Mike Littlewood

Hired in June 2012, BYU head baseball coach Mike Littlewood lifted the Cougars to perennial contenders in the West Coast Conference in his 10 seasons at the helm, winning three conference titles and leading the program back to the NCAA Tournament. He resigned on April 11, 2022. 

During his tenure from 2013-2022, Littlewood compiled an overall record of 262-208 (.557), including 132-93 (.587) in the WCC. He led the Cougars to 13 victories over NCAA Top 25 teams, including a win over No. 2 LSU in 2013 and No. 6 Oklahoma State in 2022.

Littlewood and his coaching staff’s development of players led to 29 All-WCC honorees, eight All-Region honorees, five Freshman All-Americans and two All-Americans. Littlewood coached 14 players selected in the MLB Draft, including three (Jacob Hanneman, Jaycob Brugman and Michael Rucker) who recently saw time in the majors.

In 2019, Littlewood led BYU to its third conference title in four seasons as the Cougars finished 19-8 to take the outright regular season crown. The Cougars finished 36-17 overall, good for a .679 winning percentage, the highest since 1993, and won seven games over Power 5 teams.

The Cougars were ranked nationally in the Top 25 for five weeks, including the last four weeks of the regular season. Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, NCBWA and Perfect Game each ranked BYU multiple weeks with Perfect Game putting the program as high as 22nd going into the postseason.

For his efforts, Littlewood was named the 2019 WCC Coach of the Year. Brock Hale was named WCC Player of the Year and All-Region while Jackson Cluff was an All-Region performer who was drafted in the sixth round of the MLB Draft. On the mound, almost every team pitching statistic was among the program’s best all-time, including ERA at fifth-lowest ever and lowest since 1982, runs allowed per game lowest since 1970, walks allowed per game third-lowest ever, strikeout to walk ratio lowest since 1967, and 7.7 strikeouts per game the third-highest average all-time, among others.

In 2017, Littlewood and the Cougars won not only the regular season WCC title but also came out on top at the WCC Tournament to give the program a berth to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002.

The Cougars went 38-21 overall and 20-8 in conference in 2017 while finishing in the top 25 in the NCAA in nine categories, including No. 1 in sac flies, No. 6 in runs per game, No. 7 in batting average, and No. 8 in hits. BYU won seven conference series, including five sweeps during the regular season, before knocking off No. 22 Gonzaga twice to win the WCC Tournament. Four players were named All-WCC while Daniel Schneemann was named conference Defensive Player of the Year and Maverik Buffo and Colton Shaver were taken in the MLB Draft.

In 2016 the Cougars started the season 15-1 and earned their first national ranking since 1994. BYU finished 37-17 and 18-9 to take the WCC title, the Cougars' first in 15 seasons, behind All-Americans Mike Rucker and Colton Shaver. Rucker finished No. 12 in the nation with 11 wins on the year while the Cougar hitters had the No. 2 batting average in the country at .325 and No. 3 in sac flies, No. 6 in runs per game, No. 11 in on-base percentage and No. 13 in slugging percentage. Again, four players were named all-conference, including draftees Rucker and Brennon Lund, one of the top hitters in the country.

Littlewood began his career with a second-place finish in the WCC in a 2013 season that saw a win at No. 2 LSU and the program’s first-ever trip to the WCC Tournament capped off with four players taken in the MLB Draft. After taking seventh in the conference in 2014, the Cougars returned to the conference tourney in 2015 after placing fourth in the league and winning seven of nine WCC series plus the series against Utah and Utah Valley.

Littlewood came to BYU from Dixie State in St. George, Utah, where he had been the head baseball coach for 16 seasons and won a junior college national championship. At Dixie, Littlewood compiled the most wins in school history with an overall record of 563-238 (.702), while capturing eight league titles. His teams made four appearances in the National Junior College World Series, winning the title in 2004 and finishing runner-up in 2001. Littlewood was also named the 2004 National JUCO Coach of the Year. In 2017, he was enshrined in the Dixie State Athletics Hall of Fame.

In addition to Dixie State, Littlewood has coached baseball at Alta High School in Salt Lake City and guided the Zion Pioneerzz—a minor league baseball program in St. George—to the 2001 Western Baseball League championship.

In 2018, Littlewood was inducted into the Utah Officials Hall of Honor for his contributions to sports officiating. Littlewood was an NCAA basketball official for 16 years before being hired at BYU, and participated in three NCAA Sweet 16 and two Elite Eight games.

As a player, Littlewood played third base at BYU from 1985-88. He was named All-Western Athletic Conference as a junior and All-WAC and All-Region 9 as a senior. Littlewood is currently ranked in the top 30 in seven career categories and seven season categories in the BYU record books, including No. 1 in walks in season (56) and No. 3 in runs in a career (220). Following his senior season, Littlewood was selected in the 27th round of the 1988 Major League Baseball Draft and spent a season in the Milwaukee Brewers organization.

Littlewood has a bachelor’s degree from BYU in physical education–sports teaching and a minor in health education. He and his wife Dani are the parents of four children: Tyson, Nathan, Marcus and Mica, and have eight grandchildren.
 

BYU Highlights​​​​

• Record: 262-208 (.557) overall, 132-93 (.587) WCC
• 2017 NCAA Tournament
• Three-time West Conference champions (2016, 2017, 2019)
• West Coast Conference Tournament champions (2017)
• 2019 WCC Coach of the Year
• 13 wins over Top 25 ranked opponents, including No. 2 LSU and No. 6 Oklahoma State
• 14 MLB Draft selections (Cluff, Schneemann, Clawson, Buffo, Shaver, Rucker, Lund, Mahoney, Chauncey, Hannemann, Law, Brugman, Miller, Snyder)
• 2 All-Americans (Rucker, Shaver)
• 4 Freshman All-Americans (McLaughlin, Zimmerman, Kringlen, Hannemann)
• 8 All-Region honorees
• 24 All-West Coast Conference honorees (15 First Team)
• 1 WCC Player of the Year
• 2 WCC Freshmen of the Year
• 1 WCC Defensive Player of the Year
• Top 25 finishes 23 times in NCAA team statistical categories and 16 times in individual categories
• Led WCC six times in team statistical categories and 15 times in individual categories
• Seven of the top 10 most-attended games at Miller Park

Dixie State Highlights

• 2004 NJCAA National Champions
• 2001 NJCAA National Runner Up
• Four NJCAA College World Series appearances
• Two-time PAC-West League Champions
• Seven junior college league titles
• 2004 NJCAA National Coach of the Year
• Two-time Scenic West Conference Coach of the Year
• Two-time PAC West Coach of the Year
• 16-year record: 605-249 (.708)