Dave Van Horn: It feels great to win SEC Coach of the Year

Ever since Dave Van Horn took over as skipper for the Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, the program has enjoyed multiple successful seasons. That has resulted in Van Horn winning SEC Baseball Coach of the Year two times in the past. But after leading Arkansas to a 39-15 overall record while going 20-10 in conference play, the Razorbacks skipper has just earned his third SEC baseball Coach the Year award in 2023.

Following Arkansas season finale series against the Vanderbilt Commodores over the weekend, Van Horn shared his thoughts and feelings on winning the award for a third time.

“It feels great; I appreciate it,” said Van Horn. “It’s all about how we’re perceived. And I think we were perceived as the fourth or fifth-best team in the West, and we finished a lot higher than that. We won games that maybe a lot of people didn’t think we would because of the players and the way they worked. And I got a great staff. We made some good decisions that panned out.”

The first time Van Horn won the award was back in 2004 when he led Arkansas to the SEC West and the program’s first College World Series appearance since 1989. His second time winning the award was much more recent, two years ago, to be exact, in 2021.

Van Horn has a selfless view of the award. For him, it’s more about the people that helped make winning the award possible such as assistant coach Matt Hobbs and left-handed pitcher Hagen Smith.

“When you look back at the decision, about 10 days out from conference (play), when coach Hobbs and I just discussed how we got to handle this going into league play, it was about winning one game and putting Smith in the bullpen. And give credit to Smith for not fighting us on that. He was [willing to do] whatever we got to do to win. I think that really showed the team how good a teammate he is, and he’s really all about winning and not about his numbers. And usually, if you have that approach, you end up getting what he got, what he deserves — first-team all-SEC. I mean, that team right there, if you get on that team, you’re probably going to play in the big leagues one day, or you’re going to be close.”

Overall, to Van Horn, it is a great feeling for him to capture his third SEC Coach of the Year award. However, if the Arkansas skipper could have it his way, he would have loved to have finished the year as outright regular season conference champions. Unfortunately, with their series loss to Vanderbilt to end the year, the Razorbacks ended up with a share of the championship along with the Florida Gators.

“So yeah, it’s a great feeling. But the best feeling to me is knowing that we finished on top of the West. And then, getting a piece of the overall championship, which is so hard to get. We were so close to getting it all by ourselves, and it’s hard to even look back on it because it kind of makes you, well, nauseated, honestly. It is a great feeling; just really proud of the players,” said Van Horn.