Rich Maloney

Richard Allen Maloney (born September 23, 1964) is an American college baseball coach and the current head coach at Ball State, a position he has held since the 2013 season. He previously served as the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, where he compiled a 341–244 record over ten seasons (2003–2012). During his tenure at Michigan, he secured three Big Ten regular-season titles and two Big Ten tournament titles. Maloney led the Wolverines to four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances from 2005 to 2008 and was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year in both 2007 and 2008.

Prior to his time at Michigan, Maloney served as the head coach at Ball State from 1996 to 2002. He was named the MAC Coach of the Year in 1998 and 2001, as the Cardinals finished first in the MAC West for four consecutive seasons (1998–2001) and captured three regular-season titles. Following his return to Ball State in 2013, he has led the program to two additional MAC West titles, two regular-season titles, and earned Coach of the Year honors in 2014 and 2022. In 2023, he guided the Cardinals to their first MAC tournament title since 2006.

Head coaching record The following table details Rich Maloney's year-by-year record as an NCAA Division I head baseball coach.

Draft picks: first rounders Throughout his career at Michigan and Ball State, Maloney coached 70 players who were selected a total of 77 times in the MLB Draft. This includes six first-round picks—all produced during his tenure at Ball State. Notably, Maloney coached the 2002 top overall pick, Bryan Bullington, marking the first time in MAC history that a player in any sport was selected number one overall.

Pick Player Team Position Year 41 Jeff Urban San Francisco Giants LHP 1998 21 Larry Bigbie Baltimore Orioles OF 1999 1 Bryan Bullington Pittsburgh Pirates RHP 2002 32 Luke Hagerty Chicago Cubs LHP 2002 18 Brad Snyder Cleveland Indians OF 2003 34 Drey Jameson Arizona Diamondbacks RHP 2019

Played in majors

Coach Maloney has mentored 16 players from Ball State and Michigan who have gone on to reach the Major Leagues.

Bryan Bullington Larry Bigbie Brad Snyder (baseball) Jake Fox Chris Getz Clayton Richard Zach Putnam Ryan LaMarre Zach Plesac Drey Jameson Kyle Nicolas Alex Call Chayce McDermott Sam McConnell Zach Cole Tyler Schweitzer

Player awards

Under Coach Maloney's leadership at Michigan and Ball State, his players have earned:

6 Conference Players of the Year 8 Conference Pitchers of the Year 7 Conference Freshman Players/Pitchers of the Year 4 Conference Defensive Players of the Year 4 Conference Tournament MVPs 1 ABCA/Rawlings National Gold Glove Winner (Awarded to the single best defensive player at his position in the country) 1 National Freshman Pitcher of the Year

Head coaching tree

Head coaches that coached under Maloney throughout his career at Michigan and Ball State:

NCAA Division I Head Coaches

Jake Boss Jr. – Michigan State (2009–Present); formerly Eastern Michigan (2008) Jeff Mercer – Indiana (2019–Present); formerly Wright State (2017–2018) Blake Beemer – Butler (2023–Present) Jason Murray – Charleston Southern (2005–2008)

Non-Division I & Community College Head Coaches

Matt Husted – Wheaton College (2013–Present) Ray Skjold – Post University (2019–Present) Bob Keller – Mississippi Gulf Coast CC (2022–2025) Nick Caruso – Macomb Community College (2025–Present) Matt Howard – IU Kokomo (2018–2021) Dustin Glant – Anderson University (2016)