Brian O'Connor

Head Coach: University of Virginia

Brian O'Connor has built the Virginia program into one of the nation's elite. O'Connor has an overall record of 177-66 and a 72-38 record in the ACC while leading Virginia to four-consecutive NCAA Regional appearances - a first in program history. UVa's 177 wins are the program's most ever in a four-year span, leading to record crowds which have flocked to Davenport Field each season.

One of the exciting young coaches in the nation, O'Connor is the fastest coach in school history to reach 100 career wins. His UVa teams have earned four-straight 40-win seasons and two ACC Coastal Division runner-up finishes while playing host to NCAA regionals in three of his four seasons. O'Connor was named 2006 College Baseball Foundation Coach of the Year and earned his fourth-consecutive VaSID Coach of the Year honor in 2007. He was named the 2004 ACC Coach of the Year, becoming just the second UVa head baseball coach to receive the honor. He also was named the 2004 Atlantic Region Coach of the Year as well as a finalist for the 2004 CollegeBaseballInsider.com National Coach of the Year.

Sixteen of O'Connor's Virginia players have been selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year player draft, including a school-record six in 2007. Ryan Zimmerman (fourth overall, Washington) and Mark Reynolds (16th round, Arizona) each have reached the major leagues. Zimmerman went on to make one of the quickest jumps ever to the major leagues - two months - while Reynolds earned his big league debut in 2007.

O'Connor has had 16 players nab All-ACC honors, while two have been named ACC Player of the Year - Joe Koshansky (2004) and Sean Doolittle (2006). Under O'Connor, Doolittle, Koshansky, Jacob Thompson and Ryan Zimmerman garnered All-America honors while UVa also has had seven freshman All-Americans. Zimmerman, Doolittle and Thompson played on USA Baseball national teams, where Zimmerman led the U.S. to the gold medal at the World University Games in 2004 and Doolittle helped the U.S. to a gold medal in 2006. Thompson notched a silver medal at the 2007 Pan American Games.

O'Connor was named the head baseball coach at Virginia on July 8, 2003. In his first season as head coach, he guided UVa to one of the most successful and storied seasons in the history of the baseball program. He led the Cavaliers to a 44-15 overall record, 18-6 mark in the ACC and second-place ACC finish. The 18 wins were the most ever by a Cavalier team in league play at the time. For the first time in school history, Virginia played host to an NCAA Regional when Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium was the site of the Charlottesville Regional. Virginia swept five three-game series over conference foes for the first time, including a three-game sweep over ACC-favorite Georgia Tech in Atlanta, for the first time in school history. The Cavaliers also swept Clemson in three games for the first time since 1972. Several individual single-season records also were established in 2004 under O'Connor: Koshansky, RBI (67); Zimmerman, hits (90) and at-bats (249); Mark Reynolds, runs scored (60, tied); Casey Lambert, saves (8, tied) and Andrew Dobies, games started as a pitcher (16).

O'Connor followed up the 2004 season by going 41-20 overall and 14-14 in the ACC in 2005. As the No. 7 seed in the ACC tournament, the Cavaliers went to the championship by knocking off three ranked opponents, including two wins over No. 12 Clemson and a win over No. 18 NC State. UVa posted nine wins over ranked opponents during the year, including a three-game sweep of No. 4 Georgia Tech, which was his second straight regular-season sweep of the Yellow Jackets. The Cavaliers led the ACC in team ERA (2.74) for the second straight year while Lambert broke his own single-season record with 14 saves. Zimmerman also broke his own single-season record with 92 hits.

O'Connor's 2006 squad topped the old school record for wins by winning 47 games on their way to a 47-15 mark. UVa also bested its record for conference wins, going 21-9 and finishing third overall and just one game behind division champion North Carolina. Virginia also played host to the 2006 NCAA Charlottesville Regional. Four players were named All-ACC, led by Doolittle, who was the ACC Player of the Year. Four Cavalier freshmen were named Freshmen All-Americans, tied for the most in the nation. The end result was the best regular-season finish ever at Virginia by turning in a mark of 45-11 overall. The Cavaliers set a school record for best winning percentage in a season (.758) and ranked third nationally in team ERA (3.04) and 19th nationally in batting average (.322).

