By – GOUSFBULLS.COM – University of South Florida Vice President for Athletics Michael Kelly has named Mitch Hannahs, who led Indiana State to four of the last five NCAA Tournaments and the 2023 NCAA Super Regional, as the head coach of USF baseball.
A two-time Missouri Valley Coach of the Year selection (2023 & 2024), Hannahs comes to USF after 11 highly successful seasons as head coach at his alma mater Indiana State (2014-24), where he led the Sycamores to national Top 25 rankings, five NCAA Tournament appearances, the 2023 NCAA Super Regional, and a record of 355-214-1 (.623). He led the Sycamores to MVC domination – becoming the first program since Wichita State in 2007 to post 20-plus conference wins in back-to-back seasons – and national prominence – seeing ISU appear in all five national baseball polls for six straight weeks heading into the 2024 NCAA Tournament, including as high as No. 14 in the Perfect Game poll.
“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Mitch Hannahs and his family to Bulls Nation as the new leader of USF Baseball!” Kelly said. “Highly respected in baseball circles with an outstanding coaching record that speaks for itself, Mitch did an incredible job elevating the Indiana State program to national prominence with its domination of the Missouri Valley Conference the last two years and multiple NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Super Regional. I am excited by his vision and strategic plan to utilize USF’s facilities and resources to build a championship program in the baseball hotbed of Tampa Bay.”
A former MLB Draft pick, NCAA All-American, and College World Series participant as a player, Hannahs has 20 years of collegiate head coaching experience, including nine seasons at Lincoln Trail College (2002-10) where he also served as president for part of his tenure. He has a career record of 626-403-1 that includes 10 30-win seasons, six conference titles and 14 ISU players that were selected in the MLB Draft.
“I first want to thank President Law, Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly, and Deputy AD Lelo Prado for this incredible opportunity,” Hannahs said. “USF is an amazing institution with a thriving athletic department that is on an incredible trajectory. I am eager to get on campus to meet with our players and begin building a championship program. Go Bulls!”
Hannahs’ 2024 ISU team won the MVC regular season title for the second-straight year (a first in program history), was ranked No. 10 in the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), won all nine MVC weekend series (continuing a streak of 19 straight MVC series wins dating to 2022), and reached the NCAA Lexington Regional final before falling to No. 2 overall seed Kentucky. The Sycamores finished 44-15 (22-5 MVC), posting their second straight 40-win season and third under Hannahs.
ISU saw 10 players voted to the MVC All-Conference team with four additional members named to the All-Defensive squad. The Sycamores wrapped up the regular season leading the MVC in conference play in nearly every major team statistical category including batting average (.314), hits (296), slugging (.588), on-base percentage (.419), fielding percentage (.986), ERA (3.77), strikeouts (288), and opponent batting average (.224). Additionally, Indiana State finished second in runs scored (220), second in home runs (66), and second in RBIs (209).
Indiana State’s Brennyn Cutts became the third ISU player to win the MVC Pitcher of the Year Award in the last four seasons, while catcher Grant Magill was voted the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, as the reigning ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove winner became just the second player in Valley history to win the award multiple times.
Hannahs also led ISU to NCAA Tournament appearances in 2014, 2019, 2021, and 2023, winning just the program’s second NCAA regional and first since 1986 in 2023 to advance the Sycamores to the program’s first NCAA Super Regional vs. TCU in Fort Worth, Texas. The Sycamores won both the MVC regular season title (going 24-3) and the MVC Tournament in 2023. ISU also captured an MVC Tournament title in 2019, the first for ISU in 20 years.
Hannahs was a four-year letter winner at Indiana State (1986-89), finishing with a .376 batting average, 274 hits, 34 doubles, 23 triples, 11 home runs, 220 runs scored, 138 runs batted in, and 77 stolen bases. Selected an American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and Baseball America All-American in 1989, Hannahs led the team with a .428 batting average, 101 hits, and 76 runs scored in his senior season while the Sycamores claimed the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship.
Indiana State posted 172 victories during Hannahs’ playing career and made trips to the NCAA Tournament in 1986, 1987, and 1989, including reaching the 1986 College World Series – the lone trip to the CWS in program history.
Hannahs was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 16th round of the 1989 Major League Baseball Draft. He went on to play three seasons in the minor leagues from 1989 to 1991 where he compiled a .306 batting average with 132 hits in 127 career games played.
He returned to Terre Haute in 1995 to serve as an assistant coach for legendary ISU coach Bob Warn. He worked as the hitting and infield coach from 1995 to 1999 and was the Sycamores’ coach for pitchers and catchers from 1999 to 2001.
Hannahs went on to become the head coach at Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, Ill., for nine seasons where he led the Statesmen to Region 24 titles in 2005 and 2007, Great Rivers Athletic Conference championships in 2006 and 2007, and a 270-189 record.
Hannahs was inducted into the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Hall of Fame in recognition of his accomplishments at Skyvue High School (Graysville, Ohio) where he played basketball and baseball.
He graduated from Indiana State in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in business and marketing and later earned a master’s degree in athletics administration.
Hannahs and his wife, Amy, have three children: Derek, Kylee and Kaleb.
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About USF Athletics
USF Athletics currently sponsors 21 varsity men’s and women’s teams that compete in 13 different sports, 20 at the NCAA Division I level in the American Athletic Conference, including the recent additions of women’s lacrosse and women’s beach volleyball. The Bulls’ athletic program began in 1965 and will be in its 59th season in 2024-25. More than 450 student-athletes train and compete in the athletic district located on the east end of the campus in Tampa, Fla. USF garnered two national championships in 2022-23 as Romaine Beckford won NCAA indoor and outdoor high jump titles. The Bulls have claimed 32 American Athletic Conference team titles since joining the conference in 2013, including four in 2023-24, and own 149 conference titles in 16 sports in department history, led by 20 each for men’s tennis and men’s soccer. USF has claimed 80 men’s conference championships and 69 women’s titles, led by 14 in women’s tennis and 12 in volleyball. The Bulls have posted a combined annual grade-point average over 3.0 for a program record of 19 straight semesters as of spring 2024. USF has had over 700 student-athletes earn their degree since 2016-17.
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