Dan Callahan Hometown: Springfield, Ill. Position: Head Coach Birthdate: 09/11/1958 Experience: 16th Year Alma Mater: Quincy College (1981)

Last Updated Sept. 22, 2009

Dan Callahan enters his 16h year as head coach at Southern Illinois University.

Since taking over the helm of one of collegiate baseball's most storied programs, Callahan has recorded a total of 414 wins, which are the second most in Saluki baseball history.

He helped produce 20 Major League draft picks and 18 first team all-Missouri Valley Conference selections. Callahan has also seen six of his players sign free agent contracts and four of his student-athletes win either the league's "Player," "Freshman" or "Newcomer-of-the-Year" awards.

However, it's been the last eight years where Callahan's Salukis have shined most.

Callahan guided SIU to 30 or more wins in six of the last eight seasons and the Dawgs are one of just three Valley teams - along with Wichita State and Creighton - to make the conference tournament in each of the last eight seasons. Callahan is going for his 200th MVC victory in 2010.

In 2009, he recorded his 400th win at SIU and 550th victory as a NCAA Division I head coach. In 2006, the Salukis won 10 of their first 11 games, marking their best start since 1970. In 2005, SIU won 38 ballgames, the most victories in a season under Callahan. Callahan coached his first MVC Player-of-the-Year, P.J. Finigan, that year as well.

Prior to that, Callahan led SIU to the MVC Tournament Championship game in 2003 and 2004, where it fell one win shy of garnering the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. SIU's 2003 MVC Championship appearance was the Salukis' first in 13 years.

By finishing among the top four in the MVC five of the last seven seasons, the Salukis have not only established themselves as one of the elite teams in the conference, but they have become a strong pitching and defensive unit along the way.

In 2005, all three of SIU's starting pitchers garnered all-conference honors and were chosen in the Top 20 rounds of the Major League Baseball draft. Left-hander Tyler Norrick, right-hander P.J. Finigan and left-hander Bryan Rueger were a big reason why the Dawgs ranked second in the Valley and 19th in the nation with a 3.38 ERA that year. In 2008, right-hander Cody Adams was selected in the second round, becoming SIU's highest draft pick in the Callahan era. In all, seven Saluki pitchers have been drafted since the 2005 campaign with David Kington being the most recent in 2009.

Defensively, SIU turned 68 or more double plays in back-to-back years (2003, 2004), and as a result, ranked among the Top 10 in the nation in DPs per game. The Salukis even turned a school record 72 double plays and led the nation with 1.3 a game in 2003. A year later, the Dawgs had 68 twin killings, ranking ninth in the country.

Not to mention, Callahan's 2002 club led the MVC in overall defense with a .969 fielding percentage, as it tied for 14th in the nation and fell only two points shy of tying the school record (.971).

In addition to their success on the field, Callahan's student- athletes have excelled in the classroom. Thirty-eight of his players have earned MVC scholar-athlete accolades, one (Aaron Jones) of which landed a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team.

In Callahan's 20 years as a head coach at the college level, all but one of his student-athletes who have participated in his program for four years have either graduated or are on course to do so. Though this statistic excludes some players who have joined the professional ranks, several of these student-athletes have returned to campus during the offseason to earn their degrees.

Callahan was named the Amateur Coach-of-the-Year by the Greater Midwest Professional Baseball Scouts Association (November, 2008), an award which recognized both his dedication to the game of baseball and respect he has shown for pro scouts.

Callahan received his master's degree at SIU in 1987 and was appointed his first collegiate head coaching position at Eastern Illinois in the fall of 1988. In his six years at Eastern, Callahan led the Panthers to a pair of conference championships.

Before taking over the Eastern Illinois helm, Callahan served as a graduate assistant at SIU in 1986-1987 and an assistant coach/academic coordinator in 1988 under then-head coach Richard "Itch" Jones. During Callahan's stay at SIU, the Salukis went 115-65 and advanced to the NCAA Central Regional in 1986.

Callahan started his coaching career at Springfield Lanphier High School before accepting the head coaching position at his alma mater, Springfield High School, in 1984. Callahan directed his clubs to a 42-23 record, including a runner-up finish at the 1985 Illinois AA Tournament during that stint.

As an athlete, the Springfield, Ill., native played four years of varsity baseball, including two at the University of New Orleans and two at Quincy College.

He graduated from Quincy in 1981 and went on to pitch in both the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners' organizations.

Callahan and his wife, Stacy, have two daughters, Alexa (18) and Carly (14), and reside in Carterville. His parents, Ann and Gene, live in Springfield, Ill. His father is retired after serving as Director of Governmental Relations for Major League Baseball. He is also a former member of SIU's Board of Trustee's.

Dan Callahan Year-by-Year