In 2007, Virginia boasted a 45-16 record and 19-9 mark in the ACC en route to a second-place finish in the ACC Coastal Division. The Cavaliers played host to the NCAA Charlottesville Regional and bowed out in the championship to eventual national champion Oregon State. A school-record five Cavaliers earned All-ACC honors, while Jacob Thompson was a consensus first-team All-American and Doolittle earned second-team All-America laurels. UVa led the league and was third in the nation in ERA (2.81), led by Thompson with a league-best 1.50 mark. The Cavaliers also posted impressive series wins at then No. 1-North Carolina and Clemson - Uva's first series win ever at Clemson.

O'Connor's success has spilled over into the community as attendance records have been shattered over the last four years. The Cavaliers set a single-season attendance record in 2007 while playing in front of several record crowds. UVa has ranked among the top 40 in the nation in total home attendance and average home attendance in all four years of O'Connor's tenure.

The Cavaliers have become a fixture in the national polls, highlighted by UVa's highest ranking ever of No. 3 in 2007. Much of this is a result of O'Connor's stellar recruiting classes, which have been the most highly-touted groups to ever sign with Virginia. UVa's recruiting class was ranked 12th in the country in 2004, 10th in 2005 and eighth in 2006.

O'Connor brought a wealth of baseball to Charlottesville when he arrived and developed Virginia into a nationally-prominent program. He came to Virginia after spending nine seasons at Notre Dame (1995-2003), where he served as an assistant coach from 1995-2001 before being promoted to associate head coach in 2001. He was named the 2001 National Assistant Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and Baseball America and was AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2003.

While at Notre Dame, O'Connor worked with the Fighting Irish pitchers and served as the program's recruiting coordinator. As Notre Dame's recruiting coordinator, he led the effort that landed a nine-member group ranked as the No. 1 recruiting class in the country in 2001, as well as the sixth-ranked recruiting class in 2003 according to Baseball America.

During O'Connor's nine years at Notre Dame, the Irish compiled an overall record of 399-160-1 (.713), won six conference championships and made six trips to the NCAA Tournament. The last three Notre Dame teams assisted by O'Connor were among the most successful in the school's history. The Irish compiled an overall record of 45-18 in 2003, won the Big East Conference Championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament. In 2002, Notre Dame had an overall record of 50-18, won the Big East Championship and advanced to the College World Series. The 2001 Irish team was 49-13-1, ranked No. 1 in the nation at midseason and participated in the NCAA tournament.

O'Connor, who pitched on Creighton's 1991 College World Series team, tutored 17 eventual professional baseball pitchers, including 13 Major League Draft selections, at Notre Dame. He has a proven track record of developing pitchers into top-level prospects, including a pair of first-round selections - Brad Lidge in 1998 and Aaron Heilman in 2001 - who weren't even drafted in the first 40 rounds coming out of high school (Lidge was a 42nd-round pick, Heilman a 55th-rounder). Lidge has pitched for the Houston Astros since 2002 while Heilman made his major league debut with the New York Mets in 2003.

A native of Council Bluffs, Iowa, O'Connor, 36, is a 1993 graduate of Creighton University. As a pitcher on the Creighton baseball team, he posted a career record of 20-13 with seven saves and a 3.78 ERA. After graduating from Creighton with a bachelor's degree in marketing, O'Connor was selected in the 29th round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He notched a 4-2 record with a 4.03 earned run average for Martinsville (Va.) of the Appalachian Class-A League in 1993 before accepting a position as pitching coach at Creighton.

Kevin McMullan

Assistant Coach: University of Virginia

Kevin serves as Virginia's recruiting coordinator and hitting coach and works defensively with the Cavaliers' infielders and catchers. McMullan is known as one of the top recruiters and developers of players in the country.

McMullan has helped guide Virginia to 177 wins in his four seasons - a school record for a four-year period. Virginia also has earned four-consecutive NCAA Regional Appearances as well as three No. 1 seeds - both firsts in program history.

In 14 years as a college coach, McMullan has had over 50 players signed by professional organizations. Eight of his Virginia position players have been selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year player draft, including Ryan Zimmerman (Washington Nationals) and Mark Reynolds (Arizona Diamondbacks). Ryan Zimmerman went on to make one of the quickest jumps ever to the major leagues - two months - while Reynolds made his big league debut in 2007. He also was instrumental in development of Arizona Diamondback Chad Tracy (1B-3B) while coaching him at East Carolina University.

