UCLA's John Savage joins Mentors of Baseball Live 1-9-22 - a podcast by Sammy & Bryan Eisenberg

Walter Beede, Bryan Eisenberg authors of "Committed The Guide to Developing College Ready Recruits from Middle School Through High School" and Butch Baccala host Twitter Spaces conversations. This week we were joined by UCLA's head coach John Savage.

About John Savage

Through 17 seasons as UCLA’s head coach, John Savage has established the Bruins as a consistent national championship contender. Savage helped UCLA reach college baseball’s pinnacle in 2013, as the Bruins won their first-ever NCAA baseball title. Under his guidance, UCLA has advanced to the postseason in 12 of the last 16 seasons, hosting an NCAA Regional in six of the last 10, including four-straight from 2010 through 2013 (there was no postseason held in 2020).

Savage completed his 17th season as UCLA’s head coach in 2021. He is currently the third longest-tenured head coach in UCLA baseball program history and has gone 589-382-1 in the past 17 seasons.

In 12 trips to the postseason at UCLA, Savage has compiled a 44-25 record (.638 winning percentage), recording the most postseason victories of any head coach in program history.

With Savage at the program’s helm, UCLA advanced to the College World Series in 2010, 2012, and 2013, and reached the best-of-three championship series in 2010 and 2013. UCLA defeated Mississippi State, two games to none, at the 2013 College World Series. In 2010, the Bruins advanced to the championship series for the first time in school history, falling two games to none to South Carolina.

Savage’s strong work with UCLA’s program has been equally evident in player development and the MLB Draft. Over his 17 seasons in Westwood, UCLA has produced 117 draft selections. Under Savage, the Bruins led or co-led all NCAA schools in draft selections in both 2019 (13) and 2021 (10), and produced a first-round draft pick in three consecutive years (2019-21) for the first time in program history. In addition, he has coached 22 players at UCLA that have competed in the major leagues.

Savage is one of just two head coaches in college baseball history – alongside Vanderbilt's Tim Corbin – to have guided his team to a College World Series title, produced the first overall pick in the MLB Draft, coached a Golden Spikes Award winner, and had a former player win a Cy Young Award in Major League Baseball. Savage is one of just six coaches all-time with a CWS title, No. 1 pick, and Golden Spikes winner, joining an illustrious group of current and former head coaches in Corbin, Skip Bertman (LSU), Jim Brock (Arizona St.), Augie Garrido (Cal State Fullerton, Texas), and Jim Morris (Miami).

A tenacious recruiter with a keen eye for developing talent, Savage and his coaching staff has found success on the recruiting trail. Fifteen of his 17 recruiting classes have been nationally ranked in the top-25 by Baseball America. UCLA’s incoming class in the fall of 2021 was rated No. 1, nationally, by Baseball America, the highest-such ranking of any of Savage’s recruiting classes. UCLA’s incoming group in the fall of 2006 was ranked No. 5, followed by No. 13 (fall 2007), No. 7 (fall 2008), No. 7 (fall 2009), No. 19 (fall 2010), No. 3 (fall 2011), No. 2 (fall 2012), No. 7 (fall 2014), No. 3 (fall 2015), No. 16 (fall 2016) No. 16 (fall 2017), No. 4 (fall 2018), No. 5 (fall 2019), and No. 6 (fall 2020).

You can follow us on Twitter at:

Walter Beede: @baseballlifer11

Bryan Eisenberg: @TheGrok

Butch Baccala: @butchbaccala

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