Craig Cozart (born March 12, 1974) is an American baseball coach and former player. He played college baseball at UCF from 1993 to 1996. He then served as the head coach of the UCF Knights (2008) and[1] High Point Panthers (2009–2021).
.jpg) Cozart before his first game as head coach at High Point | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 12, 1974 |
| Alma mater | UCF '96 (B.A.) |
| Playing career | |
| 1993–1996 | UCF |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1997–2008 | UCF (asst.) |
| 2008 | UCF (interim) |
| 2009–2021 | High Point |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 343–345 |
| Tournaments | Big South: 14–15 C-USA: 0–2 |
Playing career
editCozart played at UCF under head coach Jay Bergman from 1993 to 1996. He was drafted twice, in the 42nd round by the Braves after his junior season and in the 28th round by the Giants after his senior season, but decided not to pursue a professional career. He earned his bachelor's degree from UCF in December 1996.[2][3]
Coaching career
editUCF
editCozart began his coaching career under Bergman immediately after graduating, serving as a student assistant in 1997. In 1998, he became a full assistant coach, a position he held through the 2008 season. From 1997 to 2007, the Knights appeared in five NCAA Tournaments.[2]
Partway through the 2008 season, Bergman resigned amid accusations of sexually harassing a UCF equipment manager. Cozart, by that point the associate head coach, served as the interim head coach for the final 12 games of the season. In that stretch, the team went 4–8, winning a C-USA series against UAB and going 0–2 in the C-USA Tournament.[4][5]
UCF hired Terry Rooney to replace Bergman following the season. Cozart was told the following day that his contract would not be renewed. Cozart said to media members after he learned the news, "Really the last two months have been a difficult time because of everything that has been involved. But to get the word that 16 years of your life has ended – it's hard to handle still. ... I want to stay in the game. I'm just in the process of figuring out what capacity that will be."[6]
High Point
editCozart became the head coach at High Point ahead of the 2009 season, after Sal Bando Jr. resigned. From 2009 to 2014, High Point has had two 30-win seasons. It has finished as high as third in the Big South Tournament, doing so in 2010, 2012, and 2014.[7][8][9][10][11]
On June 2, 2021 High Point University announced that the university and Cozart had mutually agreed to, "a change in the leadership of the baseball program" effectively immediately. [12]
Head coaching record
editBelow is a table of Cozart's records as a collegiate head baseball coach.[4][7][8][13]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCF Knights (Conference USA) (2008) | |||||||||
| 2008 | UCF | 4–8[a] | 3–3 | C-USA Tournament | |||||
| UCF: | 4–8 | 3–3 | |||||||
| High Point Panthers (Big South Conference) (2009–2021) | |||||||||
| 2009 | High Point | 21–32 | 11–12 | 6th | Big South Tournament | ||||
| 2010 | High Point | 31–29 | 15–12 | 4th | Big South Tournament | ||||
| 2011 | High Point | 24–32 | 9–18 | T-8th | Big South Tournament | ||||
| 2012 | High Point | 28–31 | 11–13 | T-7th | Big South Tournament | ||||
| 2013 | High Point | 29–29 | 15–9 | 2nd (North) | Big South Tournament | ||||
| 2014 | High Point | 33–22 | 18–9 | 3rd (North) | Big South Tournament | ||||
| 2015 | High Point | 29–26 | 14–10 | 5th | Big South Tournament | ||||
| 2016 | High Point | 32–24 | 14–10 | T-2nd | Big South Tournament | ||||
| 2017 | High Point | 30–23 | 12–11 | 4th | Big South Tournament | ||||
| 2018 | High Point | 34–22 | 19–8 | 2nd | Big South Tournament | ||||
| 2019 | High Point | 27–27 | 14–13 | T-5th | Big South Tournament | ||||
| 2020 | High Point | 7–9 | 0–0 | Season canceled due to COVID-19 | |||||
| 2021 | High Point | 14–31 | 12–25 | 9th | |||||
| High Point: | 339–337 | 154–156 | |||||||
| Total: | 343–345 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
Notes
edit- ^ Finished season as interim head coach.
References
edit- ^ "Craig Cozart". HighPointPanthers.com. High Point Athletic Communications. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ a b "#38 Craig Cozart". UCFKnights.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ "Craig Cozart". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ a b "NCAA Database". NCAA.org. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
- ^ Fowler, Jeremy; Hoppes, Lynn (May 3, 2008). "Sources: UCF Baseball Coach Harassed Equipment Manager". OrlandoSentinel.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ Hightower, Kyle (June 17, 2008). "New UCF Baseball Coach Terry Rooney Dismisses Assistants". OrlandoSentinel.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ a b "2013 Big South Baseball Record Book". Big South Conference. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ a b "2014 High Point Baseball Record Book". High Point Athletic Communications. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ Hightower, Kyle (June 30, 2008). "Former Knights Assistant Cozart the New Head Coach at High Point". OrlandoSentinel.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ "Mercurio to Coach at High Point". BangorDailyNews.com. Associated Press. September 8, 2010. Archived from the original on June 17, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ Lyon, Austin (May 31, 2013). "Edgewater first baseman Zach Vandergrift commits to High Point University". MyNews13.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ "LOCAL ROUNDUP: HPU parts ways with Cozart".
- ^ "2014 Big South Conference Standings". D1Baseball.com. Jeremy and Cynthia Mills. Archived from the original on June 3, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.