Mike Keehn has served 13 seasons as the head baseball coach at the University of North Alabama and has been a part of the Lions’ coaching staff for the last 33 years.
He is the second winningest head coach in UNA baseball history and he has been a part of 1,054 Lion wins since 1989.
His 33 combined years on the UNA athletic staff make him the longest tenured coach in school history in any sport.
After 20 seasons as an assistant coach at UNA, Keehn was given the reigns of the Lion baseball program on November 2, 2008, when he was named as UNA’s head baseball coach. Keehn, who had been an instrumental part of North Alabama’s tremendous success over the last two decades, first as a student assistant and then as a full-time assistant coach, has responded by leading the Lions to an overall 334-292-1 record over the last 13 years, including back-to-back NCAA Regional Tournament appearances in 2011 and 2012. The 2011 NCAA trip was the first by a UNA team in 12 years.
He also led the Lions through their first season of transition to NCAA Division I play in 2019. UNA finished the year 16-38 but picked up a huge road upset of No. 18 ranked Ole Miss in Oxford, 10-6. The Lions were 8-7 at home put played 39 games on the road, including 21 of their first 23 games of the season.
In his first season as head coach at UNA, Keehn led the Lions to an impressive 32-20 record. Then in 2010, despite two key losses to the UNA pitching staff just prior to the start of the season, he led the Lions to a solid fourth place finish in the Gulf South Conference Tournament and a 29-24 overall record.
In 2011 the Lions were 37-14, finishing second in the GSC East Division and advancing to the GSC Tournament and the NCAA Division II South Regional. It was UNA’s first NCAA Tournament trip since 1999. The 2012 season saw the Lions post a 39-18 record, reach the semifinals of the GSC Tournament and advance to the NCAA Division II South Regional for a second straight year.
The Lions went 28-21-1 in 2013 and 26-27 in 2014 before rebounding with a 27-16 mark in 2015.
During his more than two decades at UNA, Keehn has helped develop the Mike Lane Field infield into one of the best playing surfaces in the country. He has also helped direct the Lions’ recruiting efforts that have continued to bring talented student-athletes to the UNA campus. Keehn has also handled several of the Lions’ fund-raising efforts.
As an assistant, Keehn helped lead UNA to a combined 720-318-7 record over a 20-year span from 1989-2008, while working with the Lion infielders and hitters. During those 20 years UNA won four Gulf South Conference baseball titles and made seven NCAA Tournament appearances. In 1999 he helped direct a UNA team that went 45-12, won the Gulf South Conference and NCAA Division II South Central Regional championships and advanced to the Division II Baseball Championship in Montgomery, Ala.
An infielder at Kearney State College (now the University of Nebraska-Kearney), where he earned honorable mention All-America honors, Keehn was drafted and signed by the Texas Rangers organization. After a stint in the minor leagues, he went to coach at Kansas City, Kan., Community College from 1985-88. He helped direct KCKCC to a 120-36 record over those three seasons with two Jayhawk Conference championships and two district runner-up finishes.
In 1988 he came to North Alabama and in his first season with the Lions he was a part of his third straight championship team as UNA went 44-11 and won the Gulf South Conference crown. The Lions then advanced to the NCAA regionals for the fourth time in six years. In 1990 the Lions went 37-11 and won the GSC West Division and followed with a 30-17 mark in 1991 and an NCAA South Atlantic Regional berth. UNA made its second straight NCAA appearance with a 33-19-1 finish in 1992 and followed with a third straight appearance, a third Gulf South Conference championship, and a 39-18 record in 1993. In 1994, UNA went 35-11-2 and won the GSC East Division. In 1995 UNA was 43-15, won the GSC East Division and advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional. In 1996 the Lions finished with a 37-11 record, and in 1997 UNA was 40-15-1, won its third GSC title since Keehn’s arrival and made the ninth NCAA tournament appearance in school history.
In 1998 UNA was 38-12 and the Lions followed with a 45-12 record in 1999, 36-16-1 in 2000, 30-18 in 2001, 37-16 in 2002, 35-15 in 2003, 34-20-1 in 2004, 39-19 in 2005, 38-20 in 2006, 32-21-1 in 2007 and 29-21 in 2008.
Keehn received his B.A. in education with a double major in Physical Education and Business from Nebraska-Kearney and earned his Master’s in Education from UNA in July of 1990.
He and his wife Lisa have two daughters, Jessica and Erica, and a son, Austin. Jessica is married to Corey Meisel and they a son, Houston. Erica is married to Rob Rikard and they have two sons, Noah and Addison.
