LUBBOCK, Texas - Dan Spencer was formally introduced as the eighth head baseball coach in Texas Tech school history at a news conference held in the Masked Rider Lobby at Jones AT&T Stadium on the Texas Tech University campus.
Spencer succeeds Larry Hays who spent the last 22 seasons as the head coach of the Red Raiders and stepped down from his position back on June 2. He becomes just the eighth head coach in school history joining E.Y. Freeland (1925-27), R. Higginbotham (1928-29), Bettie Feathers (1954-60), Berl Huffman (1961-67), Kal Segrist (1968-83), Gary Ashby (1984-86) and Larry Hays (1987-2008).
"I am pleased that we have a head coach the caliber of Dan Spencer to lead our baseball program," said Texas Tech Director of Athletics Gerald Myers. "He has been one of the top pitching coaches in college baseball, leading Oregon State to two national championships. We look forward to Dan leading our program and know that he will do an outstanding job as the head coach of the Red Raiders."
Spencer, 42, rejoined the Texas Tech Baseball family back on July 2, 2007 when he was named associate head coach on the staff of former head coach Larry Hays. He spent the 2008 season in that role where he coached the pitchers and catchers and headed Tech's recruiting front. His 2008 pitching staff produced two top-10 round MLB draft picks in juniors Zach Stewart and James Leverton, both of which had never been drafted prior to this season. Stewart was taken in the third round of the draft by the Cincinnati Reds while Leverton was taken in the eighth round by the Chicago Cubs.
The return to Lubbock was not a difficult decision for Spencer who earned three varsity letters at Texas Tech between 1985 and 1987. As a Red Raider, he played two seasons under Gary Ashby (1985 and 1986) and one under Larry Hays (1987).
Prior to his arrival back at Texas Tech, he spent 11 seasons at Oregon State and the last three as associate head coach where he served as pitching/catching coach and recruiting coordinator. His pitching staff's over the last two seasons during his tenure were instrumental in helping the Beavers become the first back-to-back College World Series Champions since LSU in the late 1990's. In those two seasons, his staff's compiled 3.41 and 3.48 cumulative ERA's while leading the team to 50-16 and 49-18 respective records. His group led the Pac-10 in ERA in both 2005 and 2006 while his bullpen helped pave the way to back-to-back national titles by contributing 20-plus saves in both 2006 and 2007. Under his leadership, the Beavers had three pitchers and one catcher named to All-America teams and seven drafted in the top 10 rounds of the MLB Draft. Eddie Kunz, the ace of the 2007 staff, and catcher Mitch Canhan, the squad's leading hitter, were both first round draft selections in the 2007 MLB Draft.
"I am very excited and honored to be the head baseball coach at Texas Tech University," said newly named head coach Dan Spencer. "For the last 20 years I have thought that maybe one day I would have a chance to be a head coach but to be honest I never thought I would have a chance here until the last year or so. To have this job it's a dream. It's not a job that in the next five years, I'm going be looking to go somewhere else. This is the perfect place for me and my family. It's great to be a Red Raider."
His promotion from associate head coach to head coach will leave one coaching vacancy on the staff and that position will be filled in the coming weeks.
Spencer will coach his collegiate head coaching debut on Feb. 20 when the Red Raiders take on Southern Utah in the 2009 season opener at Dan Law Field.