The University of Louisville Athletic Association Board of Directors approved new contract terms for head baseball coach Dan McDonnell during Tuesday’s regularly scheduled meeting at Grawemeyer Hall.

“Dan’s been happy at the University of Louisville for a long time and we’re making sure he’s happy into the future. When you have quality coaches, we know they’re going to be approached with other opportunities, but I’m confident we have everything here Dan wants and needs in order to continue in our pursuit of winning a national championship,” said UofL Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Vince Tyra.

“The existing contract for Dan had eight years remaining on it, so that part of the deal will stay intact. There will be incremental bumps in his base salary and incentives to make sure the agreement is in line with how we like to see coaches’ contracts structured. With that said, this wasn’t focused only on the compensation for Dan but was instead more of a program discussion. Dan knows the upside of what we have at the University of Louisville and he understands our commitment to investing in all phases of the baseball program.”

McDonnell has guided Louisville to four College World Series appearances (2007, 2013, 2014, 2017), seven NCAA Super Regional berths, 11 NCAA Regional bids, eight regular season conference championships and two conference tournament titles. McDonnell is a two-time National Coach of the Year (2007, 2017) and a three-time ACC Coach of the Year (2015, 2016, 2017). The winningest coach in school history, McDonnell completed his 12th season at the helm of the Louisville baseball program in 2018 leading the Cardinals to a 45-19 record overall and the team’s seventh straight NCAA Regional championship appearance.

Louisville ranks No. 1 nationally in wins during McDonnell’s 12 seasons as head coach with 554, including a school-record 53 wins during the record-setting 2017 season. During the 12-year span under McDonnell, who has a 554-222 record at UofL, the Cardinals have produced a consensus National Player of the Year (Brendan McKay, 2017), 36 All-Americans, 92 all-conference selections, six conference Pitcher of the Year winners, four conference Player of the Year winners and one conference Freshman of the Year. Fifty-seven Louisville players signed professional contracts after being selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft from 2007-17, while an additional eight Cardinals were chosen in the 2018 MLB Draft.

McDonnell earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from The Citadel in 1992 and later completed his master’s degree in business administration in 1995. As a student-athlete, he was a four-year letterwinner and an All-Southern Conference second baseman while helping The Citadel advance to the 1990 College World Series. McDonnell is married to the former Julie Anne Underwood of Charlotte, N.C. The couple has two sons, Jake and Justin.

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@UofLSheriff50. Louisville native, University of Louisville Business School Grad c/o 2004. Co-Founder of TheCrunchZone.com

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