College Baseball 360 » Houston baseball

Cressend Named Baseball Assistant At Houston

Sean Stires — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 12:22:56 +0000

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HOUSTON - University of Houston head baseball coach Todd Whitting announced the hiring of Jack Cressend as assistant coach on Thursday.

“Jack is one of the premier pitching coaches in the country and I am very excited he is joining our program,” Whitting said. “His experience on the major league level and strong recruiting ties throughout the country will have an immediate impact on our pitching staff and program.”

Cressend comes to Houston after spending two seasons at Tulane. As a member of Whitting’s staff, he will serve as the program’s pitching coach.

“I am extremely excited about the opportunity to come to the University of Houston and to work with Todd Whitting and his staff,” Cressend said. “They have the vision and ideas to take Cougar baseball to the next level. It is an exciting time for the program and this was on opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. I am looking forward to getting started.”

The Mandeville, La., native returned to his alma mater, Tulane, in 2009 after an 11-year professional career, including five in the Major Leagues. During that career, Cressend was named the Boston Red Sox’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 1997 and was a member of the American League Central Division Champion, Minnesota Twins. His best season in the major leagues came in 2004 with the Cleveland Indians, when he posted a 2.51 ERA in 43 innings. Throughout his entire professional career Cressend made 370 appearances on the mound with 820 strikeouts.

Prior to his professional career, Cressend played for the Green Wave from 1994-96. He saw action on the mound and in the outfield and was a member of NCAA Tournament teams in 1994 and 1996. The 1996 team also took home the Conference USA Tournament title, with Cressend being named to the All-Tournament Team after pitching a complete game shutout with 11 strikeouts in the championship game against South Florida.

Following his time in professional baseball, Cressend served as an area scout for the Tampa Bay Rays from 2006-2008. During that time he also founded the Louisiana Knights, a traveling baseball team that helps high school players get more exposure to college coaches. During the two years he was associated with the team, he helped more than 40 players reach the college ranks.

For the past two seasons, as a member of the Green Wave staff, Cressend assisted head coach Rick Jones, with recruiting. Additionally, he was in charge of scheduling, summer baseball player placement and served as the team’s pitching coach.

Cressend earned his bachelor’s degree from the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane in 2008. He and his wife, Katy, have two sons, Cole and Cameron.

(Houston Release)

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Houston Names Trip Couch Assistant Baseball Coach

Sean Stires — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:35:34 +0000

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Makes Return To Cougar Staff…

HOUSTON – University of Houston head baseball coach Todd Whitting added the first piece of his staff with the hiring of Trip Couch as assistant coach on Thursday.

“I am very excited to welcome Trip and his family back to UH,” Whitting said. “He was previously very instrumental in building this program into a national power and understands the blue print for success at the University of Houston. He is a tireless worker who has a great deal of passion and desire to re-establish this program to an elite level.”

Couch rejoins the Cougar baseball program after a stint as assistant coach in 1995-2000. He and Whitting served as assistant coaches at UH together from 1996-2000. As a member of Whitting’s staff, Couch will serve as Cougar baseball’s recruiting coordinator.

“The energy and excitement surrounding the program have been overwhelming,” Couch said. “To be with Todd in his first head coaching position is very rewarding, and I am ready to help him and the program. It’s good to be back at a place that I have a deep passion for.”

While on staff at Houston, Couch served as the team’s hitting and offensive coach and also performed administrative duties, including travel and scheduling. He also served as both a first-base and third-base coach during his time at UH. Couch’s teams still rank among the single-season leaders at the plate and the 2000 squad set a school record with 48 wins.

Under Couch’s guidance, the 1997 Cougar baseball team set school records in batting average (.327), runs scored (508) and hits (769), while the 2000 squad still holds the record with 157 doubles. The 2000 team saw 12 players drafted in the Major League Baseball draft, the most that season by any school in the nation.

As a member of the staff, Couch’s teams qualified for three NCAA Regionals, an NCAA Super Regional and won two Conference USA regular-season titles and two C-USA Tournament championships.

