KU's Dan Fitzgerald named college baseball's National Coach of the Year

Let’s hope that the guy who never looks at stats or standings and makes it a part of his regular routine to avoid reading headlines and outside noise took some time to pay attention to this one. 

Kansas baseball coach Dan Fitzgerald is your 2026 Baseball America national coach of the year, the publication announced on Wednesday. 

Earlier this month, Fitzgerald received the same honor from the Perfect Game national publication. 

He becomes the first KU baseball coach in school history to win national coach of the year honors, and if you ask any of his players, they’d tell you he was more than deserving. 

“He’s the greatest coach in the Big 12. He’s the greatest coach in the country,” KU shortstop Tyson LeBlanc said shortly before the 2026 postseason began. “So, everything he’s getting, he’s really deserving. Like he said, he’s coaching a great team, (with) a bunch of great players and a bunch of great coaches around him.” 

On Wednesday, not long after the Baseball America honor was announced, KU closer Boede Rahe, who spent one year with Fitzgerald, doubled down on LeBlanc’s claim. 

“Best in the Business,” Rahe tweeted after KU announced the recognition. “Lawrence is the place to be!” 

Fitzgerald, as you surely know, led the Jayhawks to both Big 12 regular season and Big 12 tournament titles during the recently wrapped season and also positioned KU to host and win its first ever home NCAA Tournament regional and play in its first ever home NCAA Tournament Super Regional. 

The Jayhawks, who finished No. 12 in the final D1 Baseball rankings (13th by Baseball America) also tied a school record for wins in a season, with 45, and were one of five teams nationally to have multiple double-digit winning streaks this season. Both came during a 30-game stretch from March 15 through May 3, when KU posted a 27-3 record. 

All of this while deflecting all of the credit for the team’s success to his players and coaching staff, a group that has shown in multiple seasons under Fitzgerald that the recipe he brought to Lawrence works. 

“This just means so much to me because it’s a reflection of so much sacrifice from so many people who have done something nobody really thought was possible,” Fitzgerald told Baseball America for their story about his latest honor. “This is a special award for a special place, not a personal award. I can’t believe this is happening.”

His is an approach that emphasizes character and team chemistry and also is centered on being player-led in multiple ways. 

Fitzgerald knows what he wants from his teams, he seeks to build that through a carefully constructed roster of grinders and good teammates and then lets the players run the ship from there. 

Of course he has final say in all matters and is heavily involved in any and all lineup decisions, practice structures, strategic initiatives and more. But the players at Kansas have the freedom to be themselves and each of Fitzgerald’s four KU teams have shown that success will come if you combine baseball talent with the type of brotherhood that brings everyone together toward a common goal. 

Throughout the season, the Jayhawks found ways to win because of their elite camaraderie and never-say-die attitude. The belief up and down the roster was that as long as the Jayhawks still had an out remaining, they still had a chance to win. 

Kansas finished the 2026 season as the only Division I program with at least 45 overall wins, 20 conference wins and 20 road wins and the Jayhawks also were one of two teams nationally to win their conference's regular season title outright, conference tournament title and advance to a Super Regional. 

With the back-to-back Big 12 Coach of the Year running the show in Year 4 with the program, KU set new school records this year in conference wins (22), road/neutral wins (24), conference series wins (eight), home runs (112), slugging percentage (.507) and pitching strikeouts (610). The Jayhawks finished the season 11th in the nation in both home runs and walks (340), 16th in winning percentage (.714), tied for 21st in the country in batters struck out and tied for 23rd nationally in runs scored (475).

KU was one of five teams nationally to have multiple double-digit winning streaks in 2026. Both of those winning streaks came during a 30-game stretch from March 15-May 3 where Kansas posted a 27-3 record, including a nation's best .937 winning percentage in the month of April.

While winning games is a huge part of coaching, so, too, is drumming up interest and support for your team. Fitzgerald, in many ways, has done exactly that in his four years at Kansas. 

Never was that as evident as this postseason, when KU packed Hoglund Ballpark for back-to-back weekends and received dozens of financial gifts from donors big and small earmarked specifically for the growth of the KU baseball program under Fitzgerald. 

Because of his success at KU — after stints as an assistant at Dallas Baptist and LSU, which followed a 5-year run as the head coach at Des Moines Area Community College — Fitzgerald’s name has become popular throughout college baseball and he has become a name added to hot lists for programs that are soon to be or currently searching for a new head coach.

KU AD Travis Goff has made no secret about his desire to keep Fitzgerald in Lawrence long term, and he said late last month that he was confident that, through their shared vision for the future of Kansas baseball, the Jayhawks would be able to keep Fitzgerald in Lawrence for several years to come. 

After last season, in which KU returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014, Fitzgerald signed a contract extension that will keep him tied to KU through the 2031 season. 

If the Jayhawks continue to perform on the field the way they have so far under Fitzgerald and the interest in the program continues to rise, Fitzgerald, who has said point blank that he and his family absolutely love being in Lawrence, very well may be around for much longer than that even. 

And if he is, there’s no telling how many more awards and wins are ahead for Kansas baseball. 

— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com