Associate Head Coach Alan Dunn

Alan Dunn

#34 • ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH

Alan Dunn, who was named the 2015 National Pitching Coach of the Year by Collegiate Baseball newspaper, is in his 10th season as LSU’s pitching coach. During Dunn’s nine-season LSU tenure (2012-20), the Tigers have earned seven NCAA Tournament National Seeds, three College World Series appearances, six NCAA Regional titles, three SEC championships, four SEC Western Division titles and three SEC Tournament crowns. Dunn has coached six Major League Baseball pitchers at LSU, include MLB All-Star right-hander Aaron Nola of the Philadelphia Phillies and Kevin Gausman of the Cincinnati Reds, both of whom were first-round draft choices. Dunn’s other MLB products at LSU are Nick Goody, a reliever for the Texas Rangers; Riley Smith, a reliever for the Arizona Diamondbacks; Ryan Eades, a former reliever for the Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles; and Nick Rumbelow, a former reliever for the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners. Dunn has produced a total of 24 LSU pitchers that were selected in the Major League Baseball draft, including 13 in the first 10 rounds. Dunn was the minor league pitching coordinator for the Baltimore Orioles when he was hired in June 2011 as the pitching coach for the LSU program. He has 22 years of experience as a pitching coach on the professional level, and he has coached more than 25 minor league pitchers that have advanced to Major League Baseball. Dunn in 2017 guided an LSU staff that helped carry the Tigers to the SEC title and the national runners-up finish at the College World Series. The staff featured all-America right-hander Alex Lange, the first-round draft selection of the Chicago Cubs, and left-hander Jared Poche’, who set LSU career records for most victories (39) and most starts (70). The 2017 Tigers finished No. 2 in the SEC in strikeouts (626) and No. 3 in the league in opponent batting average (.229) and in ERA (3.59). Poche’ was No. 1 in the league with 12 wins, and Lange was No. 2 in the SEC with 150 strikeouts. Dunn directed a Fighting Tiger staff in 2015 that helped lead the team to the SEC championship and a berth in the College World Series. The staff, which was No. 2 in the SEC in ERA (2.98) and in opponent batting average (.230), was led by right-hander Alex Lange, the National Freshman Pitcher of the Year and the SEC Freshman of the Year. Lange, a first-team all-American, was 12-0 with a 1.97 ERA and 131 strikeouts in 114 innings. In 2014, Dunn coached an LSU staff that led the nation with a school-record 17 shutouts. LSU was No. 1 in the SEC in fewest runs allowed (180), No. 1 in WHIP (1.09), No. 2 in ERA (2.60) and No. 3 in hits allowed per nine innings (6.99). The Tigers ranked fifth in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings and sixth in WHIP. Dunn supervised the development of LSU first-team allAmerican Aaron Nola, who was named 2014 National Pitcher of the Year by the College Baseball Foundation, and he was voted SEC Pitcher of the Year for the second straight season. Nola was the seventh overall selection in the 2014 MLB Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He posted an 11-1 mark and a 1.47 ERA with 134 strikeouts in 116.1 innings. Nola was No. 3 in the nation in strikeouts, and he was No. 1 in the SEC in strikeouts, ERA, opponent batting average (.172) and innings pitched. Dunn in 2013 directed an LSU pitching staff that posted a 2.40 ERA, which ranked second in the SEC and No. 3 in the nation. The Tigers were also No. 2 in the league in opponent batting average (.218) and No. 3 in the conference in strikeouts (506). Four members of the 2013 LSU staff were selected in the first 14 rounds of the MLB Draft, including second-rounder Ryan Eades by the Minnesota Twins. In 2012, Dunn coached LSU first-team all-American and current Major Leaguer Kevin Gausman, who led the SEC in wins (12) and strikeouts (135). Gausman was the No. 4 overall selection in the 2012 MLB Draft by the Orioles. As a staff, the Tigers were No. 1 in the league in strikeouts with 573. Prior to arriving at LSU, Dunn spent three full seasons and the end of 2007 as Baltimore’s major league bullpen coach before becoming the Orioles’ minor league pitching coordinator prior to the 2011 season. Dunn was in his 15th season in the Chicago Cubs organization and his first as minor league pitching coordinator when he was hired in August 2007 by Orioles manager Dave Trembley. Dunn served as pitching coach at every level from Class A to AAA in his 15 years with the Cubs. Dunn joined the Cubs in 1992 as a scout before becoming the pitching coach in 1993 for the team’s Class A affiliate in Geneva N.Y. He then moved on to other Class A clubs at Peoria, Ill. (1994), Rockford, Ill. (1995-96) and Daytona, Fla. (1997). Dunn served as pitching coach for the AA West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx from 1998 through 2005, where his pitching staffs finished first or second in the Southern League in ERA three times. Dunn helped lead the Diamond Jaxx to the 2000 Southern League championship, and he coached the only three staffs in Southern League history to record 1,100 strikeouts in a single season. He also coached three individual Southern League ERA champions in 1991, 2000 and 2001. He was the pitching coach at AAA Iowa in 2006 before becoming the Cubs’ minor league pitching coordinator in 2007.

Dunn pitched professionally for two years in the Detroit Tigers farm system. He was the Tigers’ fourth-round selection (95th player overall) in the 1983 MLB Draft out of the University of Alabama, where he played for the Crimson Tide’s ’83 College World Series runners-up team. He worked as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt in 1991 and 1992 prior to beginning his coaching career at the pro level.

Dunn earned a bachelor’s of science degree in physical education from UAB in 1991. He and his wife, Jay, have two children – a son, Davis, and a daughter, Bailey.

2015 National Pitching Coach of the Year

Alan Dunn (center) was the recipient of the 2015 National Pitching Coach of the Year Award. He was joined at the presentation by LSU coach Paul Mainieri (right) and John Pinkman (left) of Collegiate Baseball magazine.

The Dunn File

Year at LSU: 10th Birthdate: November 19, 1961 Hometown: Gadsden, Ala. Wife: Jay Children: Davis, Bailey Alma Mater: UAB, 1991

Playing Career

1981-83 Alabama 1983-84 Detroit Tigers and New York Mets affiliates

Coaching Experience

2012- LSU Pitching Coach (named Assoc. Head Coach in 2017) 2011 Baltimore Orioles Minor League Pitching Coordinator 2007-2010 Baltimore Orioles Bullpen Coach 2007 Chicago Cubs Minor League Pitching Coordinator 2006 Pitching Coach, Iowa Cubs, Pacific Coast League, AAA (Cubs) 1998-2005 Pitching Coach, West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx, Southern League, AA (Cubs) 1997 Pitching Coach, Daytona Cubs, Florida State League, A (Cubs) 1995-96 Pitching Coach, Rockford Cubbies, Midwest League, A (Cubs) 1994 Pitching Coach, Peoria Chiefs, Midwest League, A (Cubs) 1993 Pitching Coach, Geneva Cubs, New York-Penn League, A (Cubs) 1991-92 Assistant Coach, Vanderbilt