Sam Riggleman

Title

Assistant Coach

NAIA Hall of Famer Sam Riggleman joins the MNU Baseball coaching staff as pitching coach for the 2024 season. In a career that has spanned four decades, Sam Riggleman became one of the most successful coaches in history. Riggleman, who retired from Spring Arbor University (Mich.) following the 2016 season, ranked 17th all-time in career wins among NAIA coaches through the 2019 season and became just the 19th NAIA head coach to reach 1,000 wins in 2015.

John Wesley College (N.C.) - 1976-1978 -

Mount Vernon Nazarene University (Ohio) - 1979-1988 -

Southern Illinois University - 1988-1994 - included an NCAA Tournament appearance. Riggleman started as the pitching coach at Southern Illinois before taking over the role of head coach for his final four years.

Bethel University (Ind.) - 1995-1999 - In five seasons as the skipper, Riggleman compiled a career record of 176-86 at Bethel which included two Crossroads League championships in 1997 and 1998 and a league tournament championship in 1998. He finished as runners-up in the league in 1996 and in the league tournament in 1995. Riggleman led the Pilots to three NCCAA national runner-up finishes. Riggleman coached two NCCAA National Players of the Year, an NCCAA Unlimited Potential International Award winner, four NAIA All-Americans, 13 NCCAA All-Americans (including MNU head coach Ryan Thompson), 1 Crossroads League Player of the Year, 1 NAIA Region VIII Player of the Year, and a dozen Crossroads League All-Conference selections while guiding the Pilots.

Dallas Baptist University (Texas) - 2000-2002 - Riggleman served three seasons as the skipper at Dallas Baptist University (Texas) where he led the Patriots to two appearances in the NAIA World Series, highlighted by a runner-up finish in 2000. He earned his first NAIA Baseball Coaches Association National Coach of the Year award that season.

Spring Arbor University (Mich.) - 2005-2016 - Riggleman guided his alma mater to a 377-212 (.640) record with three regular season conference championships, two conference tournament titles and five NAIA National Tournament appearances. Riggleman's squad was runner-up in the 2007 NAIA World Series. That season, Spring Arbor went 48-5, had a 36-game winning streak and Riggleman was honored as the NAIA Baseball Coaches Association National Coach of the Year for the second time.

The 2007 season began a historic three-year run for the Cougars' program as Riggleman directed the team to three consecutive NAIA national tournament appearances including back-to-back NAIA World Series appearances.

After a two-year hiatus from coaching, Riggleman joined the coaching staff at Grand Valley State University (Mich.) from 2018 to 2021.

The long-time mentor amassed a 1,023-661-2 (.607) career record over 40 seasons. Widely recognized for his leadership characteristics on and off the field, Riggleman is a member of the Spring Arbor University Athletics Hall of Fame, Bethel University Hall of Fame, the NCCAA Hall of Fame, and the NAIA Hall of Fame.

He resides in Shelby, Michigan with his wife Kathy, and they have 2 grown children and 5 grandchildren.