Rich Wallace: A Legacy Forged in Baseball, Culminating in the UCF Head Coaching Role

Rich Wallace, an Orlando native, former UCF baseball player, and assistant coach, has made a significant impact on the sport. His journey through various coaching positions across the nation has equipped him with a wealth of experience, ultimately leading him back to his alma mater as the head baseball coach. Wallace's career is marked by success in player development, recruiting, and achieving significant team milestones.

Early Playing Career at UCF (2000-2003)

Wallace's connection with UCF began as a player from 2000 to 2003. He played four seasons of baseball for the Knights from 2000-03, helping those teams reach the NCAA Championship in 2000, 2001 and 2002. As a freshman, he led UCF with a .380 batting average and .529 on-base percentage. He remains in UCF’s top 10 in single-season on-base percentage (.529 in 2000) and career hit by pitch (46). Wallace in 2000 was an honorable mention Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American and a third-team All-ASUN selection as a designated hitter. He played a key role as UCF won the ASUN regular season in 2000-02 and the ASUN conference tournament in 2001 and 2002. Wallace helped the 2001 UCF squad win a school-record 51 games. In his four seasons with the Knights, UCF won a combined 166 games (51-14 in 2001, 43-19 in 2000, 41-22 in 2002), including a combined 67-17 mark in ASUN play in 2000-02. After his playing career as a 6-1, 220-pound infielder with the Knights concluded, Wallace earned his degree in 2004 from UCF’s College of Undergraduate Studies with a major in interdisciplinary studies and a minor in criminal justice (after graduating from Bishop Moore High School in Orlando).

Early Coaching Career at UCF (2004-2008)

Wallace began his coaching career at UCF (2004-08 under head coach Jay Bergman), coaching the catchers and outfielders while coordinating the camps. UCF won the ASUN regular-season title in 2004 and reached the NCAA Championship.

High Point University (2009-2014)

Before joining the Creighton staff, Wallace served as the recruiting coordinator and hitting coach at High Point University for eight seasons. With the Panthers, he brought in consecutive, nationally-ranked recruiting classes for the first time in school history, and helped lead HPU to its four highest win totals in school history.

Creighton University (2015-2017)

Wallace was the recruiting coordinator at Creighton (2015-17 under head coach Ed Servais). He was named the Big East Recruiter of the Year by D1Baseball in 2016 at Creighton. In 2017, Creighton won the Big East regular season championship and featured a Freshman All-American (Will Robertson), a Johnny Bench Watch List member (Michael Emodi), and the most home runs hit by a Creighton team since permanently moving to TD Ameritrade. In 2016, the squad was nationally-ranked for six weeks, set a team record with a 3.26 GPA, and had 29 student-athletes received a 3.0 or better.

Jacksonville University (2018-2019)

He spent the 2018-19 seasons back in his home state as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Jacksonville under head coach Chris Hayes. In 2018 Wallace and the Dolphins finished 40-21 and reached the NCAA Championship as a two seed, highest in program history. That season, the Dolphins led the ASUN in batting average, on-base percentage, runs scored and fielding percentage.

Notre Dame (2020-2022)

