Brickman Joins Iowa Coaching Staff

July 29, 2013

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Scott Brickman has been named the interim pitching coach for the University of Iowa baseball program, UI head coach Rick Heller announced Monday. Brickman joins the Hawkeyes after a four-year stint as head coach at Division II Belmont Abbey University.

“Scott will be a great fit for our program and the University of Iowa,” said Heller. “He is an excellent pitching coach, tremendous recruiter, and wonderful person. I know our players will enjoy working with him.

“Having worked with Scott for two years at Northern Iowa, I am looking forward to having him back on my staff as an assistant coach. He did a great job as the head coach at Belmont Abbey the past four years. I’m excited to have Scott on board.”

During his four-year stint at Belmont Abbey, Brickman led the Crusaders to a 104-82 record, a 2012 Conference Carolinas Western Division Championship, and a pair of top-25 national rankings — the first in school history. Brickman departs Belmont Abbey with the best winning percentage in the program’s 22-year history.

In 2013, Brickman guided the Crusaders to a 27-17 record, and the squad earned a top-25 ranking during the regular season for the second time in program history. Five players garnered all-conference recognition, and pitcher Emilio Pagan was selected in the 10th round of the 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, the program’s highest draftee in its history.

Brickman led the Crusaders to the Conference Carolinas Western Division title in 2012 — the third crown in school history and first in more than a decade. Brickman coached Pagan to ABCA/NWBCA All-America honors and two Crusaders earned all-conference and All-Southeast Regional honors. Steven Thiele was also tabbed as the Conference Male Academic Scholar Athlete of the Year for the second-straight season.

In his second season as head coach, Brickman led the Crusaders to an 11-win turnaround from his first season, winning 29 games and earning the first top-25 ranking in program history. Brickman coached six players to all-conference recognition and one All-Southeast Regional honoree. Three Crusaders also earned academic all-conference honors, and Thiele was the Conference’s Male Academic Scholar Athlete of the Year.

From 2007-09, Brickman served as an assistant coach at Northern Iowa. In two seasons with the Panthers, five pitchers were drafted or signed by Major League Baseball organizations, accounting for 20 percent of the players drafted at UNI since 1962. During the 2008 season, Brickman helped guide the Panthers to 30 wins for just the fourth time in the school’s 103-year history, while posting the fourth-best ERA (4.75) since the move to Division I in 1981.

Prior to returning to his alma mater, Brickman spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Wofford College, where he coached two Freshman All-Americans and helped the Terriers win the 2007 Southern Conference Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth.

Brickman also served as head coach of the Florence Redwolves, a summer collegiate team in Florence, S.C., in 2004-05. The 2005 team advanced to the Coastal Plains League championship game and set the franchise record with 33 wins. Twelve of his players were drafted or signed by MLB teams, including 2006 first-round pick, Clemson University’s Tyler Colvin.

From 2000-02, Brickman was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for Muscatine Community College. During his tenure, he saw three pitchers and 15 total players earn all-region honors, and four players were selected in the MLB Draft. Brickman also was an assistant coach at Wartburg College in 1998-99, helping the Knights win the Iowa Conference and advance to the 1999 NCAA Tournament.

As a pitcher at Northern Iowa, Brickman led the Panthers to a second-place finish in the Missouri Valley Conference in 1997, and he was twice named Missouri Valley Pitcher of the Week.

The Denver, Iowa, native earned his bachelor’s degree in general studies from Northern Iowa in 1998.