The LSU baseball program hired Terry Rooney as the newest associate director of program development and recruiting for the Tigers. Head coach Jay Johnson announced on Wednesday.
Rooney previously helped LSU build its foundation that would win its sixth National Championship in the 2009 College World Series. He was the pitching coach/recruiting coordinator under Paul Mainieri’s staff in the 2007 and 2008 seasons.
The Tigers would earn a spot in the College World Series in 2008 when LSU put together the number-one recruiting class in the nation that would be key to its title run the following year.
Most recently, Rooney was Purdue’s pitching coach/recruiting coordinator for the past two seasons.
“I am really excited to add Terry Rooney to our LSU Baseball staff,” Johnson said. “Terry has a unique skill set, along with experience that will benefit our program for years to come.
“Terry’s work ethic, attention to detail, and previous experience here at LSU will be a huge asset to us as we move into the next phase of building our program on the heels of the 2023 National Championship. We couldn’t be happier to welcome Terry and his family back to LSU Baseball.”
In his college coaching career, 14 pitchers that were under Rooney’s wing would go on to the big leagues. He also coached another 20 pitchers that were taken in the first 10 rounds of the MLB draft, most recently Robert Gasser, who was taken in the second round of the 2021 draft.
In 2000 and 2001, he was an assistant at Old Dominion and was able to recruit and sign Justin Verlander, who would go on to be a Cy Young Award, American League MVP winner, and World Series champion with the Houston Astros in 2022.
Before his first stint at LSU, Rooney worked under Mainieri at Notre Dame from 2004-2006 as the pitching coach and followed the Tigers’ legendary coach to Baton Rouge in ’06.
The first recruiting class in 2007 for Rooney was highlighted by All-Americans like DJ LeMahieu, catcher Micah Gibbs, and pitcher Anthony Ranuado. The class would go on to be ranked first and be a major contributor to LSU’s title run in ’09.
Ensuing the 2008 season, Rooney would move on from the Tigers and go to be the head coach of UCF. In his time with the Knights (2009-2016), Rooney racked up 261 wins, eight winning seasons, the 2014 American Atheltic Conference Coach of the Year award, and a 45-win season in 2012 that resulted in a regional bid.
When UCF moved to the AAC in the 2013-2014 school year, Rooney earned Coach of the Year honors as the Knights would 36 games and was 17-7 in league play.
In 2015, UCF was ranked the highest the program had ever been at number six in the nation. Rooney would go to Alabama to be their associate head coach/pitching coach in 2016 and then coach at the University of Houston from 2017-2021. As the pitching for the Cougars, Rooney would help produce the 2018 AAC Pitcher of the Year in Aaron Fletcher and Devon Roedahl, who became the 2019 AAC Newcomer Pitcher of the Year.
Rooney will have work to do to fill that pitcher’s room as LSU did lose many pitchers to the draft like Paul Skenes who went first overall, Ty Floyd, Blake Money, Riley Cooper, and others. However, the Tigers will have players like Nate Ackenhausen make a return and the transfer portal gives plenty of options to fill the room as LSU and coach Johnson will look to repeat as champs.