Paul Kostacopoulos

Paul Kostacopoulos (born November 28, 1964) is an American college baseball coach. He has been the head coach of the Navy Midshipmen since the start of the 2006 season. Prior to Navy, he was the head coach at both Maine and Providence. With the three programs, Kostacopoulos has appeared in a total of five NCAA Tournaments.

Paul Kostacopoulos

Kostacopoulos in 2017
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Navy
Conference	Patriot
Record	464–305–5 (.603)
Biographical details
Born	November 28, 1964
Playing career
1984–1987	Providence
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1988–1989	Providence (assistant)
1990–1996	Providence
1997–2005	Maine
2006–present	Navy
Head coaching record
Overall	968–637–5 (.603)
Tournaments	NCAA: 2–10 (.167)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Big East Tournament (1992) Big East regular season (1995) Big East American Division (1996) America East regular season (2002) 2× America East Tournament (2002, 2005) 2× Patriot regular season (2011, 2019) 2× Patriot Tournament (2011, 2016)
Awards
2× ABCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year (1992, 1995) Big East Coach of the Year (1995) 2× America East Coach of the Year (1997, 2001) 4× Patriot Coach of the Year (2011, 2015, 2016, 2019)

Kostacopoulos played college baseball at Providence from 1984 to 1987.[1]

Coaching career

Providence

After two seasons as an assistant at Providence, Kostacopoulos became the head coach for the start of the 1990 season.[1] Kostacopoulos's first postseason appearance came in the 1991 Big East Tournament. Providence then won the tournament in 1992 to advance to the 1992 NCAA Tournament, where it went 1–2 and won its second-round game against South Alabama. In 1995, Providence won the Big East regular season title and received an at-large bid to the 1995 NCAA Tournament, where it went 0–2. Kostacopoulos was named the 1995 Big East Coach of the Year, New England Coach of the Year, and ABCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year.[1][2][3]

Three future Major League Baseball players played under Kostacopoulos at Providence. Lou Merloni (1990–1993) was named conference co-Rookie of the Year in 1990 and conference Player of the Year in 1993. John McDonald (1995–1996) and Keith Reed (1996) also played under Kostacopoulos.[2][4]

Maine

Kostacopoulos left Providence to become the head coach of Maine for the start of the 1997 season. He replaced John Winkin, under whom Maine had appeared in six College World Series.[3][5] In his first four seasons as head coach (1997–2000), Maine finished higher than fourth in the America East only once. In his last five (2001–2005), the team did not finish lower than second and qualified for two NCAA Tournaments (2002 and 2005) by winning the America East Tournament in those seasons.[6][7][8]

Kostacopoulos was named America East Coach of the Year for second-place conference finishes in 1997 and 2001.[6]

Navy

Kostacopoulos was hired as the head coach of Navy for the start of the 2006 season.[9] As of the end of the 2013 season, Navy has appeared in one NCAA Tournament under Kostacopoulos. The appearance came in 2011, when Navy won both the Patriot League regular season and tournament championships.[10][11] He was named the 2011 and 2015 Patriot League Coach of the Year.[12]

Head coaching record

Below is a table of Kostacopoulos's yearly records as an NCAA head baseball coach.[2][6][12][13]

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Providence Friars (Big East Conference) (1990–1996)
1990	Providence	27–21	11–10	5th
1991	Providence	35–16	12–8	T–2nd
1992	Providence	29–23	12–8	4th	NCAA Regional
1993	Providence	21–24	8–12	7th
1994	Providence	32–21	13–8	2nd
1995	Providence	44–15	16–5	1st	NCAA Regional
1996	Providence	32–17–1	15–10	T–1st (American)
Providence:		220–137–1 (.616)	87–61 (.588)
Maine Black Bears (America East Conference) (1997–2005)
1997	Maine	24–27	16–8	2nd
1998	Maine	24–26	12–16	5th
1999	Maine	28–28	14–14	T–4th
2000	Maine	25–24	14–12	5th
2001	Maine	26–15	20–8	2nd
2002	Maine	40–17	16–6	1st	NCAA Regional
2003	Maine	38–18	17–7	2nd
2004	Maine	34–21	14–7	T–2nd
2005	Maine	35–19	14–7	T–2nd
Maine:		274–195 (.584)	137–85 (.617)
Navy Midshipmen (Patriot League) (2006–present)
2006	Navy	32–21–1	8–12	5th
2007	Navy	35–20	12–8	3rd
2008	Navy	32–25–1	11–9	T–2nd
2009	Navy	20–26–1	8–12	5th
2010	Navy	30–21	7–13	T–5th
2011	Navy	33–25–1	12–8	1st	NCAA Regional
2012	Navy	23–29	9–11	3rd
2013	Navy	28–23	13–7	2nd
2014	Navy	23–28	9–11	4th
2015	Navy	37–20	13–7	1st
2016	Navy	43–16–1	15–5	1st	NCAA Regional
2017	Navy	37–17	16–4	1st
2018	Navy	38–16	18–7	T–1st
2019	Navy	39–17	18–7	1st
2020	Navy	14–1	0–0		Season canceled due to COVID-19
Navy:		464–305–5 (.603)	169–114 (.597)
Total:		968–637–5 (.603)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

See also

• List of current NCAA Division I baseball coaches

References

1. "#15 Paul Kostacopoulos". NavySports.com. Navy Sports Information. Archived from the original on March 11, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
2. "2013 Big East Conference Baseball Media Guide". BigEast.org. Big East Conference. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
3. Warner, Pete (August 16, 1996). "Kostacopoulos Gets UM Baseball Job". Bangor Daily News. Bangor, ME, USA. pp. C1, C3. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
4. "Providence College Baseball Players Who Made It to the Major Leagues". Baseball-Almanac.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
5. "Former UMaine Coach John Winkin to Be Inducted into College Baseball Hall of Fame". BangorDailyNews.com. April 11, 2013. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
6. "2013 America East Conference Baseball Record Book" (PDF). AmericaEast.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 12, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
7. Lauzon, Jerry (May 26, 2002). "Maine's Comeback Complete". Maine Sunday Telegram. p. 1D. Archived from the original on June 6, 2013. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
8. "Vermont Falls to Maine 6–5 in Title Game". TimesArgus.com. Barre-Montpelier Times-Argus. May 29, 2005. Archived from the original on May 26, 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
9. Hall, Emmett (February 25, 2010). "Gainey to Continue Baseball Career at Naval Academy". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
10. Furlong, Jim (June 6, 2011). "Naval Academy Coach Fondly Recalls His Roots in Middletown". Middletown Patch. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
11. Farnum, Amy (May 27, 2011). "Navy's Road Back to the Top". NCAA.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
12. "2013 Patriot League Baseball Record Book" (PDF). Patriot League. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
13. "2013 Patriot League Baseball Standings". D1Baseball.com. Jeremy and Cynthia Mills. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.