Greg Mamula - Baseball Coach - Florida Atlantic University Athletics

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

Greg Mamula

Title:
Assistant Coach/Hitting

Greg Mamula, the Owls' recruiting coordinator, hitting coach, infield coach and third base coach, has been with FAU for six seasons and now has 21 seasons under his belt as a collegiate baseball coach. Mamula was elevated to associate head coach in the spring of 2022, primarily to properly represent and honor the work he had already been doing.

In 2021, 32 victories and an 18-14 C-USA mark earned the Owls the league's No. 5 overall seed and a third-place finish in the C-USA East. Four everyday players hit .311 or higher, and three - B.J. Murray (14), Bobby Morgensen (12) and Nolan Schanuel (11) - each reached double digits in home runs. Schanuel and Murray each were voted to the All-C-USA Second Team, and Schanuel earned Second Team ABCA All-Region, and two separate Freshman All-America honors (by Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game).

Defensively, the Owls were the top defensive squad in the C-USA, with a .978 fielding percentage, and set a new program season low in errors with 42 in 57 games (the previous lowest mark was 52 in 2016). Four team members, Jalen DeBose, Mitchell Hartigan, Shane Magrann and Morgensen, all had 50 or more chances without an error; Schanuel, in his first ever season at 1B, had a .996 fielding percentage, just two errors in 454 chances (second most in C-USA) with 426 putouts (also second) and was part of a league-best 38 double plays, and Wilfredo Alvarez was sixth in the league with 139 assists, playing every single inning of the year for the Owls at shortstop.

The outfield contingent, in 359 total chances, committed just one error all season long, while the team's trio of catchers – Nicholas Toney, Caleb Pendleton and Magrann – combined to throw out 18 runners attempting to steal, plus a pickoff, with only four errors between them.

The 2020 campaign, halted after just 16 games due to the global coronavirus pandemic, saw FAU finish second in the league in home runs and walks, despite a stretch playing five games against top 10 opponents in six days.

In the field, the Owls boasted the top C-USA team in fielding percentage at .983 (also ranking 14th in all of Division I), committing just 10 errors while turning 15 double plays, second in the confefence and No. 22 among all DI teams.

Following the 2019 season, Mamula was honored as 2019 Conference USA Assistant Coach of the Year, as under his tutelage, the Owls' offense led the league in hitting (.297), hits (662), RBI (402), runs and scoring (431 and 7.0 runs per game) and slugging (.446). The squad also ranked second in home runs (56) and third in on-base percentage (.389), and added 24 points to their batting average from the year prior, while their on-base percentage was 23 points above the 2018 mark.

In addition to those C-USA rankings, in all of Division I, the Owls slotted 10th in hits, 23rd in batting average, 27th in runs, 37th in on-base percentage, 44th in slugging and 45th in doubles. Catcher Pedro Pages – named both All-C-USA and ABCA/Rawlings All-Region – was chosen in the sixth round of the 2019 MLB draft, while centerfielder Eric Rivera was a 14th round selection. Among those players returning will be fellow All-Region member Francisco Urbaez, Freshman All-American Mitchell Hartigan, and like Urbaez, another All-C-USA honoree in Andru Summerall.

With a 41-21 mark, the Owls are now 158-70 with Mamula on staff, with three NCAA Regional appearances, two Conference USA regular season titles, and year in and year out, an offense that has been one of the best in C-USA and in college baseball.

In 2018, Mamula headed one of the top power-hitting teams not only in the conference, but across Division I. With 79 home runs -- the best in C-USA and No. 12 in all of DI -- the team posted their most in that category since 2007 and fifth-highest mark all-time. The Owls' hitters also finished second in the league in runs (411, or 9.6 per game), hits (594), RBI (365) and total bases (955), and were third in slugging percentage (.439) and walks (256). Nationally, besides home runs, FAU finished in the top 40 in runs, hits and strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.51).

Mamula had three of his offensive players taken in the 2018 MLB Draft: Tyler Frank (2nd round), Cody Wilson (13th) and David Miranda (25th). Frank and Miranda were First Team All-C-USA, and Frank was chosen All-Region for the second straight year. He was also Third Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball.

