Kansas Jayhawks hire LSU assistant coach to take over baseball program
LSU assistant baseball coach/recruiting coordinator Dan Fitzgerald is Ritch Price’s replacement as head baseball coach at Kansas.
KU athletic director Travis Goff announced the signing of Fitzgerald to a six-year contract on Wednesday.
Prior to landing at LSU, Fitzgerald, 44, served nine seasons as associate head coach/recruiting coordinator at Dallas Baptist.
He was head coach at Des Moines Area Community College from 2008-12, reaching the junior college World Series four times. He also has coached at the University of Iowa, Northern Iowa CC and Flagler College.
“Dan Fitzgerald is a man of exceptional integrity, proven leader, developer of men, tremendous baseball mind, elite recruiter and the perfect fit for Kansas Baseball,” Goff said in a release. “When we set out to find the next leader of this program, we talked to current student-athletes, alumni, and baseball leaders across the nation to help inform our search. In countless conversations, Dan Fitzgerald’s name and background, along with the attributes in which he leads with every day, were highlighted as the ideal fit for KU Baseball.
“Dan clearly articulated his vision for the future of Kansas Baseball and passionately demonstrated his desire to be at the University of Kansas. We could not be more excited about the outlook for our program with coach Fitzgerald at the helm. We are ecstatic to welcome Dan, his wife, Kelly, and their three boys, Will, Max and Ben, to the Jayhawk family.”
Fitzgerald said in a release: “I would like to thank Travis Goff and the leadership team at KU for entrusting me with this amazing opportunity to be the head baseball coach at the University of Kansas. In my conversations with Travis and the search committee, it became crystal clear that our visions aligned regarding the future of this program. There is a passion for KU that permeated from each individual I met with and that shared partnership will be vital to the program’s future success. I have been very diligent in waiting for the right opportunity to lead a program and this was the perfect destination for me and my family. I look forward to developing these student-athletes as baseball players as well as men, and putting a program together that all Jayhawks can be proud of.”
A native of Edina, Minnesota, Fitzgerald played baseball at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul and Wisconsin-River Falls before graduating with a degree in English from the Minnesota in 2000. He earned a Masters of Education in Kinesiology from Dallas Baptist in 2016. Fitzgerald and his wife, Kelly, have three sons, Will, Max and Ben.
This story was originally published June 15, 2022 at 3:38 PM.
