Experience: Seventh Season at Vanderbilt
Alma Mater: Ohio Wesleyan, '84
E-mail: tim.corbin@vanderbilt.edu

2008-09: In six seasons at Vanderbilt, Tim Corbin has turned Vanderbilt into one of the national powers of college baseball. In 2008, Corbin guided the Commodores to their second straight 40-win season (41-22) and third consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament. The Commodores battled through the first half of the season without the services of Preseason Player of the Year Pedro Alvarez and managed to record road sweeps over Mississippi State and Tennessee for the first time in school history.

Corbin's overall record of 239-130 (.648) is third best in terms of wins at Vanderbilt, and first in terms of win percentage for coaches with 100 games or more.

The 2008 draft saw eight current Commodores selected, highlighted by Pedro Alvarez who was taken with the second overall pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Vanderbilt became the first school in draft history to have the first overall pick (David Price in 2007) and second overall pick in consecutive drafts, an indication of the talent Corbin has brought into the program over the last six years.

In 2007, Corbin guided the Commodores to their best season ever, finishing with a school record 54 wins. The team also achieved a No. 1 national ranking for the first time in school history and held that honor for 13 of 15 weeks during the regular season.

The Vanderbilt baseball team also swept through the Southeastern Conference, winning both the regular season and tournament crown for the first time ever, and it marked the first time an SEC team had done it since 1996. The team lost only one conference series the entire season against SEC West Division winner Arkansas in Fayetteville and avenged the series loss by defeating the Razorbacks in the SEC tournament title game.

The conference recognized Corbin for the work he had done, naming him SEC Coach of the Year. Corbin also picked up Co-National Coach of the Year by College Baseball Insider and regional coach of the year honors by the American Baseball Coaches Association.

The Commodores hosted their first ever NCAA regional as the No. 1 National Seed and arrived as a power in college baseball.

Corbin's success and methods of running the Vanderbilt program has earned him respect among the college and international baseball communities.

In the summer of 2006 he managed the USA Baseball National Team to a 28-2-1 record that culminated with a gold medal finish at the FISU (International University Sports Federation) World University Championship in Havana, Cuba. The .919 winning percentage set a new national team high and it garnered special recognition by the United States Olympic Committee.

In 2006 he guided a youthful Commodore squad to a 38-27 record and sixth-place finish in the rugged Southeastern Conference. The team was the youngest team in the league, with seven everyday starters being freshmen or sophomores. For the second time in three seasons, Corbin guided the team to the SEC Tournament Championship game and the young squad also gained valuable NCAA experience after advancing to the championship round of the Atlanta Regional.

The 2006 team posted impressive series wins over College World Series participant Georgia, Super Regional participants South Carolina and Ole Miss, and took series on the road against Florida and LSU. The team handed LSU its worst conference loss at home in school history in the process.

In addition to on the field successes, the baseball program itself has had significant upgrades to the facilities with a new fieldhouse, complete with new locker rooms for players, coaches and Commodore alums playing professional baseball. Also included are coach's offices, a classroom that overlooks Hawkins Field and a new weight room. New for 2009 are permanent seats in the outfield pushing Hawkins Field seating capacity to double the amount when Corbin arrived in 2003. These recent upgrades reinforce the excitement and commitment made to the baseball program due to the successes Tim Corbin has achieved as well as those he will strive to accomplish in the future.

He has already pushed the program to its most successful season, rewritten a significant portion of its record book, and ascended to the ranks of Southeastern Conference and national powers. For him, such excellence has been a constant in a career that covers two decades in both the collegiate and international baseball ranks.

Corbin, along with his coaching staff, are a tireless group that saw their recruiting efforts pay off last fall as the 2005 recruiting class was labeled the nation's best by Baseball America.

Professional baseball has also taken notice of the program as 28 VU players have been drafted over the last four years, including eight in 2008.

In 2005, Corbin directed the squad to its second consecutive 30-win season, an achievement that had not been done in over 15 years. The campaign was highlighted with series wins over Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina and College World Series participant Tennessee.

