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Ups and downs can best characterize Brian Shoop's first season as head coach at UAB in 2007, but in the end, the former Birmingham-Southern coach of 17 years had the Blazers in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Conference USA standings, the highest finish for the program since 1998. Shoop is now in his second year at UAB and is looking to improve on his team's 25-33 record from 2007. His club's 25 wins climbed him over the 700-win plateau and moved his career record to 717-336-1 (.680). In January of 2008, Shoop was inducted into the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame. Under Shoop in 2007, the Blazers finished an even 12-12 in Conference USA due in part to a drastic improvement in virtually every offensive statistic from 2006. His Blazer lineup boasted a .296 team batting average in 2007, an improvement from .267 the previous season. Shoop's offensive assertiveness led to the fourth-highest stolen base total in program history (81), which helped lead to scoring 59 more runs than the previous campaign. Shoop was appointed as the head coach of the UAB baseball program on June 12, 2006 by Interim Director of Athletics Richard Margison. "When we called other head coaches to get input on prospective candidates, almost every person said `you've got the best person right in Birmingham in Brian Shoop," said Margison at the June 12th press conference. "He graduates players, he coaches a very competitive, winning program and he's involved in the community. We are very excited about the future of our baseball program under his leadership." Shoop came to UAB after serving 17 seasons at the helm of the Birmingham-Southern program where he compiled a superb record of 692-307-1 (.692). The winningest coach all-time at Birmingham-Southern, Shoop won 40 games or more nine times, including an eight-year run from 1994-2001 that was capped off with a 55-win season. He finished with at least 32 wins in 16 of his 17 years at Birmingham-Southern with his only sub-32-win season being in his first campaign back in 1990. When making the move to UAB from Birmingham-Southern, Shoop was granted the opportunity to bring his entire coaching staff with him after sharing an immense amount of success with them. "One of the great things about making the move to UAB was the opportunity and ability to bring my whole coaching staff with me," Shoop said. "We're on the same page, we are heading in the same direction and there is a unity within the staff. We have the same goals and mission for the program and to me that is vital. I'm thankful to have this bunch of coaches, they work so hard and I appreciate their attitude and how they go about things." With the move to UAB, Shoop and his staff found themselves in one of the toughest conferences in the nation. The conference season has always been a time when his teams have shined in the past, capturing a remarkable 209 victories in league play at Birmingham-Southern. Under Shoop, the Panthers claimed the Big South regular season championship in two of his last three years at Birmingham-Southern (2004 and 2006). His 2004 squad earned a berth in the NCAA Athens Regional following a 47-18 season that made him the recipient of the 2004 Big South Conference Coach of the Year award as well as the ABCA Coach of the Year honor. When speaking of recruiting the finest talents in the country, Shoop says he believes that UAB is a premier institution to attract quality young men and baseball players. "When I took the job here, a lot of people would say that I'd have to lower my standards in what we were looking for in young men and I kept saying why?" Shoop said. "We have a 14-point plan and we try to stick to that. We graduated 67 straight players at Birmingham-Southern and I'm fully committed to these kids getting their UAB degree. We try to be pretty thorough through interviews and I hope that we're not compromising character for ability. We have a higher expectation of our guys off the field than on the field and we want the school and community to view the UAB baseball program as a source of pride. My experience is that winning has been a by-product of doing things the right way." In the spring of 2007, 15 Blazers attained GPAs of 3.00 or better. In the fall of 2007, 20 Blazers finished with GPAs of 3.0 or better, while six players earned perfect 4.0 GPAs. Having taken over a program that had winning seasons in just three of the eight seasons prior to his arrival, Shoop says winning is a tradition that he and his staff hope to instill in the UAB program and he believes it starts with defense. "We're trying to recruit a pitching staff that gives us a chance to win and we put a very high value on defense," he said. "We'll try and recruit a balanced offense. I don't really want sluggers like the 'Bronx Bombers' one through nine. I want a combination offense that has a balance between bunting, running and power. I want to be able to attack the game in multiple ways. We want mentally tough guys who are hard workers and we also try to recruit good families, what their moms and dads are like are important to us." Under Shoop's guidance, Birmingham-Southern averaged 41 wins a season and captured nine regular season conference titles and eight conference tournament championships. He led his squads to 10 regional appearances and finished no worse than third, with three runner-up finishes and four regional championships. Birmingham-Southern was ranked in the final NAIA poll in 10 of Shoop's first 12 seasons, including eight top-10 rankings and four top-five finishes. In 2006, his final season with the Panthers marked the 16th consecutive winning season for Birmingham-Southern as his team finished 33-22. In 2001, Birmingham-Southern's final year of NAIA competition, Shoop led the Panthers to a school record 55 wins on the way to claiming the NAIA National Championship, the program's first-ever national title. Shoop was named the 2001 NAIA National Coach of the Year and region XI coach of the year from the ABCA. Following the Panthers' run to the 2001 national championship, Shoop was selected to greet the President of the United States, George W. Bush, at the Birmingham International Airport during his visit to the "Magic City" and the state of Alabama. Shoop has been the recipient of his fair share of accolades from his peers during his time spent as a head coach. Twice he was named TransSouth Conference Coach of the Year and has been honored as the ABCA Mid-South Region Coach of the Year on three occasions. In his time at Birmingham-Southern, Shoop was named either conference or district coach of the year in seven of his last 11 years and served as the NAIA Southeastern Region Baseball Chairman for four years. In his career, he has been the guest speaker at the ABCA National Convention three times, and in 1996, was inducted into the Malone (Ohio) College Athletic Hall of Fame. Shoop's teams have always had a reputation of being winners in the classroom, in addition to their on-field performance, placing numerous players on the Birmingham-Southern Dean's List, Big South Conference Presidential Honor Roll and Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll. Before running the Birmingham Southern program, Shoop served as an assistant coach at Mississippi State University under legendary head coach Ron Polk. Over a seven-year span (1983-89), he helped the Bulldogs win three Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships and earn six regional appearances and a College World Series appearance in 1985. During his tenure in Starkville, Shoop coached Major League Baseball standouts Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro, Jeff Brantley and Bobby Thigpen and was instrumental in recruiting some of the top players in America. Having coached under Polk at Mississippi State, Shoop has developed some of the game's top NCAA Division I coaches in Matt Bragga (head coach, Tennessee Tech), Bob Keller (assistant coach, Michigan), Daron Shoenrock (head coach, Memphis) and Butch Thompson (assistant coach, Auburn) to name a few. "It has been a blessing and privilege to work with coach Shoop," said UAB assistant coach Perry Roth. "He is in my opinion the best coach in all of America. He is incredibly organized and prepared and thinks the game at a different level. What truly separates him is his love for his players and his faith. When you have an opportunity to be around him you can't help but grow as a coach and grow as a person." An Ohio native, Shoop began his coaching career at his alma mater, Malone (Ohio) College, where he was an all-district performer. Malone was the Ohio NAIA champion in each of Shoop's six years as a player and coach. He earned a double degree in physical education and business/economics from Malone and a master's degree in sports administration from Kent State University. He has also completed his doctoral course work in educational leadership at Mississippi State. Shoop and his wife, Brenda, reside in Birmingham with their five children: Scott (21), Emily (19), Hannah (16), and twins Sarah and Jesse (12). |
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