| John Savage | |
|---|---|
| Sport(s) | Baseball |
| Current position | |
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | UCLA |
| Conference | Pacific-12 Conference |
| Record | 51-17 (18-9 Conference) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | February 27, 1965 |
| Playing career | |
| 1997 | Salt Lake City Trappers |
| Position(s) | pitcher |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2002-04 2005-Present |
UCI UCLA |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 280-251-1 (109-106 Conference) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| 2010 National Coach of the Year (CollegeBaseballInsider.com) 1998 Assist. Coach of Year (Collegiate Baseball) |
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John Savage (born February 27, 1965) is currently the head baseball coach at UCLA in Los Angeles, California.[1]
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Prior to becoming a coach, Savage played two years with the Cincinnati Reds, after three years playing at Santa Clara University. In 1997, he then helped the Salt Lake City Trappers set a professional baseball record of 29 consecutive victories.
In 1991, Savage received a bachelor's degree in secondary education from the University of Nevada.
Savage's coach career started at his alma mater Reno (NV) High School as a pitching coach in 1988. Between 1992 and 2000, Savage was an assistant coach at Nevada and USC. During this period, his teams won one National Championship, and played in 5 Regionals and 2 Super-Regionals.
Prior to taking over the UCLA program, Savage was the head baseball coach at the University of California, Irvine. At UCI, his team had a record of 88-84-1 (32-34 Conference) and participated in the Midwest (South Bend) Regional in 2004.
After a disappointing 2005 campaign, Savage helped the Bruins rebound to a Regional birth in 2006.
In 2007, Savage used the nucleus of 2006 and the addition of key newcomers Gavin Brooks, Gabe Cohen, and Alden Carrithers to help UCLA overcome an 8-14 start and record a 33-28 overall record. This record led to the program's first NCAA Super Regional appearance since 2000. The Bruins went 14-10 with a third-place finish in the Pac-10. UCLA won 19 of 23 games midway through the 2007 season, marking the team's most successful stretch since 1997, when UCLA last advanced to the College World Series.
The Bruins' road to the Super Regionals that season included 29 games against 11 teams that earned NCAA Tournament berths, including 14 contests against teams that advanced to Super Regionals. Backed by three masterful performances from its starting pitchers, UCLA swept the NCAA Long Beach Regional at Blair Field. Brummett came within one out of tossing a complete game in a 7-3 win over Pepperdine, before Murphy recorded the save. Gavin Brooks threw a complete game in a 3-1 victory over Illinois-Chicago, and Murphy went the distance in a 7-4, regional-clinching victory over host Long Beach State.
Savage's tutelage proved instrumental in the development of Brummett, an All-Pac-10 selection, and the emergence of Brooks and Murphy. By season's end, UCLA landed five players on the All-Pac-10 team, the most selections by any Bruin baseball team since 2000. Freshman outfielder Gabe Cohen secured Co-Newcomer of the Year honors, and Decker earned his first of two All-Pac-10 team selections.
The 2007 ball club earned five consecutive PAC-10 series wins, as UCLA took two of three games against Washington, Arizona and California in addition to road sweeps of Stanford and USC. UCLA faced the second-most difficult schedule in the nation and the No. 1 most challenging non-conference slate, as rated by Boyd's World. In 2008, UCLA became the school's first baseball team to secure a third consecutive trip to NCAA postseason play. The Bruins went 33-27 with a 13-11 PAC-10 record, culminating in an NCAA Regional Final berth at Cal State Fullerton. UCLA's pitching staff recorded a conference-leading 4.29 ERA in Pac-10 action. Murphy guided the Bruins' rotation in 2008 and became the first UCLA pitcher to lead the Pac-10 in strikeouts (111) since 1996, when Jim Parque totaled 116 strikeouts.
The Bruins' 2008 regular-season schedule featured 26 games against teams that advanced to NCAA postseason play. UCLA played 18 games against teams ranked in Baseball America's weekly top-25 poll. Savage helped lead the Bruins to series victories in three of the team's four PAC-10 road series.
In 2008, UCLA became the school's first baseball team to secure a third consecutive trip to NCAA postseason play. The Bruins went 33-27 with a 13-11 PAC-10 record, culminating in an NCAA Regional Final berth at Cal State Fullerton. UCLA's pitching staff recorded a conference-leading 4.29 ERA in Pac-10 action. Murphy guided the Bruins' rotation in 2008 and became the first UCLA pitcher to lead the Pac-10 in strikeouts (111) since 1996, when Jim Parque totaled 116 strikeouts.
In 2010 he took his UCLA Bruins to the College World Series, by defeating the defending National Champion LSU Tigers and the Cal State Fullerton Titans teams in the Los Angeles Regional. The Bruins finish the season in second place, losing two games to the South Carolina Gamecocks in the Championship Series.
He was named the national Coach of the Year by CollegeBaseballInsider.com in 2010.[2] He was also named 2010 NCAA Division I Western Regional Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA).
| TEAM | YEAR | Overall | Conference | Postseason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Irvine | 2002 | 33-26 | 14-10 | none |
| UC Irvine | 2003 | 21-35 | 8-13 | none |
| UC Irvine | 2004 | 34-23-1 | 10-11 | Midwest Regional |
| UCLA | 2005 | 15-41 | 4-20 | none |
| UCLA | 2006 | 33-25 | 13-10 | Malibu Regional |
| UCLA | 2007 | 33-28 | 14-10 | Fullerton Super-Regional |
| UCLA | 2008 | 33-27 | 13-11 | Fullerton Regional |
| UCLA | 2009 | 27-29 | 15-12 | none |
| UCLA | 2010 | 51-17 | 18-9 | CWS (2nd place), Los Angeles Super-Regional |
| UCLA | 2011 | 34-23 | 18-9 | Los Angeles Regional |
| CAREER TOTAL | 9 years | 280-251-1 | 109-106 | 5 Regionals, 2 Super-Regionals, 1 CWS |
Savage and his wife, Lisa, have four children: Julia, Jack, Ryan and Gabrielle. John is also the Son in Law of Hall of Fame and current Nevada Wolf Pack head coach Chris Ault.
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