on the national stage. Excluding the shortened 2020 season due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Deegan has led the Big Red to five straight NCAA Regional Tournament appearances. This began with a breakthrough 2018 season that saw the Big Red set a new program record for wins (32) at the time while advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. Deegan was named the North Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year for the second time in his career and senior center fielder Tanner Johnson was named the NCAC Player of the Year.
In 11 seasons at Denison, Deegan has guided his teams to three NCAC regular-season titles, four NCAC Tournament titles, four West Division Championships and nine appearances in the NCAC Championship Tournament while posting a .678 winning percentage (295-140) which is tops in the 125+ year history of Denison baseball. In 2019, Deegan became the program's career leader in victories.
The Big Red finished their 2023 season 36-10 overall, earning the second most wins in a single season in program history for the second year in a row and advancing to the regional championship game for the third year in a row. This marked the fifth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance and the second straight year hosting regionals for Denison. The Big Red also captured the NCAC Regular-Season Championship for the third straight year and won the NCAC Tournament Championship for the fourth straight season. Denison could not be stopped in its quest to finish a perfect 16-0 in NCAC action. It was the first undefeated conference season in the NCAC since the College of Wooster in 2007, and was the first 16-0 season in conference history. Then with its 7-2 victory over second-seeded Wittenberg University to wins its fourth consecutive NCAC Tournament crown, Denison joined the 2000 Ohio Wesleyan University baseball team as the only NCAC teams with an undefeated regular season and an undefeated tournament run. Senior starting pitcher Charlie Fleming was named the NCAC Pitcher of the Year for the second time in his career (2021, 2023), was the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Region 7 Pitcher of the Year, and was named as a Second-Team All-American by the ABCA. Sophomore center fielder Eric Colaco, meanwhile, was named the NCAC Player of the Year, was a First-Team All-Region selection by both the ABCA and D3baseball.com, and earned Third-Team All-American honors from the ABCA to go along with a nod to the fifth-team by D3baseball.com. Fleming and Colaco are the first pair of Big Red baseball players to be named an All-American in the same season since Drew Shamrock and Adam Mandel in 2004.
Denison finished its 2022 season 35-11, which at the time was the second most wins in program history, while also hosting an NCAA Regional for the first time in program history. The season also marked Denison's fourth consecutive NCAA Regional berth. During the second round of the Granville Regional against No. 7 nationally-ranked and defending NCAA Division III National Champion Salisbury University, the Big Red earned a 2-0 shutout victory that sent them to the regional championship for the second year in a row. Following Denison's run in the regional tournament, senior pitcher and NCAC Tournament MVP Kenny Lippman was named a D3baseball.com First-Team All-American, becoming the third D3baseball.com All-American produced by the Big Red program at the time. After leading the Big Red to a new program record for conference wins (16-2), a second straight NCAC regular-season championship and their third straight NCAC Tournament Championship with an 8-1 victory over Wooster in the title game, Deegan was named the NCAC Coach of the Year for the third time in the last four seasons and for the fourth time in his career overall.
In 2021, Deegan led his team to a 27-13 record, their fourth NCAC West Title, their first NCAC Championship, and a run in the NCAA Regional Tournament that saw the Big Red fall in the NCAA Regional Championship game to No. 1 Washington University in St. Louis. He was named NCAC Coach of the Year for the third time in his career.
In the shortened 2020 season, the Big Red were 5-4 before ending the season in mid-March.
In 2019, Denison shattered the records set the previous season by going 39-9 and advancing to their second straight NCAA Regional. The Big Red won a school-record 17-straight games while capturing the program's first-ever NCAC Tournament Championship. The team advanced to the NCAA Division III Regional Tournament for the second time in school history, capturing its first postseason victory against La Roche. Junior first baseman Will Krushena was named to the ABCA Division III All-American Team.
The successes of Denison baseball has been a gradual climb that culminated with the NCAA South Region berth in 2018 in Holly Springs, North Carolina. DU completed the 2018 season with a 32-12 record. Six players were named to the all-conference team and DU swept the conference awards with Johnson taking Player of the Year accolades and Perley Provost earning Pitcher of the Year. Provost, Johnson, Sam Frazen and Mikey Rivera earned all-region honors and Johnson became Denison's sixth ABCA All-American.
In 2017, the Big Red were ranked nationally for the majority of the season, marking a return to the top-25 for the first time since 2004. The Big Red finished the season with a record of 29-12, marking the third-highest win total in program history at the time. On March 22, 2017, Deegan earned career victory No. 100 by defeating his alma mater, Marietta, 6-2, in Marietta, Ohio.
The success of the 2017 season came on the heels of a 27-14 campaign in 2016 that saw Denison earn a regional ranking throughout the season en route to winning their third NCAC West Division title in Coach Deegan's first four seasons.
In his first two seasons with the Big Red, Deegan guided his squads to back-to-back NCAC West Division championships and consecutive 20+ win seasons. In 2014, Deegan was named the NCAC Coach of the Year after posting a 14-5 record in conference play.
In 2013, Deegan guided his squad to a 25-16 record and a division championship. Denison's 25 victories marked the third-most in a single season in school history at the time. Denison landed three players on the All-NCAC first-team list and nine players overall were honored in the league's post-season awards.
Prior to coming to Denison, Deegan spent nine seasons on the Marietta coaching staff, helping guide the Pioneers to three NCAA Division III national championships (2006, 2011, 2012), six NCAA regional berths, and four Division III championship appearances.
In 2012, the Pioneers captured the program's sixth national championship in school history after posting a 48-8 record. This season's national championship campaign came after a record-setting 2011 season which saw Marietta go 47-4, and once again, win the national championship.
In nine seasons with Deegan on staff, Marietta won 30 or more games eight times, and they posted an overall record of 326-111 (.745). Deegan served as the recruiting coordinator at Marietta and was the team's hitting instructor. In 2012 the Pioneers hit .331 as a team with a .414 on-base percentage. Marietta outscored its opponents 419-152 last season. In addition to his responsibilities with the baseball program, he served as a special assistant to the athletics director and was the Marietta Student-Athlete Advisory Committee advisor.
Deegan spent 2007 serving as the head coach of the Southern Ohio Copperheads of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League. That season Deegan led the Copperheads to the most wins in franchise history (25), and the best postseason finish in franchise history. He was named the GLSCL Manager of the Year at the conclusion of the season.
A 2001 graduate of Marietta, Deegan was a two-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference first-team selection in 1999 and 2001. He was a major contributor on four OAC Championship teams, two NCAA Mideast Regional championships, and two NCAA Division III Championship appearances. In his senior season, he started all 58 games, hit .393 with 46 RBI, seven home runs, and a team-high 17 doubles. That season the Pioneers advanced to the national championship game.
Prior to his graduation, he was awarded the Way-Weigelt Award, which goes to the top senior male student-athlete at Marietta. The award is based on scholarship, leadership, character, and sportsmanship. Deegan received his bachelor's in management, and in 2006 he earned his master's degree in education from Marietta.
Deegan was inducted into the Marietta Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018 and the Pennsylvania Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019.
Deegan and his wife, Lowrie have four children and reside in Granville.
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