Updated: Joe Girardi declines UCF Baseball head coach opportunity
Update: Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports Joe Girardi has decided to decline UCF's offer, despite discussions that had reached an advanced stage. Sources had indicated to UCFSports.com Girardi had discussed staff positions with assistant coaches over the last 24 hours and the school had been making preparations for a Friday press conference.
Previous story:
The University of Central Florida is targeting Joe Girardi as its new head baseball coach sources tell UCFSports.com, a seismic move sure to send shockwaves through the baseball community.
UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir interviewed several coaches for the position, including head coaches and top assistants at the college level, ultimately focusing on Girardi to lead the Knights into the Big 12.
One of the biggest names in Major League Baseball as both a player and manager, Girardi would come to Orlando as a four-time World Series Champion with the New York Yankees. That includes three rings as a player (1996, 1998, 1999) and once as their manager (2009).
A native of Peoria, Ill., and graduate of Northwestern University, Girardi spent 15 seasons in the big leagues as a catcher with the Chicago Cubs (1989-1992), Colorado Rockies (1993-95), New York Yankees (1996-1999), the Cubs again (2000-2002) and St. Louis Cardinals (2003).
Following his playing career in 2004, Girardi worked television broadcasts for the Yankees on the YES Network. In 2005, Girardi accepted an assistant coaching position with the Yankees as bench coach.
Girardi made his managerial debut with the Florida Marlins in 2006, guiding the low-payroll team to playoff contention and was honored with National League Manager of the Year. He was hired as manager of the Yankees in 2008, leading the team to a World Series Championship in 2009.
He coached in New York through the 2017 season and had five more playoff appearances (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017), including three trips to the American League Championship Series (2010, 2012, 2017).
Though the Yankees were one game away from the World Series in 2017, team management opted to move on from Girardi. After a decade in New York, Girardi relocated his family to Florida while he contemplated his next move. He spent 2018 and 2019 as an analyst at MLB Network while also coaching his high-school age son in travel baseball.
Girardi returned to MLB in 2020 as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, spending two and a half years in the city before a parting of ways in June 2022. Since then, Girardi went back to the broadcast booth as an analyst for Chicago Cubs games on Marquee Sports.
Though Girardi has never coached below the Major League level, sources told UCFSports.com in recent weeks he was intrigued by the idea of coaching college baseball and had a keen eye on the UCF job. Those roots can be traced to his two summers working with young players in the Florida Travel Baseball (FTB) organization.
Interestingly, in early 2020 Girardi attended a UCF baseball game at John Euliano Park. He was close to the family of UCF player Matthew Archer, a freshman at the time who later transferred to Lynn University. Matt's father, Tom, had worked as a longtime pro scout with the Chicago White Sox.
Girardi, 58, and his wife Kim have three children: Serena, Dante and Lena. Dante just finished his junior season as a college baseball player at FIU, starting nearly every game the last three years as an infielder. Lena is one of the top women's basketball recruits in the Class of 2025 with offers from dozens of schools, UCF included.
Should the hire of Girardi become official, UCF aims to show they're serious about baseball as they move into the Big 12.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, baseball would have been regarded as UCF's premier sport. The peak came in 2001 when UCF earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament while ranked as high as No. 7. Since moving to Conference USA (2006-2013) and later the American Athletic Conference (2014-2023), UCF Baseball has struggled to maintain consistency with just one conference championship (2017) and three total NCAA Regional appearances (2011, 2012, 2017).
With Girardi, UCF would have a proven champion in the dugout and a name that brings instant credibility on the recruiting trail.
UCFSports.com provided updates to subscribers throughout the entire search process, including Girardi's candidacy. Click here to join our community.
Visit the Dungeon for more news and discussion with other UCF fans.