COACHING STAFF

Head Coach Greg Guilliams

Energy, discipline, resolve.

Ask anyone who knows Blazer head baseball coach Greg Guilliams to describe the seventh-year head coach and you are likely to hear those three words in one form or another. However, you’ll also hear one other.

Winner.

Since joining the Valdosta State program prior to the 2008 season, Guilliams has used the above character traits to vault the Valdosta State baseball program back into the upper echelons of the NCAA Division II ranks. Driven by a seeming unending source of energy that fills a room whenever Guilliams enters, the Blazer head man has quickly added his stamp to the rich tradition that is Valdosta State baseball as he has recorded 205 wins against 120 losses and one tie, a winning percentage of .630. He has directed VSU to two of its four Gulf South Conference championships, a feat accomplished in both 2010 and 2013, as well as a GSC East Division title in his initial season. Overall, Valdosta State has advanced to NCAA postseason play in three of his seven years and has finished in the Top 25 in the nation four times.

The discipline and resolve of Guilliams has not just been evident in how his teams perform, but also in his willingness to take on the top teams in the nation. In his first seven seasons, Valdosta State has played 95 games against teams ranked in the Top 30 in the nation, compiling a respectable 42-53 record in those games, including a 16-20 mark against Top 10 foes.

The Blazers’ winning ways under Guilliams has led to a plethora of honors for Valdosta State players. Seven times a VSU player has earned All-America honors under Guilliams’ tutelage while the 2009 and 2010 NCAA Division II South Region and 2009, 2010 and 2012 Gulf South Conference Players of the Year wore the Red and Black of the Blazers. Additionally, the 2012 GSC Freshman of the Year was also a Blazer while a Valdosta State baseball player has earned All-Gulf South Conference honors 34 times in the last seven years. Meanwhile, three Blazers – Matt Costello and Brandon Graves in 2009 and Brandon Decker in 2010 – have been selected in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. Guilliams himself has benefited from his team’s play as he was named the 2010 Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year.

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 posted a 10.5 game improvement from its 2007 record, when the Blazers were 27-30, a figure which 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 while also establishing a new school mark with fielding percentage at .968, a figure 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’s performance also earned him a spot on the GSC All-Decade second team at the conclusion of the 2010 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.

The hitting success continued in 2010 as the Blazers ranked among the top 20 teams in the nation in batting average (18th), runs scored (8th), hits (7th), home runs (12th), walks (12th), hit by pitches (2nd) and sacrifice flies (12th). En route to a 43-17 record and the Gulf South Conference championship as well as its second straight appearance in the NCAA South Region Tournament, VSU hit .351 as a team and counted 71 home runs among its 717 hits. The Blazers’ success against the nation’s top ranked teams continued as VSU compiled a 6-8 record against teams in the Top 30 in the nation.

Individual accolades rolled in at the conclusion of the year as Decker, who fell just short of winning the South Region’s Triple Crown, was unanimous choice as the region’s Player of the Year while also being named the unanimous pick as the GSC East’s top player. Decker went on to be named first team All-America by all three national organizations and was joined on the ABCA and NCBWA All-America squads by Clayton Cain, who earned third team recognition from both organizations. Cain was also recognized for his prowess in the class room as he received Academic All-America recognition, as did Koenigsfeld, making Valdosta State just one of four schools nationwide to have to players earn the prestigious grade-based honor. Koenigsfeld wrapped up a prestigious career on and off the field as he became just the fifth Valdosta State student-athlete, and the first since 1997, to win the Gulf South Conference’s Commissioner Trophy as the league’s top male student-athlete.

Decker, Cain and Koenigsfeld each made first team All-GSC at the conclusion of the season and were joined on the first team squad by pitchers Jeremy Forbus and Brett Kennedy. Three more Blazers were recognized as second team All-Conference as Austin Smith, Ryan Danbury and Antonio Clark earned the honor. Decker wrapped up the year when he was selected in the 27th round of the MLB draft by the Los Angeles Angels and then was named to the Gulf South Conference All-Decade team.

With the departure of all but two position players and three pitchers, Guilliams faced the task of completely rebuilding his squad in 2011. The new group of Blazers struggled early on as they played one of the nation's toughest schedules while gelling as a team. The squad won just five of its first 17 games, 10 of which were played against ranked opponents. However, Guilliams mentoring helped the team rebound for a 22-27 mark on the season and saw the squad advance to its fifth straight GSC Tournament, fourth in as many years under Guilliams.

Guilliams returned VSU to the GSC Tournament in 2012 while directing his club to a 27-19 record. Five Blazers received All-GSC honors at the end of the year, with Christian Glisson garnering the league's Player of the Year nod while Bryant Hayman was named the Conference's top Freshman. Glisson and Cameron Graves went on to be recognized on the All-South Region team as well.

Guilliams led Valdosta State to its fourth GSC Championship in 2013 while turning in one of his finest coaching jobs. His team started the year by dropping 10 of its first 18 games before catching fire. The Blazers went on to win 25 of their next 31 games, including a 5-4 win over Delta State in the GSC title game, and advanced to its third NCAA postseason appearance while finishing the year with a 34-18 record. Seven Blazers were named to the All-Gulf South Conference team with two, catcher Bryant Hayman and relief pitcher Benjamin Weil, garnering All-Region honors.

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.

Assistant Coach Todd Guilliams

Now in his sixth 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.