In addition to his hitting instruction, Mamula tutored the defense to a .969 fielding percentage, the fourth-best mark in program history. That was No. 5 in Conference USA as well. The defense combined for 1670 putouts, tops in the league, with first baseman Andru Summerall becoming the only FAU defender ever to go over 100 chances in his career without an error. Frank, too, became the second Owl to be voted as Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year, and finished fifth in the league in assists.

In 2017, Mamula mentored two All-Region players in Frank and Miranda. Frank (First Team), Jared Shouppe (Second Team) and Eric Rivera (All-Freshman) all earned Conference USA honors, while the team averaged seven runs a game while batting .289 with an even .400 on-base percentage. The Owls' 70 home runs was second in C-USA, and the squad also finished second with 286 walks versus just 350 strikeouts (second-lowest in the league). In DI, they finished among the top 25 teams in OBP, walks, home runs and hit-by-pitch (87).

In his first season at FAU, the Owls posted a 39-19 record, winning the Conference USA regular season title and earning the No. 2 seed at the Coral Gables Regional. The FAU offense averaged over six runs per game, hitting .288, having a .382 on-base percentage and hitting a league-leading 116 doubles. The Owls' offense was led by Conference USA Player of the Year CJ Chatham. Chatham, who was the second-round pick of the Boston Red Sox, hit .357 with a .422 on-base percentage, .554 slugging percentage and 50 RBI.

In addition to Chatham, two other Owls have moved on to professional baseball in 2016 and 2017: Stephen Kerr (Los Angeles Angels) and Billy Endris (Arizona Diamondbacks).

Prior to FAU, Mamula was an assistant coach at the University of Cincinnati. At UC he coached the offense, infielders, assisted with the recruiting and was the third base coach. In his first year as the Bearcats' hitting coach, the team batting average increased from .251 to .285, slugging percentage from .372 to .404, on-base percentage from .336 to .370, and runs per game from 4.94 to 5.56.

All of that improvement came despite it being the first season with the BBCOR bats and having graduated five senior hitters from the previous year. Mamula's recruiting efforts helped UC land its first ever first round draft pick with junior All-American outfielder Ian Happ being selected with the ninth overall pick by the Chicago Cubs in the 2015 MLB Draft. Happ made his MLB debut with the Cubs in 2017.

Before Cincinnati, Mamula was the head coach at NCAA Division II West Chester University of Pennsylvania for three years. During his tenure at West Chester, he averaged 41 wins per season while compiling an overall coaching record of 124-45 (.734).

Regarded as one of the top young head coaches in NCAA DII baseball, Mamula was named the PSAC East Coach of the Year and the Atlantic Region Coach of the Year in 2009, while his team finished the year ranked seventh in the nation after reaching the DII College World Series. It was only WCU's second ever appearance at the World Series. His 2009 team set the school record for wins in a season with 46, breaking the previous mark of 45 that they had set one year earlier.

Prior to hiring Mamula in the fall of 2006, West Chester had two NCAA Regional championship game appearances in its baseball program's history. Mamula led his team to the NCAA Regional championship game in each of his three seasons. His teams ranked among the best statistically in several offensive and pitching categories in all of DII baseball. Over his three seasons, the Golden Rams hit .334 and had a 3.66 team ERA.

Mamula mentored two Conference Players of the Year, two Conference Pitchers of the Year and one Conference Rookie of the Year, in addition to 29 All-Conference players, 13 All-Region players, four All-American performers and three MLB draft picks. WCU had not had a draft pick in the 12 previous MLB drafts. Included in Mamula's recruiting classes at WCU are current Tampa Bay Rays infielder Joey Wendle, who made his MLB debut in 2016.

Mamula's coaching resume also includes five years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Delaware (2002-2006), and as an assistant for three years at Shippensburg University (1999-2001).

In his five recruiting classes at Delaware, Mamula brought in 20 All-Conference performers and two All-Americans, and 13 of his recruits were selected in the MLB Draft. In his final year at Delaware, the Blue Hens' offense led all of NCAA Division I baseball in home runs (111), doubles (143), and slugging percentage (.574).

As a player, Mamula was a four-year starter as an infielder at St. Bonaventure University, where he was an Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team selection his junior and senior seasons and served as team captain his senior year.

Mamula and his wife Melissa live in Boca Raton and have two children, Reid and Allison.