Ex-KU coach to guide Husker pitchers
Finally Alltel will get a break from Nebraska baseball coach Mike Anderson. Anderson announced Tuesday that he hired former Kansas head baseball coach Dave Bingham to replace Rob Childress, who left NU this summer to take the head coaching post at Texas A&M.
"I have burned up the phone lines and interviewed a large number of candidates in making this hire," Anderson said. "This is a man who I have relied on in the past and will count on as an integral part of our program for the future."
Bingham, 56, who led KU to its only College World Series in 1993, was head coach at Emporia State for 14 years, Kansas from 1988 to 1995 and recently was a pitching coach at New Mexico.
"After 22 years as a college head baseball coach, I felt I needed to do other things," Bingham said.
The founder of Dave Bingham Baseball Academy also worked as an assistant coach on the US Olympic baseball team in 1988 and the USA Junior team in 2000 as well as a number of other national amateur baseball teams.
He brought large baseball tournaments, which are connected with his academy for younger players (including former Husker Curtis Ledbetter), to Lincoln for the past eight years. He has worked with Anderson, assistant Andy Sawyer and Childress through the academy and the tournaments.
"We have used Dave as a consultant over the years and we know the relationships he builds with the players," Anderson said. "I know his pitching philosophy and I know what he can offer our program.
"The expectations of Nebraska fans are very high and we wanted to make a hire that will help us reach those expectations," he said.
Bingham said he is handing over the 10-year-old academy and is moving to Lincoln with his wife, Janet.
"I am going to be a Cornhusker and I hope to be in Lincoln a long time," he said. "The program at Nebraska has reached such a high level of development and competition this is an opportunity that I did not want to miss."
Bingham said he and Anderson have talked recently about who would make a good hire as a pitching coach.
Bingham said, "Finally, he said, ‘You are the man for the job.' I was taken aback a bit, but I understand the principles and ideals he believes in and I believe I can fit in and help the program keep growing."
Nebraska has reached the College World Series three of the past five seasons.
"They have made a tremendous leap from the days when I coached at Kansas and we played Nebraska in the old Buck Beltzer Stadium," Bingham said. "The school has made a commitment to find the right people, to build the program the right way and their successes show that."
Bingham said he plans to be a resource for the pitchers and other Huskers.
"There are pitching basics that go back to the days of Abner Doubleday and there are aspects of baseball that I have learned from experience. I hope to be someone who can provide that knowledge and work with the pitchers to develop."
Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or at khambleton@journalstar.com.
"I have burned up the phone lines and interviewed a large number of candidates in making this hire," Anderson said. "This is a man who I have relied on in the past and will count on as an integral part of our program for the future."
Bingham, 56, who led KU to its only College World Series in 1993, was head coach at Emporia State for 14 years, Kansas from 1988 to 1995 and recently was a pitching coach at New Mexico.
"After 22 years as a college head baseball coach, I felt I needed to do other things," Bingham said.
The founder of Dave Bingham Baseball Academy also worked as an assistant coach on the US Olympic baseball team in 1988 and the USA Junior team in 2000 as well as a number of other national amateur baseball teams.
He brought large baseball tournaments, which are connected with his academy for younger players (including former Husker Curtis Ledbetter), to Lincoln for the past eight years. He has worked with Anderson, assistant Andy Sawyer and Childress through the academy and the tournaments.
"We have used Dave as a consultant over the years and we know the relationships he builds with the players," Anderson said. "I know his pitching philosophy and I know what he can offer our program.
"The expectations of Nebraska fans are very high and we wanted to make a hire that will help us reach those expectations," he said.
Bingham said he is handing over the 10-year-old academy and is moving to Lincoln with his wife, Janet.
"I am going to be a Cornhusker and I hope to be in Lincoln a long time," he said. "The program at Nebraska has reached such a high level of development and competition this is an opportunity that I did not want to miss."
Bingham said he and Anderson have talked recently about who would make a good hire as a pitching coach.
Bingham said, "Finally, he said, ‘You are the man for the job.' I was taken aback a bit, but I understand the principles and ideals he believes in and I believe I can fit in and help the program keep growing."
Nebraska has reached the College World Series three of the past five seasons.
"They have made a tremendous leap from the days when I coached at Kansas and we played Nebraska in the old Buck Beltzer Stadium," Bingham said. "The school has made a commitment to find the right people, to build the program the right way and their successes show that."
Bingham said he plans to be a resource for the pitchers and other Huskers.
"There are pitching basics that go back to the days of Abner Doubleday and there are aspects of baseball that I have learned from experience. I hope to be someone who can provide that knowledge and work with the pitchers to develop."
Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or at khambleton@journalstar.com.
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