Former Kentucky Baseball coach Gary Henderson takes head coaching job at Utah

(via Utah Athletics)

The man who once led Kentucky Baseball to a No. 1 national ranking is back in the driver’s seat of another college program.

Gary Henderson, who was the head coach of the Bat ‘Cats from 2009-16, has accepted a position to take over as the head coach for Utah Baseball. He spent the previous two seasons in the Utes’ dugout as the associate head coach but was named the replacement for previous head coach Bill Kinneberg on Wednesday.

Henderson has 31 years of coaching experience and has been known for turning around teams in need of a push. He has head coaching stints at Florida, Oregon State, Kentucky, and Mississippi State. In Lexington, Henderson posted an overall record of 258-199 that included two trips to the NCAA Regionals.

We are excited to announce that Gary Henderson will be our next head coach!

📰 https://t.co/BWfjDgoBaz pic.twitter.com/fgz4v7mgva

— Utah Baseball (@utahbaseball) June 9, 2021

“The last two years have been wonderful to immerse myself into the Utah athletics family,” Henderson said, according to Utah’s press release. “It has been a joy to develop relationships with our student-athletes and I am excited for the opportunity to continue to help them reach their academic, athletic and personal goals. This community, campus and city make the University of Utah one of the best places to be in collegiate athletics. I can’t thank Mark Harlan, Charmelle Green and Steve Smith enough for the opportunity to lead this program.”

Henderson is one of the most successful baseball coaches to ever work at Kentucky. He was an assistant from 2003-08 before taking over as the head man when he guided the Bat ‘Cats to five consecutive 30-win seasons for the first time in program history. Henderson’s Kentucky teams set three different records for most wins recorded in a season and the team’s No. 1 overall ranking in 2012–when the team won 45 games–was another program first.

Not a single head coach for Kentucky Baseball has surpassed the 200-win mark faster than Henderson. He also developed 72 MLB draft picks or free-agent signees during his time as a Wildcat.

Henderson will have his work cut out for him once again as he returns to the head coaching position. Utah went 17-33 this past season and was 16-33 in 2019. The 2020 season was cut short due to COVID as the Utes only managed to get through 13 games.