 |
|
|
Moccasin Baseball
Coaches' Profiles
Now in his sixth full season as head coach, Pete Meyer continues to keep Florida Southern's program among the elite in NCAA Division II. Last year he guided the Moccasins to their 30th consecutive season of at least 35 wins. They were 44-16 overall, runner-up in the Sunshine State Conference with a 15-9 league mark, runner-up in the NCAA South Regional, made their 37th NCAA Division II Tournament appearance and were ranked #5 in the final Division II poll by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. In 2005, he guided the Moccasins to their ninth Division II title with a 51-11 record and was the American Baseball Coaches Association Division II Coach-of-the-Year. In addition to his national coaching honors from the ABCA, Meyer also was South Region, Sunshine State Conference and Florida Diamond Club (scouting organization) Coach-of-the-Year. His head coaching record at Florida Southern is 228-90-1, while his overall record as a head coach is 267-120-1. His winning percentage of .689 ranks eighth among active NCAA Division II baseball coaches. Meyer was officially named head coach on June 3, 2002, becoming just the fourth head coach in the last 49 years for the program. He had served as interim head coach since April 2, 2002, following the retirement of Chuck Anderson. On Feb. 1, 2006, Meyer was given the additional title of assistant athletic director. In that capacity he is responsible for soliciting major financial gifts for the Florida Southern Athletic Department. After taking over the head coaching duties in 2002, Meyer led the Moccasins to a 16-9 record, a berth in the NCAA Division II South Regional, the South Regional Championship, and a trip to the Division II Championship for the 19th time. For his efforts, he was named the South Region Coach-of-the-Year. Before officially assuming the reigns of Division II's most successful baseball program in the country, Meyer had served for over three years as Florida Southern's top assistant coach. His primary on-field duties included working with the infielders and serving as the hitting instructor. He also was the program's recruiting coordinator. When Meyer came to Florida Southern in 1999 from Valdosta State, he made an immediate impact on the Moccasins, as the team lead the nation in fielding percentage at .969, their best figure since 1989 and the third best percentage in team history. The Mocs also were among the national fielding leaders the next two years as well, finishing 12th in 2000 with a .963 percentage and fifth in 2001 at .968. Florida Southern also led the Sunshine State Conference in fielding each of those three years. During the 2001 season, Meyer took on even more responsibility after Anderson was forced to the sidelines by illness in late February. In Anderson's absence, Meyer guided the Mocs as acting head coach over the last two months of the season, going 30-11 after February 25 and falling just short of the conference title and a postseason bid. Prior to joining the FSC coaching staff in 1999, Meyer spent five seasons at Valdosta State, working under veteran head coach Tommy Thomas. While Meyer was there, Valdosta State was ranked number one in the nation during the 1996 season, and advanced to the 1995 NCAA Division II National Championship, where it finished third behind Florida Southern and Georgia College. Overall, the Blazers were 159-111 during Meyer's five-year stay in Valdosta. In addition to coaching at VSU, he taught in the university's Health and Physical Education Department and assisted in the design and fund raising for the VSU $750,000 baseball complex and indoor hitting facility. Before his stint at Valdosta State, Meyer was head baseball coach at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, where he coordinated the start of its Division III baseball program in 1991. In his two years there, the Stormy Petrels won two Eastern Division titles in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. He also spent one season (1990) as an assistant coach at Division I North Carolina-Greensboro and served as a graduate assistant at Valdosta State from 1988-90, while earning his master's degree in physical education. As a collegiate player, Meyer was a four-year letterman at the College of Wooster in Ohio, graduating in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in speech communication. He was a two-time honorable mention All-North Coast Conference player in 1985 and '86, and a second-team selection in '87. He helped lead the Fighting Scots to the conference title in 1985 and 1987, and to the NCAA Division III playoffs in 1985, '86, and '87. Meyer married the former Julie Newnum in November 2005. The couple has three children, 16-year old Mitchell and 15-year-old Megan, and 18-year old Ross. An avid runner, Meyer also has completed five marathons. Meyer will serve again this year on the NCAA Division II Poll Committee, which conducts the weekly national rankings.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
  
 |
