Steve Traylor

Steve Traylor (born February 15, 1951) is an American former college baseball and basketball coach. In basketball, he was the head coach of Greensboro College. In baseball, he was the head coach at Florida Atlantic, Duke, and Wofford. Traylor had 776 career wins and led both Florida Atlantic and Wofford to their first NCAA Tournaments.

Steve Traylor
Biographical details
Born (1951-02-15) February 15, 1951
Ohio
Playing career
Football
1969–1972Otterbein
Basketball
1969–1973Otterbein
Baseball
1970–1973Otterbein
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Baseball
1974–1976Otterbein (asst.)
1981–1988Florida Atlantic
1989–1999Duke
2000–2007Wofford
Men's basketball
1976–1979Greensboro College
Head coaching record
OverallBaseball: 776-668-3
Men's basketball: 30-40
TournamentsBaseball
NCAA D1: 0-2
SoCon: 5-3
ACC: 6-22
NCAA D2: 0-3
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Baseball
SoCon Tournament (2007)
Awards
Baseball
ACC Coach of the Year (1992)

Playing career

Traylor played football, basketball, and baseball at both Westerville South High School and Otterbein College. At Otterbein, Traylor was a team captain and all-conference player in all three sports. After graduating from Otterbein in 1973, he attended Buffalo Bills training camp but was cut.[1][2]

Coaching career

Otterbein

While working on his graduate degree at Ohio State University, Traylor served as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Otterbein, from 1974 to 1976. He then coached basketball for three seasons before returning to baseball.[1]

Florida Atlantic

In 1979, Traylor got his first baseball head coaching job when Florida Atlantic (FAU) hired him to start their baseball program. The Owls, then an NAIA program, went 15-16 in their first season (1981). They then made the NAIA Tournament in 1982 and 1983, advancing to the District Championship in 1982 and as far as the Area Championship in 1983.[3]

The Owls moved to the NCAA for the 1984 season, competing in Division II. In their first game as an NCAA member, they defeated Florida, 4-3; overall, the team went 40-15 in 1984. In 1985, the program made the NCAA Tournament for the first time. There, it was swept by Florida Southern in the best-of-five South Regional.[3][4][5][6][7][8]

FAU had five straight 40-win seasons from 1982 to 1986. In Traylor's seven years as head coach, the program went 268-105-2.[9]

During Traylor's tenure, six Owls were selected in the Major League Baseball draft, including Jeff Forney, a first-round pick in the June secondary draft in 1985, and Mike Ryan, a seventh-round pick in 1984.[10]

Duke

Following the 1987 season, Division I Duke hired Traylor to replace Larry Smith. After three losing seasons in his first four, the Blue Devils had seven straight 30-win seasons from 1992 to 1998; Traylor was named the ACC Coach of the Year in the first of these seasons. Duke's deepest run in the ACC Tournament, which at the time included each member of the conference, came in 1997. They received the seventh seed after a 31-23 (9-14 ACC) regular season. After losing to second-seeded Florida State in the opening round, Duke beat sixth-seeded Virginia and top-seeded Georgia Tech before being eliminated by a second loss to Florida State.[11][12][13][14]

Duke had 25 MLB Draft selections in Traylor's 12 seasons. 1996 third-round pick Scott Schoeneweis was his highest. Schoeneweis, along with Mike Trombley, John Courtright, Quinton McCracken, Ryan Jackson, and Chris Capuano, went on to play in Major League Baseball.[15]

In 1999, Duke went 24-31 and finished last in the ACC. Traylor was fired after the season. His overall record at Duke was 356-286-1.[11][16][17]

Wofford

Traylor became Wofford's head coach for the 2000 season. His highest win total came in 2003, when the Terriers went 26-31 and tied for sixth in the Southern Conference (SoCon). In 2007, Traylor announced his retirement in the closing weeks of the regular season, citing a desire to spend more time with his family. The Terriers tied for last in the conference but made the conference tournament in a season in which the entire SoCon qualified. There, it beat Furman in a play-in game, then defeated College of Charleston, UNC Greensboro, and The Citadel twice to win the tournament. In doing so, it won the SoCon's automatic bid to the program's first NCAA Tournament. In the Columbia, SC Regional, Wofford went 0-2, losing games to host South Carolina and second-seeded NC State.[18][19][20][21][22]

