Men's Baseball Coach
Saginaw Valley State welcomes back head coach Walt Head for his 26th season as skipper of the Cardinals. The Cardinals announced Head was promoted to full-time status in the winter of 2005. SVSU posted a record of 34-14 in 2007 with a 21-7 conference record which was good for second in the GLIAC, and his team advanced to the Great Lakes Regional. He was 24-21 in 2006. His team qualified for the GLIAC Tournament and finished third with a record of 18-10 in 2005. Head is the dean of the Cardinal athletic coaching staff and is the longest tenured coach in the GLIAC.
He has led SVSU to the NCAA regional playoffs three times, including back-to-back GLIAC titles in 2000 and 2001.
In 2003, the Cardinals claimed a share of the GLIAC Championship by tying Grand Valley in the conference tournament.
Head continues adding to his already profound status, entering his 26th season in the Cardinal dugout as one of the winningest coaches in NCAA Division II history. He enters the 2008 campaign ranked 10th among active NCAA Division II coaches in victories and is 42nd in winning percentage. He is currently 25th in Division II history with 687 victories.
Among Head’s accomplishments are two NAIA District 23 titles, the 1995, 2000 and 2001 GLIAC titles, the 1996 and 2003 GLIAC Tournament title and the 1995 and 2001 GLIAC "Coach of the Year" honors. The 1997 squad finished the season with a school-record ten-game win streak, matched in 2000. He also owns 27 victories over NCAA Division I teams.
Head knows that hitting the books goes hand-in-hand with hitting the baseball. In 2000, his team won the "Highest Team GPA" award with a 2.96 total grade point average. A former major league scout for the Baltimore Orioles (1972-77) and the Toronto Blue Jays (1977-83), Head also enjoyed a successful amateur coaching career before coming to SVSU. Head posted a 512-91 record at the Connie Mack level with Carpets by Jim Smith in Flint. He won six state championships and was the first coach in Michigan to win a Connie Mack national championship. Head also served as head coach of the 1978 National Sports Festival baseball team which won the gold medal.
A graduate of Flint Ainsworth High School, he and his wife, Sue, live in Montrose. They have three children: Steve, Scott and Christy.
