Notre Dame hires former VCU head baseball coach Shawn Stiffler to take over program
The search is over, and Shawn Stiffler is headed from the East Coast to the Midwest. On Monday, Notre Dame announced that Stiffler, who had served as the VCU head baseball coach since 2012, will take over the Notre Dame program following the departure of former head coach Link Jarrett for Florida State.
“We are excited to welcome Shawn (Stiffler) and his family to our Notre Dame community,” Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said, per a university press release. “He’s a perfect fit to lead our nationally-respected program both on and off the field, as his approach to coaching and culture mirrors that of our institution.”
The 43-year-old Pennsylvania native had a 340-198 record with the Rams, and he took VCU to each of the last two NCAA Tournaments. They won 42 games in 2022, marking the highest win total the program has had since Stiffler’s first full season in 2013. Stiffler was the A-10 Coach of the Year in 2019 when the Rams went 39-19 and finished first in the A-10 with a 19-5 conference record. In total, Stiffler coached four All-Americans, five Freshman All-Americans and 48 All-A-10 players while in Richmond.
“I first want to thank Father (John) Jenkins, Jack Swarbrick and Jody Sadler for the confidence to lead this outstanding program,” Stiffler said. “My family and I are extremely humbled and ready to get started.
“Notre Dame is the finest university in the country. It challenges everyone to become the best version of themselves and I cannot wait to continue recruiting, developing and working with student-athletes with that type of mindset.”
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Stiffler played college baseball at George Mason and was drafted out of high school by the Minnesota Twins. He was a VCU assistant from 2007-12 prior to taking over the program and was a five-year pitching coach at his alma mater as well.
The new Irish head coach has three children with his wife, Jennifer: Wade, Scout and Penn.
It remains to be determined who will join Stiffler in South Bend, as sources confirmed to BlueandGold.com on Monday that both pitching coach Chuck Ristano and hitting coach Rich Wallace will follow Jarrett to Tallahassee.
Stiffler’s top assistant at VCU, Rich Witten, was hired as the FIU head coach on June 23, 2022. He served as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator from 2018-22. VCU pitching coach Seth Cutler-Voltz remains on the Rams’ staff at this time.
