MIKE
LANE
Head Baseball Coach
(256) 765-4615
Mike Lane has
transformed the University of North Alabama
baseball program into one of the nation’s
most consistent winners in his 24 years at
a school that had produced only one winning
season in the six years prior to his
arrival.
Lane has won
879 games, averaged 36 wins per season, won
40 games or more six times, won five Gulf
South Conference championships and taken the
Lions to ten NCAA regionals and one World
Series since his arrival in 1983.
He not only
ranks among the winningest coaches currently
in Division II in both wins and winning
percentage but also among the Winningest in
Division II history.
Under Lane,
numerous Lion baseball players have gone on
to play professional baseball, including
Cedric Landrum who debuted in the major
leagues with the Chicago Cubs and played in
1993 with the New York Mets, Jim Czajkowski,
who reached the majors with Colorado Rockies
is in 1994, Terry Jones, who debuted with
the Rockies in 1996 and also played with the
Expos and Dodgers, and Josh Willingham who
made his major league debut with the Florida
Marlins in 2004 and earned a starting
position in 2006.
In addition,
Lane has developed a national reputation of
success and was chosen by the United States
Baseball Federation to serve as one of three
coaches for the South team in the U.S.
Baseball Trials in Florida in 1992. The
squad selected from those trials represented
the U.S. in the 1992 Olympic Games in
Barcelona, Spain.
Lane has
equalled the success that his teams have
enjoyed on the field with continuous success
off the field as well with numerous players
earning conference, regional and national
academic recognition.
Lane has also
been responsible for the continued
improvements to University Field and was
honored with a fund-raising roast in 2007
that raised the money for the stadium’s
current renovation.
Last season,
Lane took UNA to a 32-21-1 record that gave
UNA its 24th straight winning season under
Lane.
In all he has
led UNA to 10 Gulf South Conference division
titles and to GSC Tournament titles in 1984,
1989, 1993, 1997 and 1999.
In 1999, UNA
went all the way to its first Division II
Baseball World Series in Montgomery after
the Lions won the GSC and Division II South
Central Regional championships.
UNA finished
fifth in the nation with a 45-12 overall
record.
Lane led his
first UNA squad to a 28-24-1 record and the
first Gulf South Conference baseball
championship in school history in 1984.
In 1985, the
Lions went 46-11-1, finished the
regular-season ranked No. 2 nationally in
Division II and played in the NCAA Central
Region Tournament for the second straight
year.
A No. 17
national ranking and a 34-16-1 record
awaited in 1986.
That was
followed with a 40-13-1 mark in 1987 for the
second most wins in school history. The
Lions also had a 21-2-1 record at home for
the best home record ever at UNA.
After a fifth
straight winning season came in 1988 with a
29-16-1 mark, UNA jumped back into the
national picture with a 44-11 finish in 1989
that included the GSC championship and
another NCAA playoff berth.
In 1990 UNA
went 37-9 in the regular-season but lost two
straight games as the host of the Gulf South
Conference Tournament and was then denied an
NCAA playoff berth, despite a 37-11 record
that included wins over Division I powers
Middle Tennessee State and Mississippi
State.
In 1991 the
Lions earned their fifth NCAA playoff berth
in eight years with a 30-17 record against
one of the toughest schedules in school
history.
UNA then
followed with a 33-19-1 record in 1992 that
netted the squad its third straight NCAA
appearance. UNA won the regular-season GSC
championship with a 13-4 league record and
was runner-up in the South Central
Regional.
In 1993, UNA
tied for the regular-season GSC championship
and then won the tournament title, going
undefeated and downing Jacksonville State
7-6 in the championship game. The Lions also
earned a fourth straight post-season bid and
ranked No. 2 nationally in the final
regular-season poll before finishing as the
runner-up in the South Central Regional.
In 1994 the
Lions were 35-11-2 and won the GSC East
Division title. In 1995 UNA went 43-15, won
the GSC East Division and finished as the
runner-up in the NCAA South Central
Regional.
The Lions
finished 37-11 in 1996 and were 40-15-1 in
1997, winning the Gulf South Conference
championship and playing in their ninth NCAA
regional in the last 14 years. In 1998 UNA
went 38-12, including a 24-4 home mark.
The Lions have
a remarkable 546-147-4 record at home in
Lane’s 24 years at the school, with a record
32 home wins in 1999.
After receiving
his B.S. degree from Kearney State College
(now the University of Nebraska-Kearney) in
1974 in Administration and Physical
Education, Lane served as an assistant at
Georgia Southern University in 1976 and 1977
and received his Masters’ degree in
Education.
In 1978, Lane
went to Yavapai Junior College as an
assistant and helped lead the school to a
runner-up spot in the national
championships.
In 1979, he
became head coach at Cochise Community
College in Arizona and took a squad that had
four consecutive losing seasons and made two
trips to the Arizona Junior College
Playoffs. Lane’s last four squads at Cochise
won 24 games or more.
Since his
arrival at UNA, Lane has been named GSC
Coach of the Year four times in 1984, 1989,
1993 and 1999. He has produced 72 first-team
All-GSC performers and 18 All-America
selections. UNA had just seven first-team
All-GSC picks in its first 11 years in the
league, prior to Lane’s arrival. He has a
wife, Cheryl, and two sons, Jeff and Jesse.
MIKE LANE RECORD
Year-by-Year
Year School Record
1979 Cochise Community College 12-27
1980 Cochise Community College 25-17
1981 Cochise Community College 29-12
1982 Cochise Community College 24-15
1983 Cochise Community College 25-18
1984 University of North Alabama 28-24-1
1985 University of North Alabama 46-11-1
1986 University of North Alabama 34-16-1
1987 University of North Alabama 40-13-1
1988 University of North Alabama 29-16-1
1989 University of North Alabama 44-11-0
1990 University of North Alabama 37-11-0
1991 University of North Alabama 30-17-0
1992 University of North Alabama 33-19-1
1993 University of North Alabama 39-18-0
1994 University of North Alabama 35-11-2
1995 University of North Alabama 43-15-0
1996 University of North Alabama 37-11-0
1997 University of North Alabama 40-15-1
1998 University of North Alabama 38-12-0
1999 University of North Alabama 45-12-0
2000 University of North Alabama 36-16-1
2002 University of North Alabama 37-16-0
2003 University of North Alabama 35-15-0
2004 University of North Alabama 34-20-1
2005 University of North Alabama 39-19
2006 University of North Alabama 38-20
2007 University of North Alabama 32-21-1
TOTALS: 994-466-12 (29
years)
At UNA: 879-377-12 (24
years)
