Dave Taylor is in his 18th year as Head Coach of the Chico State baseball team and his 25th as part of the Wildcats program. Since taking the job in 2007, Taylor has continued Chico State baseball’s tradition of excellence, guiding the Wildcats to a combined 534-295 record, nine NCAA Championship Tournament appearances, three California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) titles and two trips to the Division II NCAA Championship Tournament finals.
Under Taylor’s tutelage, the program has produced players that have earned 117 All-CCAA, 106 All-West Region, and 23 All-America awards. Nine of his players have been drafted by major league organizations.
In 21 years as a head coach at the NCAA Division I and II level, Taylor owns a career 649-389-1 record. Chico State teams have won at least 30 games in 12 of Taylor’s 16 years of competition, with the Wildcats reaching the 40-win mark five times.
Taylor guided Chico State to a 19-25 record and a 10th place CCAA finish in 2023. Infielder Jeffrey Ray was a First Team All-CCAA selection, with pitchers Dylan Day and Justin Tamelier earning All-CCAA Honorable Mentions.
After missing the entire 2021 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and returning just seven players who had previously played for the ’Cats, Taylor led Chico State to an extremely productive 2022 campaign. Spurred by an offense that averaged just under 10 runs and 12 hits a game, the Wildcats fashioned a 34-15 record to earn a share of second place in the CCAA and reach postseason play for the 23rd time since 1996. Chico State’s .344 team batting average was the eighth-highest among all Division II programs in 2022.
Taylor himself reached a personal milestone on March 20, 2022, when the ’Cats helped him record his 500th victory as Chico State head coach with a 17-8 victory over Stanislaus State.
Chico State was off to a very positive start before the coronavirus pandemic halted play 22 games into the 2020 season. Taylor steered the Wildcats to a 15-7 overall record and a share of second place in the CCAA with an 11-5 conference mark.
Taylor led Chico State to a 28-21 record in 2019, finishing third in the CCAA as the ’Cats once again reached postseason play. Chico State finished 31-24 in 2018, as Taylor guided the Wildcats to the postseason, competing in both the CCAA Tournament and the NCAA Championship Tournament. Relief pitcher Jae Wagner named All-America Honorable Mention by both the National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA).
Taylor piloted the Wildcats to a 45-11 finish in 2017, and the program’s second straight appearance in both the CCAA Tournament and NCAA Championship Tournament. Chico State racked up a staggering 45 postseason awards, with pitcher Casey Costello receiving CCAA Pitcher and Newcomer of the Year honors, West Region Pitcher of the Year accolades, and a Second Team All-America selection. Cameron Santos was named the CCAA and West Region Player of the Year, earning All-America Honorable Mention and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Gold Glove recognition. For his efforts, Taylor was named CCAA and NCBWA West Region Coach of the Year.
Taylor reached a lofty milestone by notching the 500th victory of his college head coaching career March 25, 2017 in the Wildcats’ doubleheader sweep of Cal State Dominguez Hills.
Taylor’s 2016 Chico State squad finished the year with a 35-22 record (a 17-win improvement from the year before), returning the ’Cats to postseason play with berths in both the CCAA Tournament and NCAA Championships.
In 2014, Taylor guided the Wildcats to a 43-15 record and the program’s second NCAA Championship Tournament finals appearance in three years. The ’Cats swept through the NCAA West Regionals with four straight victories to earn a trip to Cary, North Carolina and a chance to compete for the Division II national championship. Chico State finished the season ranked sixth in the nation and produced four All-Americans (Luke Barker, Nick Baker, Brad Lohse and Cody Slader). Taylor was named the 2014 CCAA Coach of the Year and West Region Coach of the Year by both the ABCA and NCBWA.
Taylor’s 2013 Wildcat squad finished the year with a 37-18 overall record, reaching the finals of the NCAA Championship Tournament West Regional but coming up just one victory short of a capturing another Championship Tournament finals berth. Chico State ranked 13th in the year-ending NCBWA national poll.
The 2012 season saw Chico State go 40-19 overall, capture a share of the CCAA regular season title, and reach the NCAA Championship Tournament finals by winning the West Regional crown. Chico State finished the season ranked 15th in the nation by
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, and Taylor was named West Region Coach of the Year.
Chico State posted a 30-20 record in 2011 and a third place CCAA finish. The Wildcats hit .301 as a team and reached the semifinals of the CCAA Tournament.
In 2010, Taylor led Chico State to a 35-20 record, advancing to the NCAA West Regional on the strength of a .331 team batting average. Taylor’s 2009 Wildcat squad turned in a solid 35-21 season, boasting the top team batting average (.343) in the CCAA.
In 2008 Chico State posted a 42-17 record and finished the season ranked No. 6 in the nation. Taylor’s first year as Wildcats’ head coach resulted in 47 wins in 2007—the fourth-highest single-season victory total in the program’s history.
From 2005–2006, Taylor served as Head Coach for Cal State LA, turning around a struggling program and guiding the Golden Eagles to a 58-39-1 record in two years at the helm. Taylor led Cal State LA to the NCAA Championship Tournament West Region finals in 2006.
As Chico State’s head assistant/pitching coach from 1997–2004, Taylor helped build the Wildcat baseball program into a national Division II power, highlighted by the Wildcats’ NCAA championships in 1997 and 1999 and a runner-up finish in 2002. In all, the ’Cats reached the NCAA Championship Tournament finals in five of Taylor’s eight seasons as a Chico State assistant coach. His Wildcat pitching staffs led the CCAA in ERA every season from 1999–2004, with Taylor mentoring a trio of CCAA Pitcher of the Year award winners as well as nine All-America hurlers. Two former ’Cats who pitched for Taylor—Drew Carpenter and Dale Thayer—ultimately reached the major leagues (years later, as the Wildcats’ head coach, Taylor saw a third Chico State pitcher, Luke Barker, make it to The Show with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2022).
Prior to joining the Chico State coaching staff, Taylor spent three years at the University of Wyoming (1994–96). He was the program’s head coach in 1995 and 1996 and earned Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1996 after leading the Cowboys to a 36-20 mark in what had already been announced as the final year of the university’s baseball program.
Taylor began his coaching career at Cal Lutheran in 1989, and after one year as an assistant at Oxnard Community College, earned his first head coaching job there in 1991. He also made coaching stops at Long Beach City College, Simi Valley High School, and in the Cape Cod League.
A catcher during his playing days, Taylor competed collegiately at Oxnard Community College from 1983–84 before transferring to the University of Arizona for the 1985–86 seasons. It was there he earned the first of his three national titles (the other two coming as a Chico State coach) during the 1986 campaign.
Taylor went on to play two seasons of minor league baseball in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. He advanced as high as double-A, and earned the Brewers’ Minor League Catcher of the Year award before retiring in 1987.
Taylor earned his bachelor’s degree in social science from Cal Lutheran in 1989 and his master’s degree in physical education from Chico State in 2004.
Taylor and his wife, Robin, have two sons, Mark (a Chico State baseball assistant coach) and Jack.
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Mark Taylor
Assistant Baseball Coach
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