Frank "Porky" Vieira

Former Head Coach
44 Seasons (1963-2006)
Career Record:  1,127-324-6 (.776)

The University of New Haven has one of the most storied baseball programs in the history of NCAA Division II. Ask any fan of UNH Baseball, or really any fan of a team in the Northeast, and they'll tell you that a discussion of Charger Baseball begins and ends with one man - legendary former head coach Frank "Porky" Vieira.

Vieira is the true "father" of the UNH Baseball program, and until this season, the only coach the school had ever known. He founded the program in 1963. Under Vieira, who retired following the 2006 season, the UNH baseball program posted an all-time record of 1,127-324-6 in 44 seasons. That included a string of 42 straight winning seasons from 1963 to 2004, and 43 winning seasons overall.

No matter how you break down the numbers, Vieira is one of the all-time greatest in the college game.

At the start of the 2007 season, he is second among all-time Division II coaches with a career winning percentage of .776, and second among D-II coaches in total victories. "Coach V" also ranks sixth on the all-time, all-division coaching records list in terms of winning percentage. He is one of only 29 coaches to ever win at least 1,100 games at any division of college baseball.

Vieira’s achievements have not gone unrecognized by the media or his peers. Featured in several publications including Sports Illustrated, he received the "Gold Key" from the Connecticut Sports Writers Association and was named Coach of the Year numerous times for the NCAA Northeast Region as well as the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) and the East Coast Conference (ECC).

Over the program’s first 44 seasons, UNH Baseball has made 31 Regional Tournament appearances (26 NCAA, 5 NAIA) and earned 17 College World Series berths (15 NCAA, 2 NAIA). UNH has 81 postseason wins in all, and advanced to the NCAA College World Series a school-record seven consecutive times from 1984 to 1990. The team’s best finish came in 1989 when UNH was the NCAA Runner-Up to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which later had its participation vacated due to ineligible players.

Coach Vieira is the first one to tell you that a great coach can't do anything without great players - and UNH has certainly had its share. UNH has produced over 75 players who have gone on to play professional baseball, including ten players who made it to Major League Baseball.

Notably, UNH is one of only 14 schools to have produced a player that would later go on to win the Major League Baseball Cy Young Award. Former Charger great Steve Bedrosian went on to earn the NL Cy Young award while a member of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1987, saving 40 of the team's 80 wins that season. Cameron Drew was the program’s first-ever First Round Draft Pick with his selection in 1985. Dave Wallace has been a respected professional coach since 1981, and won a World Series as pitching coach with the Boston Red Sox in 2004. This list goes on and on. (For a more complete list of players in the pros, see page 23 of this media guide).

Even some of those players who didn't go on to play professionally had standout careers on the diamond for UNH. Further evidence of the Chargers' contributions to the sport can be found in the NCAA Record Book, where you'll see the words "New Haven" 49 times among the various team and individual records.

The current coaching staff looks forward to carrying on the winning tradition that Vieira, his assistants and former players established, beginning with the 2007 campaign ...