Following his time at Houston, Couch served as an assistant at Texas in 2001, coordinating team travel, NCAA practice logs, and team scheduling, while performing duties as the first-base coach before joining the Arizona Diamondbacks as a scout in 2002. He scouted in the state of Texas and Louisiana and oversaw all try-out camps in the territory.

Before joining the UH staff in 1995, Couch served as the marketing and promotions coordinator for the Cougar baseball and football programs in 1994. He was also assistant coach at Louisiana-Lafayette from 1991-92 and served as a student assistant and bullpen catcher for the Cougars from 1987-1990.

Couch was a member of the Team USA coaching staff in 1999. He also served as coach at the Area Code Games as well as serving on the staff of the Pony Team at the Tournament of Stars where the 18U USA National Team is selected.

Couch is married to the former Tiffany Williams. The couple has two daughters, Chandler Gray and Kendall Blair, and the family lives in Sugar Land.

TRIP COUCH AT A GLANCE

Name: Tripp Couch

Hometown: Charlotte, N.C.

Birthdate: Feb. 19, 1967

EDUCATION

• Louisiana-Lafayette • bachelor’s degree in restaurant administration • 1991

• Charlotte Catholic High School • 1984

FAMILY

Wife: Tiffany

Children: Daughters Chandler Gray and Kendall Blair

COACHING CAREER

2001 • Texas • assistant coach

1995-2000 • Houston • assistant coach

1991-1992 • Louisiana-Lafayette • assistant coach

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Whiting Named Baseball Coach At Houston

Sean Stires — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 13:32:33 +0000

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HOUSTON - Returning to his alma mater, Todd Whitting rejoined the University of Houston baseball program as its head coach on Friday, Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades announced.

Todd Whiting

Whitting becomes the eighth coach in program history and brings a solid resume as a coach and as a recruiter, roles he held for seven seasons at TCU and as an assistant at Houston from 1995 to 2003.

During his career, he has been a part of programs that won 16 conference regular-season and tournament championships, competed in 13 NCAA Regionals, five NCAA Super Regionals and one NCAA College World Series.

He also worked closely with 57 players that were drafted by major league organizations.

Whitting quickly developed a reputation as one of the nation’s top recruiters at both TCU and Houston. He was instrumental in bringing three signing classes to TCU that ranked among the nation’s top 10 by Baseball America magazine, including the No. 3 class in 2010.

As a Cougar, he assembled Houston’s 2000 signing class that was ranked No. 13 by Collegiate Baseball magazine.

With an award-winning background and strong recruiting ties in Houston, the state and across the country, Whitting was the best choice to lead the Cougars into the future, Rhoades said.

“We are thrilled Todd is returning to the Cougar family,” Rhoades said. “He is a program builder who played a key role in all facets of the program at TCU and its run to the College World Series this year and its previous success. Todd likewise was a vital component of our baseball program’s success in the early 2000s.

“When speaking with numerous baseball people across the great state of Texas, everyone spoke very highly about Coach Whitting the person and baseball coach. He is committed to the development of student-athletes both on and off the field and will work tirelessly to elevate Houston Baseball to the next level in all areas. We welcome home Coach Whitting and his son Matthew.”

AT TCU
In seven seasons at TCU, Whitting helped the Horned Frogs compile a 305-134 record, including six-straight conference championships. The Horned Frogs competed in the NCAA postseason each year during his tenure with an NCAA Super Regional berth in 2009 and the program’s first NCAA College World Series appearance in 2010.

Whitting’s deep ties to the Houston area played an important part of the Frogs’ postseason success. More than 40 percent of TCU’s roster (14 of 32 players) came from the Greater Houston area.

Whitting also helped lead the program to three straight seasons among the top 11 teams in the final polls.

As the recruiting coordinator for the Horned Frogs, he was instrumental in bringing three recruiting classes to TCU that ranked among Baseball America’s top 10. 2010 National Freshman of the Year Matt Purke, who was the 14th overall selection in the 2009 MLB Draft and finished the season with a perfect 16-0 mark, was a part of his 2009 signing class.

