43  Daron Schoenrock
	Hometown: Cedar Rapids, Iowa High School: Lincoln County (Tenn.) HS Position: Head Coach Experience: Ninth Season Alma Mater: Tennessee Tech, 1984

The 16th baseball coach in school history, Daron Schoenrock enters his eighth season at the controls of Memphis baseball armed with a club featuring both experienced players and a talented group of newcomers. One of the top head coaches in the business, Schoenrock led his 2011 team to the program's fifth 30-win season since joining Conference USA in 1995.

Evident in his "Total Person" approach to coaching, Schoenrock's Tigers placed three players on C-USA's all-conference squad, including C-USA Player of the Year and C-USA Male Athlete of the Year Chad Zurcher. Two student-athletes also earned a place on the league's All-Academic Team in 2011.

With Schoenrock at the helm of the Memphis program, the Tigers were able to end the 13-year postseason hiatus and earn a berth to the NCAA Tournament in 2007. The 2007 team went 36-27, marking the most wins since 1994 and, combined with the 2006 campaign, represented the first back-to-back winning seasons since 1994 and 1995. Since coming to Memphis, Schoenrock has brought in three nationally-ranked recruiting classes, while 11 Tigers have been drafted in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Twelve players have gone on to play professional baseball either through the draft or free agency.

Schoenrock inherited a program that had lost its top three pitchers and 10 seniors from 2004, and struggled through a 13-42 campaign in 2005. With a well-planned goal, he wasted little time working to get the Tiger baseball program back on track, signing 25 newcomers for the 2006 season, including four four-year transfers, a National Junior College Player of the Year honoree and five major league draftees. Schoenrock brought those additions together and led the Tigers to a 32-win season in just his second campaign. The 32 wins were the most wins for Schoenrock in his three years as a head coach and the most by a Memphis baseball club since 2001. The 19-game turnaround tied for the second-best winning turnaround in the country in 2006 and also equaled for the best turnaround in Tiger baseball history--matching that of the 2001 team. Along with that 32-28 mark came Memphis' first appearance in the Conference USA semifinals since the 2001 season.

Hired on June 29, 2004, Schoenrock immediately launched his plan to elevate Tiger Baseball by intensifying recruiting efforts, marketing season ticket campaigns, increasing revenue generated by the Bullpen Club and yearly banquets, and putting a plan in motion to upgrade the Tiger baseball facility. The Tiger skipper oversaw the facelift recently given to FedExPark--the Tigers' home since 2010.

Through 17 years as an assistant (the last seven in the SEC), Schoenrock learned the importance an entire coaching staff has in carrying out the daily process of a program. In the summer of 2009, he brought in nationally-renowned pitching coach Fred Corral to Memphis as the Associate Head Coach. This past summer, Schoenrock hired Clay Greene, one of the top up and coming young coaches in college baseball, as his hitting coach and recruiting coordinator. Both of these moves, along with the hiring of former Tiger infielder Zach Clark prior to the 2010 season, as an assistant coach and camps coordinator, and the retention of Director of Operations Al Woods have Schoenrock thrilled with the staff he has in place.

The difference he has made has been evident off the field as well. In just his first semester, a more disciplined baseball team recorded the program's highest GPA ever. They once again recorded a program-record high 3.278 GPA in the fall 2010 semester and have posted a 3.0 GPA or higher in five-straight semesters.

A mirror of its coach, his squad also has been involved in community service efforts, such as visiting children at the Ronald McDonald House, Target House or St. Jude every year since his hiring. The Tigers added Streets Ministries to its goodwill efforts, preparing a meal and interacting with the inner city youth in a visit to the community outreach organization in the fall of 2006. In the spring of 2008, Memphis visited Southaven's Field of Dreams where they held a special Meet-and-Greet session and donated gifts to support the league that serves special-needs children in the Mid-South.

Schoenrock came to Memphis after several successful years as an assistant coach. Before taking the post as the Tigers' skipper, he spent three seasons as an assistant coach on the Mississippi State staff--his fifth year in association with former State coaching legend Ron Polk. His primary responsibilities included coaching Bulldog pitchers, and overseeing MSU's recruiting efforts. Schoenrock also coordinated the activities of the Bulldogs' foster-parent program.

Regarded as one of college baseball's premier pitching coaches, Schoenrock has coached 81 players that have signed professional baseball contracts. He has sent 46 pitchers under his tutelage to the professional level, including Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, and Paul Maholm, who was a first-round pick (the No. 7 overall) of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Three Bulldog pitchers were taken in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft. Since coming to Memphis, 10 Tigers have been drafted and 10 have signed pro deals. Under Schoenrock's leadership a program record four U of M pitchers were drafted in the 2008 Major League Draft.

Prior to joining Polk at MSU, he served as the pitching coach in 2000 and 2001 on the University of Georgia staff. In Athens, he developed a Bulldog pitching staff that, in 2001, helped boost Georgia to its first SEC championship in 47 years and its first appearance in the NCAA College World Series since 1990. He launched his affiliation with Southeastern Conference baseball in 1998 at the University of Kentucky. He served two seasons on the coaching staff of former MSU baseball staffer Keith Madison, coaching the UK pitchers and catchers and heading up the Wildcats' recruiting program in 1998 and 1999. His coaching expertise gained national acclaim during a highly-successful eight-year coaching stint at Birmingham Southern. His Panther pitchers improved their staff earned run averages each season and helped lead Birmingham Southern to the 1995 NAIA World Series.

In the summer that followed, Schoenrock earned a position as the short-season pitching coach for the Chicago White Sox's affiliate in the Appalachian League.

Schoenrock was a four-year starting pitcher under Coach David Mays at Tennessee Tech University. He earned his bachelor's degree in secondary education with a certification in biology before launching his coaching career as a graduate assistant coach there in 1985. He continued his coaching career as a graduate assistant coach under ABCA Hall of Famer Johnny Reagan at Murray State University, where he earned a master's degree in education in 1987.

Schoenrock took on his first head coaching job in 1988 at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn. He was 25-52 in his two years as coach of the Railsplitters. Schoenrock guided LMU to its first postseason appearance in five years and was named the Tennessee Valley Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 1989. Much like the 2009 Tigers, Schoenrock's 1989 Lincoln Memorial team played the entire season on the road as facility renovations were being completed.

A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Schoenrock has been involved in numerous community outreach efforts, sharing his knowledge at coaching clinics and banquets, and making several appearances for speaking engagements across the country, as well as in the Memphis area since taking the head coaching post at the U of M. Schoenrock also serves as a clinician for www.mycoachonline.com, a baseball instruction website, and is also active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes program. In 1995 Schoenrock authored a comprehensive textbook on pitching titled "The Total Pitching Program." Schoenrock served two three-year terms on the selection committee for the ABCA's prestigious Lefty Gomez Award, an annual award given for lifetime meritorious service to baseball. In the fall of 2009, Schoenrock was selected as chairman for C-USA baseball coaches.

Schoenrock, 50, is married to Carol Schoenrock. Carol is involved in the Tigers' baseball program, coordinating the Tiger Diamond Darlings program. They are the parents of two sons, Erik, 20, and Bret, 9. Erik is a sophomore pitcher on Memphis's 2012 club.