Stanford’s Mark Marquess Giant In Coaching

By LOU PAVLOVICH, JR.
Editor/Collegiate Baseball

STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford’s Mark Marquess, one of the top coaches in the history of college baseball, will be hanging up his cleats following the 2017 season.

It will be his 41st baseball season as head coach of the Cardinal. This giant in the profession led Stanford to two national titles in 1987-88.

A member of the American Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame, Marquess will open the 2017 season as the nation’s second-winningest active head coach with a career record of 1,585-862-7.

A three-time NCAA Coach of the Year and nine-time Pac-10 Coach of the Year, Marquess has also guided the Cardinal to 29 NCAA Tournament appearances, 14 College World Series berths, six NCAA Super Regional crowns and 12 Pac-10 regular-season championships.

A culture of winning baseball has been successfully developed under Marquess with 38 of his 40 teams finishing at .500 or better.

During his tenure, the Cardinal captured 12 conference titles and finished either first or second a total of 23 times (including Southern Division finishes) while most recently winning back-to-back championships in 2003-04.

The Cardinal has also achieved at a high level in the classroom under Marquess.

In seven of the last 10 years, the baseball program has produced a 100 percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR), and in no year has the GSR been less than 93 percent.

Additionally, of the 57 former student-athletes who have reached the majors under his leadership, 49 earned their degrees.

Stanford’s success under Marquess has paid dividends at the next level as well. His players are normally very visible on the radar screens of professional baseball scouts.

Over 200 Cardinal players have been chosen in the draft since 1977, including 25 first round or compensation picks since Jack McDowell in 1987.

Marquess has also been a well-known coach on the international level. In 1988, he won International Coach of the Year honors after leading the United States to a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.

Marquess’ success as a coach can be traced to his days as a player. A three-year starter at first base for Stanford (1967-69), he earned All-America first-team honors in 1967 and garnered second-team All-America recognition in 1968.

Collegiate Baseball caught up with Marquess and asked him an assortment of questions about what allowed him to be such a successful coach in one of the most challenging conferences in the nation.

Marquess said that the longer you coach, the greater the appreciation for what you are doing in coaching student-athletes.

“The most important thing I have learned is that we (coaches) are teachers first and foremost,” said Marquess.

“As a young coach, you evaluate yourself on winning and losing, how many players go on to professional baseball or make the Big Leagues.

“The number of players who have made it to the Big Leagues is incredibly small. What is it. . .two percent of the players who come through? It is typically a very small number.

“Even more important for our athletes are lifetime skills that we as coaches can give them. You can’t overemphasize how much learning teamwork, working hard, hustling, dedication, being on time and things of this nature are to your players.

“The longer you coach, the greater you realize this. The guy who was a backup player or wasn’t drafted and comes back 15-20 years later to tell you what great experiences they had in your program and what an important foundation for life you gave them really hits home.”

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