As the hitting and infield coach, Whitting oversaw a potent offense that set school records for team batting average, home runs and runs per game in 2010.

His accomplishments were not just limited to the offense, The Horned Frogs set a school record with a .976 fielding percentage in 2008 and ranked among the nation’s top 10 leaders in that category for two straight years.

AT HOUSTON
Prior to his time at TCU, Whitting served as an assistant coach at Houston, helping the Cougars to three NCAA Super Regional appearances during a four-year stretch. He guided the Cougars to four 40-win seasons, including the 2000 and 2002 squads that set school records with 48 victories.

In 2000, the Cougars established themselves as one of the nation’s elite programs, hosting an NCAA Regional and NCAA Super Regional. Behind the No. 13 recruiting class in the nation, the Cougars finished first nationally with a .977 fielding percentage, a record that continues to stand today, and earned a No. 11 ranking in the final polls.

Two years later, the Cougars equaled that victory total with a 48-17 record, defeated Arizona State to win the NCAA Mesa Regional and finished ninth in the final polls.

In 2003, the Cougars used a strong surge at the end of the season to assemble one of the most memorable campaigns in school history. After losing the first game at the NCAA College Station Regional, UH won its next five games, including a 7-6 thriller in 10 innings against host Texas A&M during the championship game, to advance to the NCAA Super Regionals.

Whitting replaces Rayner Noble, who resigned in June after 16 seasons as head coach.

PERSONAL
A three-year letterman with the Cougars, Whitting graduated from UH in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. He has a 6-year-old son, Matthew.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT Todd Whitting
“We are thrilled Todd is returning to the Cougar family. He is a program builder who played a key role in all facets of the program at TCU and its run to the College World Series this year and its previous success. Todd likewise was a vital component of our baseball program’s success in the early 2000s. “When speaking with numerous baseball people across the great state of Texas, everyone spoke very highly about Coach Whitting the person and baseball coach. He is committed to the development of student-athletes both on and off the field and will work tirelessly to elevate Houston Baseball to the next level in all areas. We welcome home Coach Whitting and his son Matthew.”
University of Houston Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades

“Coach Whitting is a great players’ coach who relates well to all his players. He was the main reason that I came to Houston when he recruited me. He is one of the top recruiters in the country and is going to bring outstanding players to UH.”
2006 National Player of the Year and current Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher Brad Lincoln

“Coach Whitting has an outstanding ability to associate with the players on and off the field. This is a great opportunity for him, and it’s a great opportunity for the program to have him back. Coach Whitting will do a great job. He is going back to somewhere he is familiar. He did a great job at Houston when he was there and took that to TCU and helped lead them to postseason play year after year.”
2002 Johnny Bench Catcher of the Year Finalist and current Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Chris Snyder

“First, I would like to congratulate Todd. He is a wonderful recruiter, terrific baseball person and a guy who knows the ends and outs of the college game as well as anyone. Having a Cougar return to the University with the coaching pedigree that he has is a tremendous opportunity for Houston baseball to return to the top of the college game.”
Reid Ryan, CEO and President of Ryan-Sanders Baseball, Inc

“I associate Todd with the greatest period in Houston baseball history, so obviously it made sense that UH went after him. He did a great job building TCU to what it is today with the constraints that it had being a private school. “By putting Todd at UH where he doesn’t have those constraints, where he is working at a public school in an urban area with a lot of recruiting possibilities, I believe that Houston can succeed like a Texas or a Cal State Fullerton. “Todd’s work in recruiting over the years speaks for itself. It’s an excellent hire for Houston, and it’s the best hire that they could have made.”
Kendall Rogers, Rivals.com

Todd Whitting AT A GLANCE
Full name: Todd Ross Whitting
Hometown: Dalhart, Texas
Birthdate: June 13, 1972

EDUCATION
• Houston • bachelor’s degree in kinesiology • 1995
• Dalhart High School • 1990

