Arizona Athletics: Top 5 Arizona Wildcat greatest impact coaches
By David Rosen
No.3 Jerry Kindall 1973-96
Hard not to put this individual at the No.2 or even No.1 spot, but that says a lot about those on the list. During his 24 seasons as head coach for Arizona Baseball, Jerry Kindall put Wildcat baseball on the map. He had an overall record of 860-579-7, which included three national championships! Not only did he win a national championship as a coach, but also as a player. He knew how to win!
Kindall also racked up individual and team accolades as head coach for the Wildcats:
- Three time national coach of the year
- Inductee into the College Hall of Fame in 2007
- Won 3 Pac-10 titles and 1 WAC Title
Similar to Tomey, Kindall had many highly talented players in college baseball play for him. One of those being Terry Francona, who went onto become the general manager for the Cleveland Indians. Kindall impacted so many players and help guided them to success at the next level.
He had such an impact for Arizona Athletics that in 1986, while Kindall was head coach, they named the baseball stadium after him and former coach Frank Sancet, Jerry Kindall Field at Frank Sancet Stadium. Kindall knew how to win and how to be successful. He will go down as one of the greats to have coached college baseball.