Head Coach Greg Guilliams

Greg Guilliams

VSU Wins: 79
VSU Losses: 39

Entering his third season at the helm of the Valdosta State baseball program, Greg Guilliams has wasted little time in adding his stamp to the rich tradition of Valdosta State baseball. After all, in just two seasons, Guilliams has compiled a 79-39-1 record, won a Gulf South Conference East Division title and led Valdosta State to its first postseason appearance in seven years.

Guilliams ability to teach the game of baseball was never more evident than during his first season with the Blazers as he led his squad to a 36-18-1 record and the Gulf South Conference East Division title. The Blazers compiled a 6-6 record on the season against teams ranked in the top 25 in the nation, including a 4-3 record against teams ranked in the top three, and finished the year ranked 16th nationally after falling to No. 2 Delta State in the GSC Tournament semifinals. Valdosta State's 10.5 game improvement from its 2007 record, when the Blazers were 27-30, marked the eighth-best turn around in the nation between the two seasons.

The Blazer success during the season was in large part to the two areas in which Guilliams has based his coaching credentials, pitching and fielding. VSU set a school record for fewest errors in a season during the year as it committed just 62 on the season while also establishing a new school mark with fielding percentage at .968, a mark that placed the squad 11th nationally. Meanwhile, the pitching staff was ranked 23rd nationally with a 3.81 earned run average, the lowest ERA since the 1997 season. The Blazers threw seven shutouts during the season, the most since the school moved to the NCAA Division II ranks in 1974 and closer Justin Lamb was named an All-American after tallying 11 saves and a 1.84 ERA in 32 games. Much of the success was directly linked to the fact that under Guilliams' tutelage, Valdosta State pitchers surrendered just 168 walks on the year, the lowest total by the Blazers since the 1976 season.

Lamb was not the only Blazer to earn recognition under Guilliams during his initial season in the Red and Black as catcher Chase Blackwood earned ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove honors as the best defensive catcher in the nation while designated hitter Daniel Muniz joined Lamb on the South Central All-Region team. The trio was joined by shortstop Jon Koenigsfeld, outfielder Blaine Wilson and starting pitchers Glen Lemke and Will Thompson on the All-Gulf South Conference squad at the end of the season. Lemke finished the year 14th in the nation with 10 victories while Lamb was eighth nationally in saves, 14th in earned run average and 18th in strikeouts per nine innings at 10.4.

The Valdosta State success continued during Guilliam's second season with the school as he led the Blazers to the first NCAA South Regional appearance since 2002. VSU compiled a 43-21 record, including an 11-7 mark in the Gulf South Conference, during the season and advanced to the championship game of the GSC Tournament while also winning a pair of games in the NCAA Regional. Under Guilliams' guidance, Valdosta State continued its strong play against some of the nation?s toughest competitions as it compiled a 7-6 record versus teams ranked in the top 30 in the nation.

Guilliams and his coaching staff put together one of the top offensive teams in the nation during the 2009 season as his club led the nation and set a new Valdosta State record with 113 home runs on the year. The 113 roundtrippers marked the fourth-best total in NCAA Division II history. Additionally, the squad ranked fifth nationally with 578 runs scored and 11th in the nation in slugging percentage at .561.

The team success once again led to individiual recognition as four of Guilliams' players earned All-America honors on the year. Pitcher and designated hitter Matt Costello was the GSC and South Region Player of the Year while also earning unanimous All-Americn honors. Outfielder Brandon Decker and pitcher Brandon Graves also earned All-America recognition while catcher Chase Blackwood was named honorable mention. The quartet was joined on the All-Gulf South Conference squad by outfielder Blaine Wilson and third baseman Austin Smith. The year was capped off when Graves (San Francisco Giants) and Costello (Milwaukee Brewers) were selected in the 35th round of the Major League Baseball Amateur draft.

Guilliams took over the Blazer program after spending 16 seasons as the head coach at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla. During his tenure with the Eagles, Guilliams led Embry-Riddle to 661 wins, an average of 41 a year, against 256 losses and one tie, a .721 winning percentage. His program was particularly successful from 2000-07 as Embry-Riddle tallied a 377-108 record (.777), the best record by any team in the state of Florida, regardless of classification.

Guilliams directed the Eagles to 11 NAIA regional tournaments and six NAIA College World Series appearances, including a national runner-up finish in 2004, during his 16 years with the school. His squad was ranked nationally in eight of the last nine years he was at the school and finished among the top five in the nation in five of the last seven years. His squad finished either first or second every year in the 12-year history of the Florida Sun Conference while compiling a 236-79-1, a .748 winning percentage, league mark during that time. Guilliams' success didn't come just against NAIA competition as eight times the Eagles faced NCAA Division II College World Series participants between 2000 and 2007, tallying a 5-3 mark in those contests.

Guilliams' knowledge and ability to teach the game of baseball was evident in his teams' performance on the field during his ERU tenure. His 2004 squad led the nation in pitching and defense, tallying a 2.67 team earned run average and a .966 fielding percentage, while the 2005 squad accomplished the feat with a 2.62 ERA and a .970 fielding percentage. From 1994 through 2007, his squad led the NAIA ranks in team ERA a total of five times and finished among the top 15 teams in the nation 13 times.

His ability as a recruiter and teacher has also been evident in accolades won by his players over the years as 44 Embry-Riddle players received All-American accolades under his tutelage, including Frankie Thompson, who was named the 1996 NAIA National Player of the Year. Additionally, a record seven times an Embry-Riddle Eagle was named FSC Player of the Year while 24 former Eagles signed contracts with Major League organizations. Guilliams' players also succeeded in the classroom as 14 times an Eagle earned All-America Scholar Athlete honors.

Guilliams' success has earned him numerous accolades as he was named the American Baseball Coaches Association Regional NAIA Coach of the Year six times while being recognized as FSC Coach of the Year on seven occasions. In 2003, the Florida Diamond Club chose Guilliams as its Amateur Coach of the Year.

Guilliams took over at Embry-Riddle in 1991 and led the team to a 24-24 record, his only non-winning season at the helm of the Eagles. The 24 wins marked a nine-win improvement from the 1990 Eagle squad. He began his career at Penn State-Behrend in 1990 during which his team won 14 games, an improvement of 10 wins from the year before his arrival.

Guilliams played collegiately at NAIA?s Ohio Dominican, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Education and History in 1984. He was a three-year captain and garnered NAIA All-American honors three times for ODC and was elected into the school's Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1997.

Following his collegiate career, Guilliams signed a professional contract with the Atlanta Braves organization and spent one year in the team's minor league system. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Eastern Kentucky in 1987.

Guilliams is married to the former Ami Gregory and the couple have two children, Elijah, 6, and Isaac, who turns four in February.