Defensively, the Cavaliers have shined under McMullan. All four teams have ranked among the nation's top 40 in fielding percentage, with a program-record .975 mark (seventh nationally) in 2005.

In 2007, Virginia finished in the top three in the ACC in team batting (.314) with three individuals - Greg Miclat (.376, fifth), David Adams (.372, seventh) and Brandon Guyer (.370, ninth) - among the ACC's top 10. Sean Doolittle broke the school record for career RBI (167), while Brandon Guyer finished in the top 10 in career hits (221) in just three seasons. Guyer, Doolittle and Adams were named to the All-ACC team, and the program earned its best-ever national ranking, No. 3. Virginia also broke the school record for stolen bases in as season (128) and Greg Miclat broke the single season stolen base record (32) as the Cavaliers finished 11th nationally in steals.

The 2006 team set school records for total wins (47) and conference wins (21). Virginia finished 19th nationally in team batting avg. (.322), led by 2006 ACC Player of the Year Sean Doolittle, who tied for the team lead in RBI (57). Designated hitter Tom Hagan was a first team All-ACC selection after hitting .357. Outfielder Brandon Marsh was a second team All-ACC selection as eight of Virginia's position starters hit above .300. The Cavaliers also set school records for total hits (687), RBI (416), total bases (928).

In 2005, Virginia went 41-20 and played in the ACC Championship game, then earned a bid to the NCAA Corvallis Regional. The Cavaliers also posted a school-record .975 fielding percentage.

The 2004 team had a 44-15 overall record and 18-6 mark in the ACC, which tied the school's previous single-season record for most overall wins and set the school record for conference wins. McMullan guided Joe Koshansky to the 2004 ACC Player of the Year award, a program first. Koshansky set the school record for most RBI in a single season (67). McMullan's tutelage also sparked Zimmerman to set back-to-back single-season records for most hits (92 in 2005; 90 in 2004). Mark Reynolds also flourished as he established a record-tying mark for most runs scored (60) in a single season at UVa in 2004.

In his first season with the Cavaliers, McMullan helped UVa to major increases in runs scored (101) and bases on balls (87) from the previous year. UVa finished in the Top 25 of several national polls en route to earning a No. 7 national ranking.

McMullan has been instrumental in landing the most highly-touted recruiting classes to ever sign with Virginia. UVa's recruiting class was ranked 12th in the country in 2004, 10th in 2005 and eighth in 2006 and a top 10 class in 2007.

Prior to his present position at Virginia, McMullan served as a manager in the Atlanta Braves organization. While with the Braves, he also coordinated the catchers in spring training and was the Coordinator of extended spring training.

Before joining the Braves' organization, McMullan served as acting head coach at East Carolina in 2001-02 for Keith LeClair, who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease. During that season, McMullan coached ECU to a 43-20 record, Conference USA Championship and NCAA Regional Final. At ECU, he served as the recruiting coordinator, hitting coach and catching instructor. In McMullan's three years at East Carolina, the Pirates posted a record of 138-46, which placed ECU in the top five programs in the country in wins, averaging 46 victories a season. East Carolina won three conference championships and an NCAA Regional Championship while earning two No. 1 seeds and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. In McMullan's three years, the Pirates finished in the Top 25 each season. In 2002, he recruited and coached NCBWA National Freshman Player of the Year Darryl Lawhorn.

McMullan also served as an assistant coach at St. John's (1996-99) and coached at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (1994-96). At St. John's, McMullan was the recruiting coordinator and hitting coach and also coached the catchers. He helped St. John's to three Big East championship appearances and a Big East title as well as an NCAA Regional berth in 1997. While at IUP, McMullan was the head baseball coach as well as the strength and conditioning coordinator. He coached two conference players of the year as well as three All-Americans.

Aside from his numerous coaching experiences, McMullan also had a decorated career as an athlete. He enjoyed a pro baseball career as a member of the New York Yankees organization (1990-92) and for the Salt Lake City Trappers (1990 and 1992). In 1990, he was a Pioneer League All-Star. McMullan also was a two-sport NCAA All-American as a catcher in baseball and as a linebacker in football at IUP. He was a member of six championship teams at IUP.

