Danny Hall
17
Head Coach

Having spent his entire coaching career involved with winning programs, Danny Hall is Georgia Tech's all-time winningest coach with 579 victories at the school. He has led Tech to the NCAA Tournament on 12 occasions and guided the Yellow Jackets to the College World Series in 1994, 2002 and 2006, the only head coach in the program's storied history to reach the promised land of Omaha.

Hall has directed arguably the greatest five-year stretch in Georgia Tech baseball history over the last five seasons. Tech advanced to the College World Series and finished with a No. 5 national ranking in 2002, the Yellow Jackets won the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in 2003, won the ACC regular season with an 18-5 conference mark in 2004, won both the ACC regular season and tournament titles in 2005, and advanced to the College World Series again in 2006. Tech won an ACC-record 25 straight conference games over the 2004-05 seasons, and owns a conference-best 59-24 record in league play over the last three seasons. The Yellow Jackets have hosted NCAA Regionals in each of the last five seasons.

Since Hall took over the program in 1994, Georgia Tech has averaged 44.5 wins per season, the eighth highest figure in the nation over the last 13 years.

Hall guided the Yellow Jackets to the College World Series for the third time in 2006, leading Tech to a 50-18 overall record and a Top-10 national ranking. Hosting a NCAA Regional for the fifth straight year, Tech swept through the Regional and Super Regional round with a perfect 5-0 record.

The Yellow Jackets were ranked No. 1 in the nation for three weeks during the regular season, the fifth time in the last seven years that Tech has achieved a No. 1 ranking. Tech earned a national "top eight" seed in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season, the longest active streak in the nation.

Following the 2006 season, eight Yellow Jackets were either drafted or signed professional contracts.

In 2005, Hall led the Yellow Jackets to a 45-19 overall record and a first-place finish in the ACC with a 22-8 conference record. The Yellow Jackets swept through the ACC Tournament with a perfect 4-0 record to earn their third conference tournament title in six years.

Hall, who was awarded with his third ACC Coach of the Year award in 2005, became Tech's winningest coach with his 505th win at the school on Mar. 27 at Miami.

The Yellow Jackets, who finished the season ranked No. 10 in the nation, won the NCAA Atlanta Regional and hosted the NCAA Atlanta Super Regional.

Hall directed Tech to an ACC-record 25 straight conference wins over the 2004 and 2005 seasons.

In 2004, Hall guided the Yellow Jackets to a 44-21 record and an ACC regular season championship (18-5). Tech won the NCAA Atlanta Regional and finished the season ranked 10th in the nation.

After posting just a 21-17 through the first 38 games of the season, Hall directed the Yellow Jackets on a school-record 20 game winning streak from Apr. 20 through May 29. Along the way, Tech recorded its first ever sweep of Florida State in Tallahassee, swept a three-game series from nationally-ranked Clemson, and defeated 12th-ranked Georgia in front of a record crowd of 28,836 at Turner Field. The Yellow Jackets advanced to the championship game of the ACC Tournament and finished the 2005 season by winning 16 straight ACC games.

Following the season, Tech had a school-record 10 players selected in the Major League Baseball draft.

Hall led Georgia Tech to its sixth Atlantic Coast Conference championship in school history, including its second in four years under his direction, with an improbable run to the title in 2003. The first day of the ACC Tournament was washed out by rain, causing the week's remaining schedule to be compressed. After falling to NC State in the second round, Tech battled back through the loser's bracket and ultimately played a triple-header on the final day of the ACC Tournament. In that final day, Hall guided the Yellow Jackets to a 10-6 win over North Carolina, a 10-7 win over Florida State and a 6-5, 10-inning victory over NC State in the championship game to claim the title and sweep a triple-header for the first time in Atlantic Coast Conference history. Tech, which finished the season ranked 14th in the nation, hosted a NCAA Regional for the third time in the last four years in 2003.

In 2002 Hall turned in one of the best coaching jobs of his career, leading a Georgia Tech team that included 17 freshmen and only three seniors back to the College World Series for the second time in his tenure. The Yellow Jackets swept through the NCAA Atlanta Regional and NCAA Atlanta Super Regional with a perfect 5-0 record before finishing fifth at the College World Series. The Yellow Jackets finished the 2002 campaign with 52 victories, establishing a school record for wins in a season. After being ranked among the top 25 in the nation for the entire 2002 season, Tech finished the year with a No. 5 national ranking.

After the Yellow Jackets failed to earn a NCAA Regional bid in 1999 for the only time in 13 years time under Hall, the skipper led Tech to one of its most successful seasons in 2000. The Yellow Jackets captured both the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season and tournament championship and finished the season with a 50-16 overall record and an 18-6 league mark.

