Jerry Stitt
Head Coach

In just three seasons as head coach, Jerry Stitt has put Arizona baseball on the verge of returning to the national elite.

After three straight last-place finishes in the Pac-10 South, Stitt has led the Cats to back-to-back-to-back winning seasons and a return to postseason play thanks to improved pitching and defense and, under his direct tutelage, the continued success of Wildcat hitters.

Arizona qualified for an NCAA regional last year for the first time since 1993. The year before, the Cats ranked among the nation's leaders in doubles, triples, homers, runs scored and slugging percentage while reaching as high as No. 2 in one national poll.

Stitt has also signed a couple of stellar recruiting classes over the last two years, each ranked among the top 25 in the nation by Collegiate Baseball. He was included in the Arizona Daily Star's "98 for 98" list of Tucson sports personalities and has led the Cats to a 98-72 in his three seasons. Stitt became just the fourth head coach in the past 76 years of Arizona baseball on July 3, 1996, following the retirement of Jerry Kindall.

"Jerry Stitt is without question the right person at the right time for the University of Arizona and Wildcat baseball, to lead us into our next era," UA athletics director Jim Livengood said at the time of his hiring.

"We're not giving him this job. He earned it."

Stitt had been the Cats' associate head coach since 1992. He joined the Arizona coaching staff in 1978 and had worked with the outfielders and as hitting instructor while serving as an assistant. He follows J.F. "Pop" McKale, Frank Sancet and Kindall as the only head Arizona baseball coaches since 1922.

The offensive numbers Arizona has put up during Stitt's tenure as hitting coach are staggering. His first team in 1979 set Six-Pac records for hits (776), runs (542) and team batting (.328). The 1986 national championship team hit .337 with 74 home runs. The next season, Arizona set a school record with 76 homers while batting .329. The 1993 Cats led the nation in home runs (115), scoring (583 runs) and slugging percentage (.592). Jason Thompson and George Arias combined for 43 home runs that season. Arizona posted the highest cumulative batting average among Pac-10 South schools in 1990s. The Cats have hit below .300 just three times in his 21 years as batting coach.

Major league hitters who learned from Stitt while at Arizona include Arias, Tommy Barrett, Casey Candaele, Jack Daugherty, Terry Francona, Chip Hale, Ron Hassey, Tommy Hinzo, Jack Howell, Kenny Lofton, Damon Mashore, Brad Mills, John Moses, Dave Rhode, J.T. Snow, Dwight Taylor, Thompson and Kevin Ward.

Among his highest praisers is the man he replaced.

"Coach Stitt has a real keen sense for scoring runs," Kindall, Arizona's head coach for 24 years, said. "He's very aggressive in his approach to offensive baseball-stealing, the hit-and-run, base hits, bunts. Where many coaches will kind of hold back, Stitter creates base hits.

"He's one of the finest coaches I have ever been around when it comes to getting runs on the board. His techniques of teaching hitting, his fundamentals, are unparalleled. I gave him complete authority in teaching the hitters, and our statistics bear that out."

Stitt's reputation as a hitting instructor is even international as he spent the summer of 1988 in Europe teaching baseball to the Czechoslovakian National Team. He was also a guest coach at Szchweun Providence College in 1985.

Prior to joining the Arizona staff as an assistant coach on Aug. 15, 1978, Stitt had served as athletic director at Grand Canyon (Ariz.) High School for a year. Before that, he worked as a teacher and coach at Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson from 1971-77. In addition to posting a 93-72 mark as the head baseball coach, he compiled a 37-19 record as the freshman football coach. On Nov. 10, 1994, Stitt was inducted into the Salpointe High School Hall of Fame.

Stitt's first coaching job came in 1970 when he led the Cats' freshman baseball team to a 14-12 mark.

Stitt had an outstanding playing career prior to his coaching days. He was an all-city player at Phoenix Central High School. He was then a first-team ABCA All-American as a center fielder for Arizona in 1968 when batted .366. He hit .326 for his three-year career, earning All-Western Athletic Conference and All-District 7 honors in 1967 and '68. As a senior, Stitt led the Cats in batting (.366) and steals (29).

Following his senior season, Stitt was drafted in the 32nd round by the Cleveland Indians. He played in the Tribes' minor-league system for three years before retiring.

Stitt earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in education from Arizona in 1968 and '73, respectively. He also earned his doctoral degree in educational administration from Arizona in 1993.

Stitt was born on Nov. 29, 1946, in Phoenix. He was married to the former Linda Ann Bendixen on July 22, 1971, in Jackson Hole, Wyo.