Eric Newman is in his second season as Nebraska’s pitching coach after joining the staff on July 2, 2007. Newman came to NU after five years at Dallas Baptist, serving the last three seasons as head coach of the Patriots program.

Newman made an immediate impact in his first season at Nebraska, as the Husker pitchers played a major role in advancing to an NCAA Regional for the ninth time in 10 years. He took a staff that had just 14 returning wins and guided the Huskers to 41 wins and a No. 1 regional seed. On the season, NU led the Big 12 in complete games (seven) and ranked among league leaders in saves (17, second), strikeouts (491, third) and ERA (4.18, third). The 491 strikeouts by the NU hurlers were the most since 2005, while the 8.46 strikeouts per game established a school mark. The staff was led by two-time All-American Johnny Dorn as well as Big 12 selections Thad Weber, and Dan Jennings, while five Huskers were selected in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft, including third-round pick Aaron Pribanic (Seattle) and Jennings, who was taken by the Florida Marlins in the ninth round. Dorn (15th, Florida), Weber (16th, Detroit) and Zach Herr (38th, San Diego) rounded out the draftees, as only Weber had been selected previously in the MLB Draft.

Newman came to Nebraska after serving as head coach at Dallas Baptist University for three seasons. He guided the school to a 95-72 record, while guiding the program through its transition to the Division I ranks. In his final season at DBU, Newman’s team finished with a 30-26 mark, including wins over College World Series qualifier Mississippi State and regional qualifiers St. John’s and Fresno State. Eight players were selected to the All-Independent team, while three players were drafted and another signed as a free agent prior to the 2007 draft. Austin Knight earned Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America honors, while right-hander Victor Black earned one of 36 invites to Team USA’s tryout camp in June of 2007.

During the two years the Patriots were eligible for NCAA Division I individual awards, Dallas Baptist had one Collegiate Baseball All-American (Drew Holder) and 14 players named to the All-Independent Team. For his efforts, Newman was named Independent Coach of the Year in 2006. Newman’s teams recorded wins over Oregon State, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, TCU, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech during his three years at DBU.

On the national level, Dallas Baptist had at least one player invited to Team USA summer tryouts in three of his four seasons at the school (Lance Broadway in 2004, Austin Krum in 2006 and Black in 2007) and a total of 15 players – including eight pitchers – selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft or signed professional free agent contacts.

Newman began his Dallas Baptist career as the school’s pitching coach in 2002, a position he held for two seasons before being named head coach. In his time as an assistant, he lowered the team ERA from 5.80 in 2002 to 3.28 in two seasons. Their 3.28 team ERA in 2004 would have ranked seventh nationally except for DBU’s provisional Division I status.

That season, he produced a pair of 10-game winners in Broadway and Jeff Gilmore. Broadway, a finalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and Roger Clemens Award in 2005, would eventually become a first-round pick of the Chicago White Sox and reached the Major Leagues in 2007. Three of Newman’s Dallas Baptist pitchers earned National Pitcher-of-the-Week honors, while his staffs have thrown a perfect game and three no-hitters since the start of the 2003 season.

Newman also brings expertise from the professional ranks, as he served as player-coach for the Single-A affiliate Vero Beach Dodgers in 2002. He played professionally for a total of eight seasons, including stints in the San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, and Arizona Diamondbacks organizations.

Newman spent two years playing collegiate baseball at Fresno State prior to transferring to Texas Tech in 1993. He played for the Red Raiders one year before being chosen in the fifth round of the MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres in 1994.

Newman graduated from Texas Tech with a bachelor’s degree in family studies in 1997, and completed his master’s degree in higher education at Dallas Baptist in 2005. Eric and his wife Melissa had their first son, EJ, in August of 2007.