FAMILY
Children: Son Matthew

COACHING CAREER
2010 – • Houston • head coach
2005-10 • TCU • associate head coach
2004-05 • TCU • assistant coach
1995-03 • Houston • assistant coach

NCAA POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE
• 2010 NCAA College World Series
• 2010 NCAA Austin Super Regional Champions
• 2010 NCAA Fort Worth Regional Champions
• 2009 NCAA Austin Super Regional
• 2009 NCAA Forth Worth Regional Champions
• 2008 NCAA Stillwater Regional
• 2007 NCAA Houston Regional
• 2006 NCAA Norman Regional
• 2005 NCAA Waco Regional
• 2004 NCAA Austin Regional
• 2003 NCAA Houston Super Regional
• 2003 NCAA College Station Regional Champions
• 2002 NCAA Austin Super Regional
• 2002 NCAA Mesa Regional Champions
• 2001 NCAA Houston Regional
• 2000 NCAA Houston Super Regional
• 2000 NCAA Houston Regional Champions
• 1999 NCAA Houston Regional
• 1997 NCAA South I Regional

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
• 2010 Mountain West Champions
• 2010 Mountain West Tournament Champions
• 2009 Mountain West Champions
• 2008 Mountain West Champions
• 2008 Mountain West Tournament Champions
• 2007 Mountain West Champions
• 2007 Mountain West Tournament Champions
• 2006 Mountain West Champions
• 2006 Mountain West Tournament Champions
• 2005 Conference USA Tournament Champions
• 2004 Conference USA Tournament Champions
• 2002 Conference USA Champions
• 2000 Conference USA Champions
• 2000 Conference USA Tournament Champions
• 1999 Conference USA Champions
• 1997 Conference USA Tournament Champions

PLAYING EXPERIENCE
1994-95 Houston
1993 Navarro JC
1991-92 Houston

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Conference USA Announces 2010 Baseball TV Schedule

Sean Stires — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:11:49 +0000

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Eleven Regular Season Games On Preliminary TV Slate

IRVING, Texas –Conference USA has announced its preliminary baseball television schedule for the 2010 season. The schedule currently features games to appear nationally on CBS College Sports as well as regionally on Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS), Bright House Networks and Cox Sports Television. Additional games remain a possibility and will be announced at a later date.

“Conference USA has established itself as a national power in baseball and we are pleased that more of our fans will be able to watch our teams play this season on television,” said Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky.

Included in the current schedule are 11 regular season games as well as a live broadcast of the C-USA Baseball Tournament Championship Game on Saturday, May 29. Additional C-USA Championship games may be added to the television schedule.

2010 C-USA Baseball Television Schedule

(as of February 4)

CBS College Sports

Saturday, April 24 East Carolina at Rice 3:00 p.m. EDT/2:00 p.m. CDT

Friday, April 30 Southern Miss at Tulane 8:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. CDT

Friday, May 14 Southern Miss at Rice 8:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. CDT

Friday, May 21 Houston at East Carolina 8:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. CDT

Saturday, May 29 C-USA Championship Game 8:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. CDT

Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS) (regional coverage may vary within CSS footprint)

Tuesday, March 16 Texas at Rice 7:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CDT

Thursday, April 1 Houston at Rice 7:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CDT

Friday, April 2 Houston at Rice 7:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CDT

Tuesday, May 18 Rice at Houston 7:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CDT

Bright House Networks (Florida)

Tuesday, March 9 Miami (Fla.) at UCF 7:00 p.m. EDT/6:00 p.m. CDT

Tuesday, March 16 South Florida at UCF 7:00 p.m. EDT/6:00 p.m. CDT

Tuesday, March 9 Stetson at UCF 7:00 p.m. EDT/6:00 p.m. CDT

Cox Sports Television (Louisiana)

Tuesday, May 18 LSU at Tulane 7:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CDT

Conference USA’s 15th baseball season gets underway on February 19. The conference tournament is scheduled for May 26-30 in Houston, with UH serving as the host for the new six-team, pool-play format. C-USA’s nine baseball schools have produced 62 NCAA appearances and nine College World Series teams over the past 14 seasons.