Head coaching record

Below is a table of Traylor's yearly records as a collegiate head baseball coach.[3][4][9][11][18][19]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Florida Atlantic (Independent – NAIA) (1981–1983)
1981 Florida Atlantic 15-16
1982 Florida Atlantic 42-14NAIA District Tournament
1983 Florida Atlantic 49-14NAIA Area Tournament
Florida Atlantic (Division II Independent) (1984–1987)
1984 Florida Atlantic 40-15
1985 Florida Atlantic 44-15NCAA Regional
1986 Florida Atlantic 44-10
1987 Florida Atlantic 34-21-2
Florida Atlantic: 268-105-2
Duke (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1988–1999)
1988 Duke 10-353-168thACC Tournament[lower-alpha 1]
1989 Duke 20-232-148thACC Tournament[lower-alpha 1]
1990 Duke 28-254-157thACC Tournament[lower-alpha 1]
1991 Duke 24-276-157thACC Tournament[lower-alpha 1]
1992 Duke 38-1612-125thACC Tournament[lower-alpha 1]
1993 Duke 39-19-111-136thACC Tournament[lower-alpha 1]
1994 Duke 33-2016-8T-2ndACC Tournament[lower-alpha 1]
1995 Duke 30-274-20T-8thACC Tournament[lower-alpha 1]
1996 Duke 39-189-147thACC Tournament[lower-alpha 1]
1997 Duke 33-259-147thACC Tournament[lower-alpha 1]
1998 Duke 38-208-157thACC Tournament[lower-alpha 1]
1999 Duke 24-314-189thACC Tournament[lower-alpha 1]
Duke: 356-286-188-174
Wofford (Southern Conference) (2000–2007)
2000 Wofford 16-387-2211th
2001 Wofford 17-319-179th
2002 Wofford 26-3114-16T-6thSoCon Tournament
2003 Wofford 9-407-2211th
2004 Wofford 17-308-2210th
2005 Wofford 17-377-2310th
2006 Wofford 20-375-2210thSoCon Tournament[lower-alpha 2]
2007 Wofford 30-338-19T-9thNCAA Regional
Wofford: 152-27765-163
Total:776-668-3

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Men's basketball

Traylor served as Greensboro's head men's basketball coach for three seasons (1976 to 1979). During his tenure, the Pride went 30-40. His best season was his first, in which the team went 17-7. Traylor was also Greensboro's athletic director during his time there.[2][23]

Head coaching record

The following is a table of Traylor's records as a collegiate head basketball coach.[23]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Greensboro (Dixie ConferenceDIII) (1976–1979)
1976–77 Greensboro 17-710-4
1977–78 Greensboro 7-174-11
1978–79 Greensboro 6-163-11
Greensboro: 30-4017-26
Total:30-40

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Hall of Fame inductions

Traylor is a member of several Halls of Fame: Westerville South High School Athletics, Otterbein Athletics, FAU Athletics, and FAU Baseball.[1]

Notes

  1. In this season, all members of the Atlantic Coast Conference qualified for the postseason baseball tournament.
  2. In this season, all members of the Southern Conference qualified for the postseason baseball tournament.

References

  1. "Traylor Retires". Wofford.edu. Archived from the original on August 5, 2014. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  2. "Hall of Fame: Steve Traylor '73". OtterbeinCardinals.com. Archived from the original on August 5, 2014. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  3. "Florida Atlantic University Baseball Records: History" (PDF). Florida Atlantic Athletic Communications. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 12, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  4. "2014 NCAA Division II Baseball Championship Record Book" (PDF). NCAA.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 12, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  5. Cooney, Kevin (January 16, 2005). "25 Years of FAU Baseball". CollegeBaseballInsider.com. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  6. Hill, Bob (May 7, 1985). "Florida Atlantic Awaits Division II Playoff Bid". Sun-Sentinel.com. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  7. Teitelbaum, Mike (May 9, 1985). "FAU Accepts Division II Bid". Sun-Sentinel.com. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  8. Otterson, Chuck (May 16, 1985). "Florida Southern Walks by Owls". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  9. "Florida Atlantic University Baseball Records: Year-by-Year Results". FAUSports.com. Florida Atlantic Athletic Communications. Archived from the original on July 12, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  10. "MLB Amateur Draft Picks Who Came from "Florida Atlantic"". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  11. "2013 ACC Baseball Media Guide" (PDF). Atlantic Coast Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 5, 2014. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  12. Israel, Joel (June 11, 1997). "Trombley Settles in with Twins After Inauspicious College Career". DukeChronicle.com. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  13. Camillone, Jude (July 29, 1987). "Traylor to Leave FAU". Sun-Sentinel.com. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  14. Schamdtke, Alan (May 15, 1997). "Bentley Completes the Task". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  15. "MLB Amateur Draft Picks Who Came from "Duke University (Durham, NC)"". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  16. Morgan, Neal (June 9, 1999). "Traylor Fired After 12 Years, Hillier Named New Head Coach". DukeChronicle.com. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  17. Manuel, John (May 30, 2012). "Duke's Sean McNally Resigns". BaseballAmerica.com. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  18. "2014 Southern Conference Baseball Media Guide". Southern Conference. Archived from the original on August 5, 2014. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  19. "2014 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship Record Book" (PDF). NCAA.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 12, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  20. Scoppe, Rick (June 4, 2007). "Terriers Help Coach Traylor Go Out Fighting". GreenvilleOnline.com. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  21. "Wofford's Traylor Announces Retirement". USAToday.com. Associated Press. May 17, 2007. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  22. Fitt, Aaron (May 26, 2007). "Delaware, Wofford Going for Broke". BaseballAmerica.com. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  23. "Men's Basketball Season by Season (1966-present)" (PDF). GreensboroCollegeSports.com. Greensboro Sports Information. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 5, 2014. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.