Wallace spent the past four seasons working with head coach Link Jarrett at Notre Dame (2020-22) and Florida State (2023). In South Bend he served as recruiting coordinator and third-base coach while also working with Irish hitters and catchers. He oversaw defensive alignments, managed opposing pitcher video scouting reports, helped coordinate baserunning instruction and assisted with game management during his tenure in South Bend. Under Wallace’s guidance, Notre Dame led the Atlantic Coast Conference and ranked in the top 15 nationally in fielding percentage in both 2021 and 2022. In Wallace’s three years at Notre Dame the Irish were 86-32 (.729), second-best winning percentage in the country over that span. Notre Dame’s 44-21 (.677) three-year ACC record was the best in the league, and the Irish won the conference’s regular-season title (their first ACC crown) by 4.5 games in 2021. Notre Dame finished 41-17 in 2022 (most wins for the Irish since 2006) and set a single-season home run record with 79. Wallace helped guide the Irish to back-to-back NCAA Super Regionals (first time at Notre Dame) and the 2022 College World Series in the third trip to Omaha in program history. In 2021, first baseman Niko Kavadas became a first-team All-American--Notre Dame’s first since 2002--and set the school record with 22 home runs (second in the ACC and third in the nation). At Notre Dame, Wallace coached two All-Americans, three All-ACC selections and 14 players were named to the All-ACC Academic Team. During the 2022 season in Wallace’s third season in South Bend, he oversaw the Irish return to Omaha for the third time in program history and the first time in 20 years. The Irish knocked off No. 1 overall seed Tennessee in the Super Regionals, the second time in program history they defeated the No. 1 overall seed in the Super Regional round. They became the first program in NCAA history to have four wins all-time over the No. 1 overall seed in the Super Regional round. The Irish offense was potent all season long as they set the program record for home runs in a single season with 79. A trio of Irish players hit double-digit home runs behind team-leader Jack Zyska with 13. Jack Brannigan and Brooks Coetzee III both hit 12 and all three players tallied career highs for home runs in a single season. Ryan Cole continued his improvement at the plate in his final season with the Irish as he earned third team All-ACC Honors after finishing fourth in the conference with 22 stolen bases. Catcher David LaManna led the team in batting average with .346 and was named to the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Watch List. The Irish offense continued to improve in Wallace’s second season with the team in 2021. Wallace oversaw career best seasons from Niko Kavadas and Ryan Cole. Kavadas was one of the best power hitters in the country in 2021 and he broke the school record for most home runs in a season as he finished with 22. The 22 home runs ranked second in the ACC and third nationally. Kavadas garnered a lot of national attention as he was a 4x All-American in 2021 and he was the first Irish athlete to be named to a First Team All-American since Steve Stanley in 2002. Kavadas also was named a semifinalist for the the Dick Howser Award and Golden Spikes Award. Kavadas joined John Michael Bertrand as the pair of Irish to earn First Team All-ACC honors. Cole burst onto the scene when he hit his first career home run in the 13th inning to defeat Duke 6-4 in the ACC home opener. The very next day Cole legged out an inside-the-park home run, the first by an Irish player since 2017. The following weekend, Cole hit another walk-off home run in a 5-3 win over Louisville. He finished the season with a team-best .336 batting average that ranks 10th in the ACC. Cole ranked fifth in the ACC with a .455 on-base percentage. Notre Dame ranked fifth in the ACC with a team batting average of .302. The Irish finished in the top-five in a number of offensive categories including on-base percentage (4th - .414), slugging percentage (4th - .485), stolen bases (3rd - 35), hits per game (4th - 10.92), runs scored per game (3rd - 8.92), homers per game (3rd - 1.23), RBI per game (2nd - 7.85) and they led the ACC in stolen bases per game with 2.69. Junior Spencer Myers ended the season ranked No. 1 in the NCAA in stolen bases (15) and steals in a game (6). Myers led the ACC in hits per game (2.08) and finished third in batting average (.431), fifth in hits (25) and seventh in on-base percentage (.492). Wallace guided fellow junior Niko Kavadas to seven home runs in just 13 games, which ranked tied for first in the ACC.

Florida State (2023)

Prior to becoming UCF's head coach, Wallace spent the 2023 season as assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator at Florida State.

Return to UCF as Head Coach

“Rich Wallace will be a perfect fit for UCF baseball,” says UCF vice president and director of athletics Terry Mohajir. “As a player and coach, he already has experienced UCF and played on three UCF NCAA tournament teams. His experience as a national recruiter and with player development is well-known. In particular, his recent work at Notre Dame is noteworthy in producing consecutive teams advancing to the Super Regional level, one of those advancing to Omaha. “To come back to UCF as the head baseball coach is absolutely a dream come true for myself and my family,” says Wallace. “I’m truly grateful to Terry Mohajir and (University president) Dr. Alex Cartwright for this opportunity.

