Craig Moore has been promoted to Ohio’s next coach, Ohio Athletics announced Tuesday.
Moore will be the 10th coach in the program’s history. He initially took over as the Bobcats’ interim coach after Rob Smith retired prior to the 2021 season. As interim coach, Moore led Ohio to a 28-25 season, its first record above .500 since 2017.
Moore was an assistant coach under Smith for eight seasons prior to his interim coaching role. Ohio won two Mid-American Conference titles and made two NCAA Tournament appearances while Moore was on staff. Moore also helped develop some of Ohio’s top talents such as Rudy Rott, who was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2019.
Moore coached another star as interim coach in 2021. Joe Rock, who made national headlines after pitching a no-hitter against Morehead State in February, was drafted 68th overall by the Colorado Rockies in 2021.
Moore opted to played collegiate baseball at Nebraska from 1996-99. He had a letter-winning four-year career with the Cornhuskers, and then he spent three seasons as an assistant at Tennessee Tech. He then served his first head coaching job starting in 2006 at Western Texas College, a junior college in central Texas. He helped rebuild a struggling program and set a school record for wins in a season in 2009. After his four-year tenure at Western Texas, Moore served as an assistant at Creighton for two seasons before finally arriving at Ohio in 2013.
