PAUL SVAGDIS

Head Coach

Paul Svagdis, a 1993 Tufts University graduate who has been head baseball coach at Azusa Pacific University since 2002, will return to his alma mater as the new head coach of the Jumbo program.

Svagdis was recruited to play at Tufts by John Casey, the legendary Jumbo baseball leader whom he will now replace. Casey retired at the beginning of the 2021-22 year after leading the Jumbos to 765 wins and 10 regional and conference titles. A two-year team captain of the Jumbos, Svagdis played first base for the team from 1990-93. He hit .402 in his Jumbo career, and his 17 home runs and 113 runs batted in are also on the program's all-time top 10 lists.

At Azusa Pacific, from 2002-21 he amassed 606 wins for the most in program history. In his 20 seasons he produced 16 All Americans, 14 Academic All-Americans and eight conference Players of the Year. His 2007 team finished 51-10 overall and 33-5 in the Golden State Athletic Conference, both the top win totals in program history. After the Azusa Pacific athletics program transitioned from NAIA to NCAA Division II, he led the Cougars to three straight 40-plus win seasons from 2017-19.

"What an amazing opportunity and privilege it is to come back to Tufts University," Svagdis said. "I am honored and humbled to follow my college coach, mentor, and friend John Casey in leading the baseball program. The history of success on and off the field and tradition to leave the program better than you found it are core values I believe in and hope to continue to develop in the current and future Jumbo baseball players."

A native of Falmouth, Mass., Svagdis also played football for the Jumbos and started his coaching career right after graduation as a baseball and football assistant coach from 1993-96. After receiving a Master's Degree in Education at Tufts in 1996, he went West when he was hired as head baseball coach and assistant football coach at Pomona College in California.

During six years leading the Sagehens baseball team, Svagdis coached three All-Americans, 12 All-Conference players and a Conference Player of the Year. His 2002 team finished 35-5 and had a perfect 18-0 season in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. That spring the Sagehens won the conference championship and made an NCAA Regional appearance for the first time in the program's 47-year history.

In 25 years of head coaching overall, Svagdis has a record of 718-429 for a .625 career win percentage. His teams have won eight regular-season conference titles and he's earned seven Conference Coach of the Year awards. He has guided his teams to six NCAA Regionals and five NAIA Regionals, including the 2007 and 2008 teams that advanced to the NAIA World Series. Svagdis has coached over 35 players drafted by Major League Baseball teams, including two-time All-Star Stephen Vogt.

"I'm so excited for the Jumbo baseball family and for our entire department to welcome Paul Svagdis back to Tufts as our Head Baseball Coach," said Director of Athletics John Morris. "A highly-accomplished coach, Paul's passion for academic excellence, community service and winning championships is exceeded only by his zeal for mentoring student-athletes, developing their character, and preparing them to be leaders in life after college. And as a two-sport, double-degree Jumbo who has maintained his close connection to Tufts and his fellow Jumbos over the years, Paul is the perfect person to carry on the traditions of Tufts baseball and lead the program to new heights. Paul will be a great addition to our university community, and we look forward to watching him make his own mark on this storied program."

At Tufts, Svagdis was the Clarence "Pop" Houston Award winner as best male athlete in 1993. He played in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League during the summers of 1991 and 1992. As an alumnus of the program, he's looking forward to continuing the strong tradition of alumni engagement within the program that was established by Coach Casey.

"I am very excited to work with one of the best and strongest groups of alumni in college baseball," Svadis said. " I have watched them from afar come alongside the program over the years and look forward to continuing to build and develop those strong ties among the alumni and current players."

Svagdis met his wife Catherine at Tufts where she was a three-year captain of the Jumbo Volleyball team. They have two children, Emma and Dominic.

"I am really looking forward to working alongside John Morris, the great Jumbo coaches and the many members of the Jumbo athletic department that have created such a strong reputation and tradition of success," he said.

BOB CLARKE

Assistant Coach

Bob Clarke is Tufts head coach John Casey's long-time lieutenant on the Jumbo baseball staff. He works with the outfielders and coaches first base.

Coach Clarke returned to the team in 2016 after two seasons away. He was first hired as Coach Casey's assistant in 1988 and has been with the program for most of the past 34 seasons. During his time on the staff, Coach Clarke has helped guide the Jumbos to six New England Small College Athletic Conference titles and six NCAA Tournament berths. The press box at Tufts' Huskins Field is name in his honor.

After 35 years working in high school administration and coaching, Clarke retired in 2015. He spent more than two decades at Newburyport High School, including a term as Athletic Director.

STEVE COHEN

Assistant Coach

Steve Cohen is the faculty liaison for Tufts Baseball. He is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Education at Tufts. He taught high school history for two decades and has taught at Tufts since 1995.

Cohen has also had the opportunity to work on educational projects beyond the classroom. He edited and wrote anthologies to accompany the public television documentaries Vietnam A Television History and Eyes On The Prize. He was a Program Associate with Facing History and Ourselves for many years and has written articles about teaching controversial issues like Vietnam, the dropping of the Atomic Bomb, and the Holocaust. He also does projects for the pbslearningmedia.org website on various historical subjects.

He has a Ph.D., and M.A., from Brandeis University and received his B.A. at Williams College.

BARRY ROSEN

Assistant Coach

In his fourth season at Tufts, Barry Rosen is a veteran baseball man who has over 50 years of coaching experience. He is coaching the Jumbos' corner infielders.

Rosen's first season at Tufts was 2019 when the team won the conference championship. First baseman Peter DeMaria and third baseman J.P. Knight earned New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) All-Conference recognition under his tutelage. In 2020 he was part of the Jumbo staff that helped direct the team to the NESCAC Championship series and the NCAA Regional final.

Rosen has 23 years of experience as a college head coach, 20 years as a high school head coach and nine years as a college assistant. Previously the head coach at Division II Merrimack and Saint Anselm Colleges, Rosen is a past President and Executive Board member of the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association. He was also an assistant coach at Brandeis University.

A 1972 graduate of UMass Amherst, Rosen taught high school science for 35 years in Winthrop and Westford. He was head coach at Winthrop High School from 1976-92, and was named to the Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He and his wife Carol live in Andover and have three daughters - Lindsay, Brooklyn and Harleigh.