Karl Kuhn

Assistant Coach: University of Virginia

Karl Kuhn serves as the pitching coach as well as a vital part in the recruiting process. The past four seasons, his staffs have led the Atlantic Coast Conference in team earned run average and ranked in the top 15 nationally in ERA, including a No. 3 ranking the last three years. He was the first assistant coach to be hired at Virginia under head coach Brian O'Connor.

In four seasons, Kuhn's pitching staff has won 177 games, a program record in a four-year span. The 2006 team set school records for overall wins (47) and conference wins (21), while his 2005 pitching staff set school records for strikeouts (519) and shutouts (11). In four seasons, Virginia has posted 31 shutouts and had a dozen players named ACC Pitcher of the Week.

In 2007 the Cavaliers posted an ACC-best 2.81 team ERA with nine shutouts. Kuhn was instrumental in Jacob Thompson recording one of best seasons ever for a Virginia pitcher. Thompson went 11-0 with a 1.50 ERA, was a consensus first-team All-American and All-ACC, named a finalist for the Roger Clemens Award and earned a spot on the U.S. National Team. With 11 saves, Casey Lambert became the ACC's all-time leader in saves and finished sixth in NCAA history in saves. Sean Doolittle added eight wins to his resume to finish as UVa's all-time wins leader (22), and Thompson already is just two shy of that mark.

In 2006, Kuhn guided his staff to an ACC-best 3.04 team ERA. Opponents hit .233 against Cavalier pitchers. Doolittle (11-2) and Thompson (10-4) both earned All-ACC honors, becoming the first Cavalier tandem to win at least 10 games in a single season and two of only four Cavaliers to win at least 10 games in a season. Doolittle was named a consensus second-team All-American and ACC Player of the Year. He was a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award, given to the nation's top player. Thompson was named a freshman All-American. Senior Mike Ballard had his best season, going 9-3, as he was a 14th-round draft pick of the Texas Rangers. Lambert posted his third straight 10-save campaign.

In 2005, Kuhn guided the Virginia staff to a league-best 2.74 team ERA and school-record 11 shutouts. Opponents hit just .232 against UVa pitchers. Jeff Kamrath was named to the All-ACC First Team. Lambert earned a UVa single-season record 14 saves. Two starters were drafted in the 2005 Major League Draft as Matt Avery was a ninth-round pick of the Chicago Cubs while Kamrath was selected in the 11th round by Tampa Bay.

Kuhn's 2004 pitching staff led the ACC in ERA in league play while finishing 15th nationally (3.63) while also pacing the ACC for the fewest walks allowed. Kuhn had four different pitchers named ACC Pitcher of the Week. Kuhn was integral in the development of Andrew Dobies, a third-round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox and Joe Koshansky, a sixth-round draft pick of the Colorado Rockies. Under Kuhn's tutelage, Dobies earned second-team All-ACC honors and finished second in the ACC in strikeouts (109), while Koshansky was named the school's first-ever ACC Player of the Year. Kuhn was also an integral part in developing Avery into the staff's No. 2 starter and helped Lambert to one of the best freshman campaigns in recent history. As a freshman, Lambert tied the school record for most saves in a single season with eight and finished second in the ACC in ERA (2.54).

Kuhn also has been instrumental in assisting Kevin McMullan in landing four of the most highly touted recruiting classes to ever sign with Virginia. UVa's recruiting class was ranked 12th in the country in 2004, 10th in 2005 and eighth in 2006.

Kuhn arrived in Charlottesville after serving as the associate head coach and pitching coach at Arkansas-Little Rock (UALR) for seven years from 1997-2003. At UALR, Kuhn managed all aspects of the Trojans' pitching staff and was also the recruiting coordinator for the program. As recruiting coordinator, Kuhn had five-consecutive recruiting classes ranked nationally by Collegiate Baseball during his tenure with the Trojans.

Before coaching at UALR, Kuhn spent three years as the pitching coach at Charleston Southern. Under his leadership, the pitching staff led CSU to its first baseball conference championship and NCAA Regional appearance in school history. Kuhn also worked at Valencia Community College in Orlando, Fla. Prior to that, he was pitching coach for two years at Buchholz High School in Gainesville, Fla.

Kuhn started his college career at Valencia Community College, where he played from 1987-89, then concluded his career playing one season for the University of Florida in 1990. He is a 1992 graduate of Florida.