Andy Stankiewicz Named USC Baseball Head Coach
LOS ANGELES – Former Major League Baseball player and longtime Grand Canyon manager Andy Stankiewicz has been named USC baseball's head coach, Trojan Athletic Director Mike Bohn announced today (July 3).
Stankiewicz, who has also spent time as a professional scout and minor league manager, comes to USC after 11 successful seasons at Grand Canyon in which he won five regular-season Western Athletic Conference titles (2015, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022) and was named the conference's Coach of the Year four times (2017, 2018, 2021, 2022).
"We are excited to welcome Andy Stankiewicz to the Trojan Family as our new baseball head coach," said Bohn. "A former MLB player and talented coach, Andy has a proven record of success in building a winning program. Playing seven seasons in the MLB, he understands what it takes to compete at the highest level. Andy's leadership, relationship-building abilities, and player development make him a terrific fit to lead our program. Furthermore, his integrity and commitment to student-athletes align perfectly with our vision and guiding principles. He arrives at USC strongly recommended and respected by members of the baseball community, and we have the utmost confidence that he will elevate our baseball program back to national prominence."
"I am thrilled to be the next head coach of the most prestigious baseball program in the country, the University of Southern California," said Stankiewicz, who owns a career record of 341-239-2 (.588). "I want to thank Mike Bohn and (sport administrator) Lindsay Jaffe for entrusting me with the development of our young men to be champions on and off the field. Our program will be one that represents the Trojan Family well and makes our alumni proud. Fight On!"
Stankiewicz guided Grand Canyon to its first ever NCAA Division I postseason appearance in 2021 after the Lopes won the WAC Tournament, and then led the program to its first ever Division I at-large bid this past season.
In 2022, Grand Canyon won 41 games, finished the regular season with three consecutive weeks in the D1Baseball.com Top-25 Poll and won a second-consecutive WAC title. The Lopes' strong resume earned them an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history and the first time by a WAC school since 2012. GCU had one of the nation's strongest nonconference schedules and recorded victories over top-10 teams in Oregon State, Stanford and Texas Tech. The Lopes were a No. 3 seed in the Stillwater Regional.
In 2021, Stankiewicz and the Lopes cruised through the WAC Tournament and earned a spot in the Tucson Regional that postseason. Stankiewicz led the Lopes to 39 victories while recording a personal milestone by winning his 300th game on May 29 in the WAC tournament championship.
After a pair of successful seasons at the Division II level in 2012 and 2013, Stankiewicz successfully guided GCU through a transition to the Division I level. Despite the jump in competition, the transition saw the Lopes find immediate success, as the program claimed the WAC regular season championships in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
Stankiewicz is one of the more respected coaches on the collegiate baseball landscape, evidenced by his multiple selections to lead USA Baseball national teams in international competition. He has been a head coach at the 18U level and an assistant on both the Collegiate National Team and in the 17U National Team Development Program. Stankiewicz helped 18U teams to gold medals at both the 2017 World Baseball Cup and the 2014 COPABE Pan American Games.
Stankiewicz's impressive player development resume is highlighted by the fact that in his time as GCU's head coach, 21 Lopes have been selected in the MLB Draft, with six selections coming in the first 10 rounds. Fifty Lopes have earned all-conference honors during Stankiewicz's tenure with 30 being first-team selections. He's produced five conference Player/Pitcher/Freshmen of the Year, nine All-Region honorees and five All-Americans.
GCU has had multiple players selected in three of the last four MLB Drafts (2020 draft was shortened to five rounds) and the Lopes have had at least one MLB draftee in 10 of Stankiewicz's 11 seasons at the helm. Under his watch, right-handed pitcher Jake Wong became GCU's highest draft pick since Tim Salmon (1989), going in the third round (80th overall) of the 2018 draft. The Lopes also matched a program high with five draftees in 2019.
Prior to his time at Grand Canyon, Stankiewicz held the position of minor league field coordinator for the Seattle Mariners. Before his stint with the Mariners, he was a member of the Arizona State baseball coaching staff from 2007 to 2009. He helped guide the Sun Devils to three Pac-10 championships and two appearances in the College World Series.
Stankiewicz also brings a professional coaching background, having served as manager for the New York Yankees NY-Penn League team in Staten Island. He guided Staten Island to the NY-Penn League championship in 2005.
A lifelong underdog due to his undersized 5-foot-9 frame, Stankiewicz had a very successful collegiate career at Pepperdine before grinding through six years in the minors to play seven MLB seasons.
Stankiewicz was selected by the New York Yankees in the 12th round of the 1986 MLB Draft and went on to play with the Yankees (1992-93), Houston Astros (1994-95), Montreal Expos (1996-97) and the inaugural season of the Arizona Diamondbacks (1998) during his MLB tenure.
He was paired with Buck Showalter at three different stops during his minor-league journey, so when Showalter, the new Yankees manager, needed a replacement in the infield, he drew from his personal confidence in Stankiewicz and called him up for his MLB debut on April 11, 1992.
Stankiewicz played in 16 games for the Yankees in 1993 before being traded to the Astros in the ensuing offseason. He spent two years with Houston and two years with the Montreal Expos before landing in Phoenix with the Diamondbacks in 1998. In what would be his final season in the majors, Stankiewicz played in 77 games for Showalter's Arizona Diamondbacks. With more than 1,000 fielding chances, Stankiewicz committed just 20 errors in seven years -- a career fielding percentage of .980.
A standout infielder at Pepperdine, Stankiewicz ranks in the school's top 10 in runs scored (172), at-bats (755), walks (121), stolen bases (101) and stolen base percentage (.828). During his four-year career with the Waves, Stankiewicz helped lead Pepperdine to two NCAA Regional appearances and one WCC championship.
He is a Southern California native, having been born in Inglewood and attending St. Paul HS in Santa Fe Springs, where he also starred in football.
What they're saying…
"Andy Stankiewcz is the right person for the job. He has been a winner at every level, is a tremendous teacher of the game, has demonstrated his ability to recruit talented players with high character, and is a great leader who possesses the highest level of integrity. His resume of success as a college player, Major League player, minor league manager, college coach, and Team USA manager has shown he can win at all levels and develop talent on and off the field. USC couldn't have gotten a better baseball coach to lead the program to consistent greatness, and I look forward to seeing his results."
Damon Oppenheimer
New York Yankees VP of Domestic Scouting
"The connection between USA Baseball and USC baseball goes back decades, beginning with Olympic and collegiate coaching legend Rod Dedeaux. In the years since Rod managed the 1984 Olympic team in Los Angeles, many Trojans, both players and coaches, have worn the red, white and blue and represented the United States on the world stage. That tradition continues with the naming of Andy Stankiewicz as the next head coach for the USC baseball program. We may be biased, but one would be hard-pressed to find a better teacher, coach and leader of young men in a baseball program, than Andy. It may be the collegiate baseball off-season, but USC just got a win. A very big win. Fight On!"
Paul Seiler
Executive Director / CEO USA Baseball
USC Baseball tradition…
Stankiewicz takes over a USC baseball program with unparalleled tradition. The Trojans have won a total of 12 National Championships (double that of the next closest NCAA program), made the College World Series 21 times and sent more players to the big leagues than any other school, with a total of 118 major leaguers.