Tech won the 2000 NCAA Atlanta Regional held at Russ Chandler Stadium and advanced to the NCAA Super Regional against Southern California before falling just two wins shy of a College World Series berth.

Hall was tabbed the ACC's Coach of the Year by a vote of his peers in 2000, the second time that he has won that award, after leading Tech to the conference regular season and tournament championships.

Tech followed up that highly successful 2000 season with another 40-win season and a NCAA Regional appearance in 2001 despite injuries to many of the team's top players.

Hall was also named ACC Coach of the Year in 1997 after leading the Jackets to the regular-season title with an all-time best conference mark of 19-4. In 1997, he was named National Coach of the Year by The Sporting News, the first such honor ever for a Tech baseball coach.

Hall's Georgia Tech teams have posted a 579-248 record (.700) in 13 years, an average of 44.5 wins per season, and finished in the top three of the ACC nine times. He owns a career mark of 211-109 (.659) in ACC regular season games, while his overall record as a head coach is 787-365, a winning percentage of .683.

Each of his Tech teams has been powered by a potent offense, leading or finishing second in the ACC in batting or run production in 10 of his 13 years as the Yellow Jackets' head coach. Tech established a school record with a .342 team batting average in 2000, and then eclipsed that mark with a .347 clip the following season. Four of Hall's last seven clubs have hit .330 or better as a team. Additionally, Hall has built the Yellow Jackets' pitching staff into perhaps the deepest in the program's history.

A total of 72 Tech players have earned all-conference honors in his 13 years, while 22 have been named All-America.

In 1994, he guided an extremely talented and veteran unit with four All-Americas and three first-round draft choices to the brink of a national championship, Georgia Tech's first-ever appearance in the College World Series, and a 50-17 record.

Hall was recognized by his American Baseball Coaches Association peers as Coach of the Year in the Atlantic region, and may have won the national honor if not for the unranked-to-national title season put together by Oklahoma's Larry Cochell. Three Jackets earned consensus first-team All-America recognition and, a first in ACC history, those three players finished in the top three in the conference batting stats.

With most of that talent lost to graduation and the draft, Hall guided Tech back to the NCAA's in 1995 and 1996 with teams dominated by freshmen and sophomores. In 1995, relying on a thin 22-man roster of which more than half were freshmen, the Jackets won 38 games and played in the NCAA Mideast Regional. A year later, he led the Jackets to the finals of the NCAA South II Regional and a 40-24 mark. In 1997, dealing with numerous injuries to key personnel, he guided Tech to the ACC regular-season title, a bid to the NCAA Mideast Regional and a 46-15 record.

His 1998 and 1999 teams at Tech relied heavily on newcomers. With 14 newcomers on the roster in 1998, Hall guided the Yellow Jackets back to the NCAA Tournament for the 14th consecutive year, the fourth longest active streak in Division I. Once there, Tech nearly made it to Omaha for the second time in his tenure by reaching the championship game of the Midwest Regional in Wichita, falling to Arizona State, 3-1.

Hall's teams have been equally successful in the classroom, as 92 student-athletes have been named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll (with a 3.0 or better grade point average) and nine have earned Academic All-America honors.

From a pair of conference titles and NCAA regional appearances as a player, through six Big Ten championships and four College World Series teams as an assistant coach, to two conference titles and two NCAA regionals as a head coach, Hall was well-prepared for the task that faced him when he took over the reins at Georgia Tech in December of 1993.

All of Hall's teams have been winners, and he has had a hand in developing some of baseball's best talent over his coaching career. Eighteen of his players at Kent State University were drafted by major league baseball organizations.

In 13 years at Tech, he has sent 67 players into professional baseball, including current Major Leaguers Nomar Garciaparra of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Jay Payton of the Baltimore Orioles, Jason Varitek of the Boston Red Sox, Marlon Byrd of the Texas Rangers, Mark Teixeira of the Texas Rangers and Matt Murton of the Chicago Cubs.

The 51-year-old Hall came to the Flats after building a strong program in a six-year stint (1988-93) at Kent. Hall led the Golden Flashes to Mid-American Conference championships and bids to NCAA regionals each of his last two seasons, compiling an 86-28 record during that time.

He forged a 208-117 record (.640) in his six years at Kent, twice winning Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year honors. He won more games than any other MAC school from 1989-93.

Before becoming a head coach, Hall served at one of the nation's powerhouses at Michigan, where the Wolverines won the Big Ten six times, participated in seven NCAA regionals and four College World Series. During his tenure, Hall coached major leaguers Jim Abbott, Scott Kamieniecki, Barry Larkin, Hal Morris, Chris Sabo and Gary Wayne.

Hall also is at the forefront of the American Baseball Coaches Committee, serving on that organization's Board of Directors.

Hall is married to the former Kara Zufall and has three sons, Danny III, Carter and Colin.