Matthew A. Bragga (born July 20, 1972) is an American baseball coach and former utility player, who is the current head baseball coach of the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. He played college baseball at Kentucky for coach Keith Madison from 1991 to 1994. He then served as the head coach of the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (2004–2018) and the Rice Owls (2019–2021).
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Tennessee Tech |
| Conference | Ohio Valley |
| Record | 526–479–1 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | July 20, 1972 |
| Playing career | |
| 1991–1994 | Kentucky |
| Position(s) | Utility |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1996 | Northport (AL) Tuscaloosa County (asst.) |
| 1997–2000 | Bevill State CC |
| 2001–2003 | Birmingham–Southern (Asst) |
| 2004–2018 | Tennessee Tech |
| 2019–2021 | Rice |
| 2022–present | Tennessee Tech |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 577–555–3 (NCAA) 148-86 (NJCAA) |
| Tournaments | NCAA: 5–5 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
As assistant coach:
As head coach:
| |
Playing career
editBragga was a 4-year letter winner for the Kentucky Wildcats baseball team from 1991 through 1994.[1] He signed as a free agent with the Cincinnati Reds organization and played two years of minor league baseball for the Butte Copper Kings[2] and the Charleston AlleyCats.[3]
Coaching career
editIn 1996, Bragga began his coaching career as an assistant at Tuscaloosa County High School in Northport, Alabama.[4] The following season, he accepted the head coaching position at Bevill State Community College.[5] In 2001, Bragga accepted a position as an assistant coach at Birmingham–Southern College.[6] The 2001, Birmingham–Southern finished 55–11 and won the NAIA World Series.[7]
On December 5, 2003, Bragga accepted the position of head baseball coach at Tennessee Tech university. He spent 15 seasons as the head coach at Tennessee Tech. After Bragga's first 3 seasons, Tennessee Tech had compiled a record of 46-109 (.297), but in his last 12 years as head coach he accumulated 400 wins and 283 losses (.585). He compiled 6 conference championships in his last 10 years at TTU, culminating with a 53-win campaign in 2018 when his Golden Eagles were 1 win away from reaching the college World Series in Omaha Nebraska.
On June 15, 2018, Bragga was announced as the new head coach of the Rice Owls baseball program.[8]
On May 23, 2021, Bragga was fired after compiling a record of 51–76–1 in 3 seasons.[9]
On November 8, 2021, Tennessee Tech announced that Bragga would return to Tennessee Tech as the 16th coach in program history (he was also the 13th) starting November 11, 2021.[10]
Head coaching record
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bevill State Community College (Alabama Community College Conference) (1997–2000) | |||||||||
| 1997 | Bevill State Community College | 34-23 | ACCC Tournament | ||||||
| 1998 | Bevill State Community College | 39-20 | ACCC Tournament | ||||||
| 1999 | Bevill State Community College | 40-19 | ACCC Tournament | ||||||
| 2000 | Bevill State Community College | 35-24 | ACCC Tournament | ||||||
| Bevill State Community College: | 148-86 | ||||||||
| Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (Ohio Valley Conference) (2004–2018) | |||||||||
| 2004 | Tennessee Tech | 15–31 | 10–16 | 8th | |||||
| 2005 | Tennessee Tech | 13–42 | 6–20 | 9th | |||||
| 2006 | Tennessee Tech | 18–36 | 11–16 | 7th | |||||
| 2007 | Tennessee Tech | 26–28 | 12–15 | 5th | |||||
| 2008 | Tennessee Tech | 35–23–1 | 13–14 | 5th | Ohio Valley tournament | ||||
| 2009 | Tennessee Tech | 31–24–1 | 10–11–1 | 5th | NCAA Regionals | ||||
| 2010 | Tennessee Tech | 31–25 | 14–6 | 1st | Ohio Valley tournament | ||||
| 2011 | Tennessee Tech | 25–29 | 12–12 | 4th | Ohio Valley tournament | ||||
| 2012 | Tennessee Tech | 21–32 | 10–16 | 8th | |||||
| 2013 | Tennessee Tech | 40–17 | 24–6 | 1st | Ohio Valley tournament | ||||
| 2014 | Tennessee Tech | 40–19 | 18–12 | 2nd | Ohio Valley tournament | ||||
| 2015 | Tennessee Tech | 26–29 | 16–14 | 2nd | Ohio Valley tournament | ||||
| 2016 | Tennessee Tech | 31–24 | 17–13 | 4th | Ohio Valley tournament | ||||
| 2017 | Tennessee Tech | 41–21 | 23–7 | 1st | NCAA Regionals | ||||
| 2018 | Tennessee Tech | 53–12 | 27–3 | 1st | NCAA Super Regionals | ||||
| Rice Owls (Conference USA) (2019–2021) | |||||||||
| 2019 | Rice | 26–33 | 14–16 | 7th | Conference USA tournament | ||||
| 2020 | Rice | 2–14 | 0–0 | Season canceled due to COVID-19 | |||||
| 2021 | Rice | 23–29–1 | 11–20–1 | 5th (West) | |||||
| Rice: | 51–76–1 | 25–36–1 | |||||||
| Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (Ohio Valley Conference) (2022–present) | |||||||||
| 2022 | Tennessee Tech | 30–27 | 11–13 | T-6th | Ohio Valley tournament | ||||
| 2023 | Tennessee Tech | 21–34 | 10–14 | 6th | Ohio Valley tournament | ||||
| 2024 | Tennessee Tech | 29–26 | 13–14 | 5th | Ohio Valley tournament | ||||
| Tennessee Tech: | 526–479–1 | 257–222–1 | |||||||
| Total: | 577–555–3 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
edit- ^ "2018 Kentucky Baseball" (PDF). www.ukathletics.com. University of Kentucky. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
- ^ "Copper Kings outlast Dodgers, 18–17". www.newspapers.com. The Montana Standard. August 17, 1994. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
- ^ "Unknown". www.newspapers.com. The San Bernardino County Sun. 10 July 1995. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
- ^ "TTU Taps Bragga for Baseball Position". www.ovcsports.com. Ohio Valley Conference. November 17, 2003. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
- ^ "Tennessee Tech coach Matt Bragga has deep connection to Butch Thompson". www.sports.usatoday.com. USA Today. June 2, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
- ^ Andrew Carroll (May 25, 2001). "Bears bound for NJCAA tourney". www.tuscaloosanews.com. Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
- ^ Tomy Deas (June 14, 2011). "Central grads lead BSC to NAIA baseball title". www.tuscaloosanews.com. Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
- ^ "Matt Bragga Named 21st Baseball Coach". www.riceowls.com. CBS Interactive. June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
- ^ Joseph Duarte (May 24, 2021). "Rice fires baseball coach Matt Bragga". www.houstonchronicle.com. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
- ^ Mike Organ (November 8, 2021). "Matt Bragga returning as Tennessee Tech's head baseball coach". www.tennessean.com. Tennessean. Retrieved November 9, 2021.