Wallace takes over a UCF baseball program that has made 13 NCAA Championship appearances and produced 10 seasons when the Knights have won a conference regular-season crown, a conference tournament or both. A 2004 UCF graduate, Wallace becomes the first alumnus to be named head coach of an NCAA-sponsored men’s sport at UCF since 1988.

Wallace's Impact as UCF Head Coach

During his first season at the helm of his alma mater in 2024, Wallace led his Knights to a 37-21 record and the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017-with a trip to the 2024 NCAA Tallahassee Regional. With a possible postseason bid on the line, Wallace then led the Knights to a deep run at the 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship by going 2-1 and reaching the semifinal round. UCF then received an at-large selection as a No 3 seed at the NCAA Tallahassee Regional and the Black and Gold went on to record wins over Alabama and Stetson to reach the finals of the regional before falling to the host and No. Wallace helped his 2024 squad enter the Top 25 national rankings for the first time since February of 2021, as the team spent two weeks in early April in the national rankings. The Knights were ranked as high as 16th by the NCBWA and 17th by D1Baseball. Wallace also guided the Knights to a 19-3 non-conference record during the regular season, which included an impressive 11-1 record in midweek action. The 2024 Knights also finished the season with a 14-4 record against in-state opponents as well as posted the nation’s 31st-best RPI. In 2025, Wallace led the Black and Gold to a 29-26 record, going 9-21 in the Big 12. In his second season leading UCF, he has recorded back-to-back winning seasons. The Knights also had a winning home record of 19-13. Under Wallace in 2025, the Knights defeated No. 6 Florida and secured a series win against No. 15 TCU. After the Horned Frogs claimed game one, UCF responded and picked up wins in games two and three. Not only did the Knights defeat two ranked teams, they picked up seven wins against 2025 NCAA Tournament qualifiers. Wallace’s squad posted impressive stats in 2025 by leading the Big 12 Conference in batting average, on-base percentage, sacrifice bunts, double plays per game, ERA, and WHIP. The Black and Gold’s impressive .319 batting average not only led the Big 12 but also ranked sixth in the nation. UCF’s notable offensive stats did not stop there, as it posted an on-base percentage of .409 leading the conference once again and ranking 46th nationally. The Black and Gold continued to impress defensively under Wallace’s guidance, ranking sixth nationally and leading the Big 12 with 0.95 double plays per game. UCF’s pitching staff also delivered a strong performance, leading the conference with a 4.29 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Wallace had five Knights earn All-Big 12 Conference honors in 2025 led by shortstop Antonio Jimenez being named to the conference’s second team. Six more Knights earned All-Big 12 accolades in Wallace’s first season in 2024 led by second team honoree Dom Stagliano (RHP), giving Wallace a total of 11 All-Big 12 award winners over his two seasons. The UCF head man has had a total of seven Knights drafted in the MLB Draft under his tutelage with a pair getting drafted in 2024 (RHP Najer Victor, Angels, 14th Rd.; RHP Chase Centala, Marlins, 20th Rd.) and five drafted in 2025 (SS Antonio Jimenez, Mets, 3rd Rd.; C Edian Espinal, Tigers, 10th Rd.; RHP Alex Galvan, Diamondbacks, 13th Rd.; C Dylan King, Reds, 17th Rd.; RHP Angelo Smith, Angels, 18th Rd.). The Knights have earned recognition not only for their success on the field, but also for their achievements in the classroom.

Wallace's Coaching Philosophy and Impact

Throughout his career Wallace’s teams have produced 55 Major League Baseball draft selections and coached more than 60 all-conference performers. Wallace brings 16 years of coaching experience to Notre Dame and a strong background in molding players into some of the nation’s best. Wallace has coached 15 hitters that have signed professional contracts and has had seven catchers appear on the Johnny Bench Award watch list. “He is a tireless worker with a proven track record of developing hitters and catchers. His passion, knowledge, and enthusiasm for college baseball will bring great value to the Dolphin program."

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