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Saginaw
Valley State welcomes back head coach Walt Head for his 23rd 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 26-25 in 2004. His team qualified for the GLIAC Tournament and
finished third with a record of 17-13. 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 23rd season in the Cardinal dugout as one of the winningest coaches in NCAA Division II history. He enters the 2005 campaign ranked 20th among active NCAA Division II coaches in victories and is 40th in winning percentage. He is currently 33rd in Division II history with 632 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. Head was born May 4, 1945 in Flint. A graduate of Flint Ainsworth High School, he and his wife, Sue, live in Montrose. They have three children: Steve, Scott and Christy. |