In 2004, Corbin not only directed the Commodores to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 24 years, he guided them to their first-ever Super Regional as they swept through the Charlottesville Regional with victories over George Mason, Princeton and host Virginia. In the Super Regional they fell to the eventual national runner-up, Texas, but still carved out a piece of history as the first team in NCAA baseball history to make it that far one year after having finished with a sub-.500 record.

Along the way Vanderbilt racked up 45 wins, was the only team to rank among the SEC's top five in earned run average (first), batting average (fourth) and fielding percentage (first), and finished with a .703 winning percentage, which was third-best in the highly competitive conference, which sent nine schools to the NCAA Tournament. The Commodores' school-record .978 fielding percentage was second in the nation, and their 30 error-free games were 11 more than the previous season.

Before Corbin was hired as the 21st coach in program history, Vanderbilt had not earned a spot in the conference tournament in a decade. Not only has he led his team there twice, the Commodores made it to the 2004 championship game.

During the 2004 regular season, Vanderbilt swept a series against Mississippi State for the first time. It was one of three conference whitewashes and one of five series' wins in all.

His efforts earned him the 2004 Vanderbilt Coach of the Year award and a nomination for the Nashville Sports Council's Sports Person of the Year. Plus, a school-record five players were named to the SEC All-Tournament team, five players were drafted on the first day and seven VU players in all were chosen in the Major League Baseball Draft, topped by No. 6 overall pick pitcher Jeremy Sowers.

His first Vanderbilt team finished 27-28 overall and 14-16 in the SEC, good enough for second in the Eastern Division. It earned a conference tournament berth with a season-ending sweep of Tennessee capped by a dramatic ninth-inning rally in the finale. The overall and conference victory totals were the most by a first-year Vanderbilt coach and were made more impressive by the fact that the Commodores were 12-5 in one-run games.

That squad set then school records for fielding percentage (.972), fewest errors in a season (60), most saves in a season (15) and fewest walks allowed in a season (168) -- all of which were bettered in 2004. The team notched series victories over nationally-ranked conference foes LSU, Auburn and Florida, each of which was ranked among the top 15 at the time.

Plus, on May 6, 2003, Vanderbilt recorded the first perfect game in school history, which was a collective effort instead of the product of one dominant player on the mound. Four different pitchers contributed to the 4-0 victory over Western Kentucky University.

Corbin came to Vanderbilt following nine seasons as an assistant coach at baseball power Clemson.

During his time there (1994-2002) the Tigers had more victories than all but four programs. Clemson won more than 71 percent (434 wins, 172 losses) of its games, captured two Atlantic Coast Conference regular season titles, made nine appearances in the NCAA Tournament and reached the College World Series four times (1995, 1996, 2000, and 2002). The Tigers ended the 2002 season with their ninth consecutive top 25 finish and their sixth top 10 finish since 1994.

Corbin was promoted twice during his tenure. He received the title of assistant head coach in 1998 and in September 2001 became associate head coach and recruiting coordinator.

Along the way, he crafted a national reputation as one of the most respected assistant coaches in the country. His efforts helped produce nine straight recruiting classes that were ranked among the top 25 nationally. His on-field work with outfielders and hitters helped 20 Clemson players earn All-America honors and 36 to be drafted to play professional baseball.

Corbin's dedication and attention to detail caught the eye of the national baseball publication Baseball America on numerous occasions. In 1997, it touted the Clemson coaching staff as one of the top five "College Recruiting Staffs" in the country. It later tabbed the 1999 Tiger freshmen class as No. 1 nationally. In 2000, Baseball America and the American Baseball Coaches Association named Corbin its National Assistant Coach of the Year.

In 2000, Southern California head coach Mike Gillespie served as skipper of the USA Baseball team and chose Corbin as an assistant for his staff. That group guided the Americans to a gold-medal finish at the World Championships in the Netherlands, and that team set a national program record for best winning percentage (.900).

Prior to his tenure at Clemson, Corbin was head coach at Presbyterian College for six seasons beginning in 1988. There he restarted a baseball program that laid dormant for several years. He directed Presbyterian College from NAIA to NCAA Division II status and had a 106-138 overall record. Along the way, the Blue Hose made three consecutive appearances in the South Atlantic playoffs (1991-93), and Corbin earned South Atlantic Coach of the Year honors in 1990.