Now in his eighth season as an assistant coach with the Valdosta State baseball program, Todd Guilliams has worked hand-in-hand with his brother to once again place the Blazers among the top teams in the nation.
In his position, Guilliams serves as the team’s hitting coach and tutors the squad’s catchers while also overseeing the team’s academic efforts. He also shares the recruiting coordinator duties with Greg and serves as the Valdosta State Athletic Department’s Coordinator of Academic Services, a position that requires him to monitor and enhance the academic success of all 300 student-athletes at VSU.
Guilliams put together on of the most prolific offenses in Valdosta State history in 2009 as the squad led the nation and set a Valdosta State record with 113 home runs. The 113 roundtrippers proved to be the fourth-most in NCAA Division II history while the squad finished eighth nationally on the season with 578 runs scored and 11th in slugging percentage at .561. As a squad, Guilliams guided the Valdosta State batters to a .332 batting average, the highest mark by the Blazers since hitting .337 in 1986. However, Guilliams approach of plate discipline was also manifested as VSU drew 276 walks on the year, the ninth-best total in the nation on the year. Overall, the 2009 Valdosta State squad ranked in the top 50, out of 228 schools, in 14 of the 15 offensive categories tracked by the NCAA.
Guilliams ability to teach the offensive side of the ball was evidenced in personal performance as well as a pair of Blazers, Brandon Decker and Chase Blackwood, hit 22 home runs on the year, falling just one short of the school record of 23. Four additional Blazers hit double-digit home runs on the year, giving the 2009 squad a school record six to accomplish the feat in a single season, while Decker and Matt Costello both hit over .400 on the year.
The big 2009 season was proven to be no fluke in 2010 as Guilliams once again put together one of the best offenses in the nation. His hitters ranked among the top 10 teams in the nation in three different categories, finishing eighth in runs with 555, seventh in hits with 717 and second in hit by pitch with 119. The 2010 version of the Blazers batted .351, a new school record for team batting average in a season, and scored 9.3 runs per game, the 14th highest total in the nation. Guilliams influence was once again felt in the team’s power numbers as Valdosta State connected on 71 home runs on the year, a number that placed it 12th nationally. Personal accolades once again poured in as Decker, who hit 21 home runs on the year, was unanimous choice as the GSC East Player of the Year while also earning South Region Player of the Year and All-America honors. Clayton Cain, who connected on 20 home runs on the year, also earned All-America honors.
Guilliams' influence on the Valdosta State baseball program was immediately felt during his initial season with the team as he helped the Blazers to a .294 batting average, an increase of .017 from the year before. The squad also saw increases in walks, sacrifice flies, sacrifice bunts, slugging percentage and on-base percentage while seeing its strikeout total drop from 2007 while experiencing the eight best turnaround in turns of wins and loss between the 2007 and 2008 season.
Guilliams was equally successful in working with the Valdosta State catchers in 2007 as he helped Chase Blackwood to a position on the ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove team as the nation’s top defensive catcher. Blackwood picked off three base runners during the season while VSU limited base runners to just 42 stolen bases on the year, nearly half of its total of 84 from the year before.
Guilliams once again made the Valdosta State offense one of the top in the nation in 2012 as the club finished second in the GSC with a .310 batting average. The Blazers scored 308 runs on the season and again led the conference with 37 home runs, despite playing the fewest games of any conference school.
Together, the Guilliams brothers built a dynasty at NAIA’s Embry-Riddle. They won 622 games, against just 228 losses, in 15 years at the school and made six NAIA World Series appearances. Todd served as the hitting, catching and outfield instructor for the program, which produced 44 NAIA All-America selections between. He was also responsible for calling pitches and serving as the program’s strength and conditioning coach while filling the role as Embry-Riddle’s Athletic Fields Manager for the school’s baseball, track and field and soccer complex. Additionally, he spent time as the school’s Sports Information Director as well as the Academic Enhancement Coordinator.
Todd’s run at Embry-Riddle was briefly interrupted as he spent the 2000 season as an assistant with Dallas Baptist. During his year with the Patriots, the team registered a 43-23 record and advanced to the NAIA World Series, where it finished second.
Guilliams began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Eastern Kentucky University in 1988 and 1989. He also spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Staunton Braves between 1990 and 1992 while also serving as a volunteer assistant with EKU in 1990.
Guilliams is well suited for the position of Coordinator of Academic Services at VSU as he earned an Ohio Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete award and twice won the Turkey Hughes Scholarship from EKU during his playing days. Guilliams earned a Bachelor of Science in Sport Supervision from Eastern Kentucky in 1988 and a Master of Science in Physical Education in 1990. He captained the EKU baseball team as a senior in 1988 while earning Dean’s List honors with a 4.00 grade point average during his final semester.
Guilliams is married to the former Julie Dudgeon. The couple has three children - Casey (19), Grace (16) and Wyatt (11).
