COACH HOLOWATY: In his own words

VIDEO

For over four decades, the name Bill Holowaty has been synonymous with Eastern Connecticut State University championship baseball.

 Holowaty is the winningest  coach in the history of New England intercollegiate athletics. He has produced 39 post-season teams in 44 seasons, 14 of which have advanced to national tournament play. He is currently the only active coach in NCAA baseball — and one of only three in college history — to have led one program to as many as four national championships.

Heading into his 45th season, Holowaty has amassed a staggering  total of 1,382 victories in 1,903games for a winning percentage of 72.8 (1,382-515-6). In 44 years, he has recorded over 90 percent (92.1) of the program’s 64-year total of 1, 500 victories and has coached nearly 90 percent (89.2) of the 2,134 games in program history.. 

Among active Division III coaches, Holowaty ranks first in total wins and seventh in winning percentage. On the all-time Division III coaching list, he is third in victories and 13th in winning percentage. Among college coacheswho have ever coached  at a four-year institution, he ranks 11th in total wins, and among active coaches is fifth behind Division I mentors Augie Garrido (currently at Texas), Gene Stephenson (Wichita State), Mike Martin (Florida State) and Mark Marquess (Stamford).

Having been named national Coach-of-the-Year four times and regional Coach-of-the-Year 14 times, Holowaty’s legend has been built upon consistency. In addition to winning four national championships, the Warriors have posted at least 30 wins 28 times in the last 40 seasons under the head coach and brought a streak of 11 straight 30-win seasons into  2012, when they fell one triumph shy of extending that streak. Only one Holowaty-coached  team in 44 seasons has ever won less than 60 percent of its games.  Despite winning “only” 58.5 percent of its game,  that 1989 team came within an acrobatic outfield catch by its opponent  of reaching the national tournament. The following year,  the Warriors recorded the first of four 40-win campaigns,  and did advance to the national tournament,  where it proceded virtually unchallenged  to  its second national title. 

Under Holowaty, Eastern has either won the Little East Conference regular-season or post-season championships or both in the same season 14 times in 16 years. The Warriors are the only program to win back-to-back LEC tournament titles -- having done in twice -- and are the only program to win consecutive outright LEC regular-season titles, having captured four straight between 2002 and 2005. Eastern won or shared LEC regular-season titles eight times in the first nine seasons of LEC competition.

Fresh out of graduate school and inheriting a program which had averaged just 4.3 wins over the previous six years, the Mohawk, N.Y. native won 11 of 16 games in his first season and produced the first of 23 straight post-season tournament appearances. Five years into his tenure, he directed the Warriors to a second-place finish in the NAIA national tournament. The rest, as they say, is history. A history of unqualified success. 

A tenured professor of health and physical education at Eastern, Holowaty holds a B.S. in Physical Education and M.S. in Education from the University of Connecticut and makes his home in nearby Columbia with wife Jan. The Holowaty’s have three grown children: daughter Jennifer, and sons Jason and Jared. A team captain on the 2002 national title team, Jared is in his first season as assistant baseball coach at Montclair State University. Jason directs Major League Baseball's Game Development Operations in Europe and Africa.

*-Indicates number of ties                              #-NCAA Division III tournament qualifier

##-NCAA Division III national champion     $-NAIA tournament qualifier  

$$-NAIA national tournament qualifier    +-South Division champion

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