COACHING STAFF

Head Coach Rick O'Dette

Rick O'Dette returned to his alma mater as head baseball coach in September of 2000. Through 14 seasons he has compiled a record of 409-338-3, with a 261-214 mark in the Great Lakes Valley Conference games.

O'Dette enters his 15th season at the helm of the Saint Joseph's College baseball program as Pumas all-time winningest coach. He surpassed Mike Moyzis with his 357th win on April 22nd, 2012 with a 6-5 over Northern Kentucky University. A day prior, O'Dette was inducted into the Saint Joseph's College Hall of Fame.

Coach O’Dette surpassed the 400-win plateau on April 5th, 2014 after a 12-5 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. In 2014, three Pumas earned postseason accolades. Josh Keim, Brett Maus, and Jordan Peterson were all named First Team All-GLVC. In the fall of 2014, left-handed pitcher Brett Maus became the 20th player under Coach O’Dette to sign a professional contract, and will play with the Joliet Slammers of the Frontier League.

In 2013, SJC finished 30-20 and earned an at-large bid to the Midwest Regional played in Springfield, Missouri. The 2013 Pumas were once again dominant on the mound, posting a 2.88 team ERA, which ranked ninth nationally. The Pumas led the country in two statistical categories in the 2013 season, walks per nine innings and strikeout-to-walk ratio.

The 2013 Pumas received national attention and collected many postseason awards. Outfielder Charlie Dennehey and Catcher Kolin Conner earned First Team All-GLVC honors along with All-Midwest Region honors. Right-handed pitcher Jordan Peterson received First Team All-GLVC and All-Midwest Region, but was voted GLVC Pitcher of the Year, Midwest Region Pitcher of the Year and was named Rawlings First Team All-American.

In 2010, the Pumas finished with a 32-22 record and a 16-12 mark in the GLVC. SJC took NCAA Tournament aspiration into the GLVC Tournament, eliminating No. 17 Northern Kentucky 6-4 to reach the semi-finals.

The Pumas were ranked as high as 14th in the country during the 2009 season and finished 32-20. O'Dette, who also serves as the Pumas' pitching coach, led a pitching staff that led NCAA Division II in strikeouts per nine innings.

2009 also saw two SJC players selected in Major League Baseball's first-year player draft. Catcher Mike Pericht was selected in the 16th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers and left-handed pitcher Shane Zegarac was taken by the Texas Rangers in 42nd round.

During his tenure, O'Dette has overseen the development of 18 players that have gone on to play professional baseball. In 2008, O'Dette skippered SJC to a final record of 46-18. The Pumas earned the right to host the North Central Regional at Standard Bank Stadium in Crestwood, Illinois. The 46 wins rank second in school history, behind only the 1996 National Runner-up team that won 52 games and for whom O'Dette was a left-handed starting pitcher. SJC reached as high as number 8 in the national rankings in 2008 and finished the season ranked 22nd. The 2008 Pumas were recognized with several accolades as Blaine Cravens was named the GLVC and North Central Region Pitcher of the Year, while Matt Reimer and Matt Wille were named to the first-team for both the conference and the region.

He collected his 200th head coaching victory on April 17th, 2007 against Lewis University and picked up his 250th win on April 26th, 2008 at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. O'Dette won his 300th career game on April 2nd, 2010 with a come-from-behind 13-10 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan College.

The 2006 and 2007 seasons saw O'Dette lead young Puma teams to 30-win seasons and conference tournament births, going 33-23 and 30-21 respectively. SJC turned the corner under O'Dette in 2005 when they went 42-19 and won the regular-season conference championship by going 30-8 in conference play. The Pumas played host to the NCAA Regional and O'Dette earned conference coach of the year honors for his efforts.

In his second year as the Puma skipper in 2002, O'Dette led his club to a 31-26-2 record and to the finals of the conference tournament. The GLVC Tournament would become accustomed to SJC's presence, as O'Dette would lead his squads there in six of the next seven years.

Just as important as the on-field success achieved by the Pumas during O'Dette's tenure, they have also garnered accomplishments off it. SJC has placed numerous athletes on the conference All-Academic team and kept over a 3.0 team GPA throughout his fifteen year career. In the spring of 2014, the team compiled a cumulative 3.2 GPA and sent 26 players to the GLVC All-Academic Team. Furthermore, every player that has exhausted his eligibility with the program has earned a degree under O'Dette.

A native of Tinley Park, Ill., O'Dette was a member of the SJC baseball team from 1995-97. He finished his career was a record of 15-3 on the mound and was named to the All-Region Team in 1996 and the All-GLVC team in 1997. He helped the 1996 squad to a National Runner-up finish at the Division II World Series in Montgomery, Ala.

Following his junior season, O'Dette was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 15th round of the 1997 amateur draft. He played at four different levels within the Red Sox organization.

Prior to his return to SJC O'Dette worked as a professional instructor for Championship Sports Academy in Tinley Park, as well as the Chicago White Sox Training Center. He also spent two summers as the head coach for the Upper Deck Cougars Baseball Organization out of Palos, Ill. The Cougars finished in fourth place at the World Championships both years.

O'Dette spent the 1999-2000 academic year as the pitching coach for Andrean High School in Merrillville, Ind. 

O'Dette earned his degree from SJC in 1999 with a major in Physical Education and a minor in Health and Safety.

He resides in Rensselaer with his wife Sherry (SJC '98) and their children Ricky and Alyssa.