Bison Baseball Camps
Head Coach Tod Brown

Tod Brown
Head Coach

With an impressive resume of collegiate and professional experience, and a long tenure of coaching baseball in a northern climate, Tod Brown hit the ground running when he was hired as North Dakota State University’s head baseball coach in July 2007.

Brown, who has a 31-58 record in his first two seasons at NDSU, is executing a comprehensive plan that will put the Bison baseball program on track for long-term success in Division I.

Some of the early changes under Brown’s direction were immediately noticeable, including equipment upgrades and a total redesign of the team’s uniforms, caps and travel gear to help establish NDSU’s identity.

Other improvements have happened behind the scenes, including scholarship increases and steady progress in the classroom. NDSU has achieved at least a 3.1 GPA the past two fall semesters, and has improved from 2.7 to almost 3.0 over the past two spring seasons.

On the field, North Dakota State’s winning percentage jumped 30 points last year and the Bison went from eighth to fifth place in The Summit League. The 2009 team put up NDSU’s best offensive numbers in five Division I seasons in terms of batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

Brown, 38, previously was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for eight seasons at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where he was part of two division titles and one regular-season championship in the Mid-American Conference. He coached two MAC Player of the Year award-winners and eight professional draft picks.

Seven players from Brown’s former teams have reached the major leagues, including shortstop J.J. Hardy and pitcher Jamie Vermilyea from Sabino High School, in Tucson, Ariz., outfielder Shelley Duncan and pitchers Josh Pearce and Ben Diggins at the University of Arizona, and pitcher Burke Badenhop and outfielder Nolan Reimold from Bowling Green.

After two years as the pitching coach at Sabino High School in Tucson, Ariz., Brown began his collegiate coaching career in 1999 as a volunteer assistant for Arizona. He worked with pitchers and catchers and was the first-base coach for the Wildcats, who qualified for an NCAA regional.

Brown was head coach of the San Francisco Seals of the California Coastal Collegiate League in the summer of 1999, compiling a 43-29 record and making a fourth-place finish in the National Baseball Congress World Series.

A left-handed pitcher, Brown played for College Baseball Hall of Fame coach Jerry Kindall at Arizona, where he was a member of the 1992 Pac-10 championship team. In 1993, Brown won six games and had eight saves while setting Arizona’s single-season record with 35 appearances. He was named to the All-Midwest Regional team as the Wildcats fell one run shy of a College World Series appearance.

Brown played professional baseball in 1994 for the Brainerd Bears in the North Central League before signing a free-agent contract with the Cleveland Indians. He was released in spring training after a career-ending injury.

Brown earned a bachelor’s degree in regional development from Arizona in 1994 and a post-baccalaureate in education from Chapman University in 1997. He and his wife, Janet, have a 9-year-old son, Brooks, and a 6-year-old daughter, Blake.