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Durkac recently coached at Miami for a season after nine seasons at Illinois State, four as head coach
TAMPA, July 16, 2019 – Head coach Billy Mohl is excited to welcome the final addition to his coaching staff with the hiring of Bo Durkac.
Durkac will serve as an assistant coach, working with the infielders and hitters as well as holding the responsibilities of recruiting coordinator. He spent the 2019 season as the volunteer assistant coach at the University of Miami.
After missing the NCAA Tournament in 2017 and 2018, the Hurricanes went 41-20 last year, returning to postseason play and winning two games at the Starkville Regional. Durkac aided in the development of Raymond Gil, who was named to the All-ACC Third Team. Miami hit just .231 as a team in 2017 and .257 in 2018. With the help of Durkac instructing the offense, the Hurricanes finished fourth in the ACC with a .291 batting average in 2019. They led the conference and finished 10th nationally with 85 home runs and led the league with a .472 slugging percentage.
“I am thrilled to announce our newest assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, Bo Durkac,” said Mohl. “I had the pleasure of working with Bo for five years while we were assistants together under Mark Kingston at Illinois State. He was a large part of turning Illinois State into a premier program in the Midwest during our time there. Bo has a relentless work ethic on the recruiting trail and on the field. There is no doubt in my mind our players will reach their potential working with him every day. More importantly, Bo is a high-character individual and I am looking forward to him, his wife Heather, his son Gabe, and his daughter Dylan joining the Bulls family.”
Durkac and Mohl are no strangers to one another, coaching on the same staff while at Illinois State from 2010-14. Durkac spent nine seasons with the Redbirds (2010-2018), including the last four as head coach. Illinois State consistently ranked among the MVC’s top offensive teams during Durkac’s tenure, and 17 student-athletes to play under Durkac were selected in the MLB Draft, including St. Louis Cardinals All-Star shortstop Paul De Jong.
“Coach Durkac is a dedicated baseball coach who has professional playing experience and has a strong desire to learn and teach the game at the highest level,” said De Jong.
Durkac went 82-124 as head coach at Illinois State. The team made the third-largest jump in DI RPI from 2017-2018, going from No. 268 to No. 118. That team had the 40th best offense nationally and the 40th best fielding percentage. The team went 5-5 against NCAA Tournament at-large opponents in 2018. The 2016 recruiting class was ranked No. 2 in the MVC and the program had five-straight 30-win seasons during his time. The team won its first-ever outright Missouri Valley Conference regular season title, set the MVC record with eight first-team all-conference selections and won a program record 39 games in 2013.
Durkac made sure his teams were just as successful off the field, averaging a GPA of 3.26 over his four years as head coach with a high of 3.48 in the spring of 2017. The team was one of only 40 DI programs to earn the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award in 2016-17. The Redbirds were one of only 34 DI teams to earn the award in 2015-16.
“Bo is a great addition for Coach Mohl and USF,” said Kingston, former head coach at USF and current head coach at South Carolina. “He will work tirelessly in all areas of the program, while teaching and developing players at the highest level. He is a true student of the game and will ensure USF reaches its potential.”
Prior to his time at Illinois State, Durkac spent seven years as the hitting coach at Charlotte, working with the infielders and assisting in recruiting efforts. Durkac coached or recruited 36 all-conference selections, three All-Americans and three freshman All-Americans at Charlotte. He helped the team to a 232-153-1 overall record from 2003-09. Charlotte was the Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament champion in both 2007 and 2008, earning NCAA Regional appearances. Under Durkac’s guidance, the team set a school record with a .333 batting average in 2008. Charlotte went 49-12 in 2007 and was ranked No. 24 by the NCBWA at the end of the season.
Before joining the coaching ranks, Durkac played seven years of professional baseball. He finished his professional career with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League in 2001. He also played for Sonoma County in the Western Baseball League that summer and the Taichung Agan of the Taiwan Major Leagues during the spring. Prior to 2001, he played three seasons in the Western Baseball League for the Chico Heat and was named a Western League All-Star in 1999. That fall, he played for Team USA in the XIV International Cup in Sydney, Australia.
Durkac spent the 1996 and 1997 seasons with MLB farm teams. In 1996, he hit .298 for the Visalia Oaks (A-Advanced for the Detroit Tigers) of the California League. He spent the 1997 season with the High Desert Mavericks (A-Advanced for the Arizona Diamondbacks), batting .282. In 1995, he split his first pro season between the independent Adirondack Lumberjacks of the Northeast League and the Will County Claws of the North Central League.
Before his professional career, Durkac was a two-time All-Metro Conference third baseman at Virginia Tech. During his three seasons with the Hokies, he hit .360 with a school-record 60 doubles. Durkac played all but two innings in his final two collegiate seasons. In 1993, he was the Metro Conference Newcomer of the Year, as he led the conference in hitting with a .423 batting average.
The Kittanning, Pa., native graduated with a liberal arts and sciences degree from Virginia Tech in 1995. He has also authored two books about baseball: “2001: A Baseball Odyssey” and “How to Become a Professional Baseball Player.”
About USF Baseball
The University of South Florida baseball team is one of the fastest rising programs in the country. The Bulls reached the NCAA Regionals in 2015 for the first time in 13 years and followed that success with a 42-19 record and second NCAA regional trip in three years in 2017. The Bulls continued the success under first-year head coach Billy Mohl in 2018, reaching 36 wins and advancing to the semifinals of the conference tournament for the first time since 2012, while being ranked in multiple polls for the final two months. USF earned its third NCAA Regional berth in the last four seasons and had six all-conference selections in 2018. The team had four players drafted in the 2018 MLB Draft, including the program’s fourth first rounder, Shane McClanahan. Junior third baseman David Villar was taken in the 11th round after tallying 24 doubles and hitting better than .370, being named first team all-conference and an All-American. The USF Baseball program has won five conference titles and the Bulls have made 13 NCAA appearances.
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Patrick Puzzo
Assistant Director of Communications
University of South Florida Athletics
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