Middle Tennessee baseball associate head coach Jim McGuire has been promoted to the head coaching position, as announced Aug. 9 by Director of Athletics Chris Massaro and President Sidney A. McPhee.

Jim McGuire

McGuire has spent the last 20 years serving alongside former head coach Steve “Pete” Peterson, who retired on July 5 after 25 seasons at the helm.

“I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to serve as Middle Tennessee’s head coach,” McGuire said. “I would like to thank Chris Massaro and Dr. McPhee for giving me this opportunity. Throughout the process, I have been humbled by the outpouring of support from the entire Blue Raider baseball family. I look forward to getting started and building upon the tradition that (former coaches) John Stanford and Steve Peterson established.”

McGuire becomes the third Blue Raider coach since 1974, following Stanford (1974-87) and Peterson (1988-2012). He is the 21st coach since the program began in 1913.

“We had a thorough process that allowed us to talk with some of the most accomplished baseball coaches in the country,” Massaro said. “We were able to develop an outstanding pool of candidates that were interested in this job, which is a testimony to the work of Coach Peterson and Coach McGuire.

“From the beginning, I knew the great qualities of Coach McGuire, and he was able to demonstrate them further during the interview process. I am confident he will lead us to national prominence and a trip to Omaha. I am proud to announce him as our next coach.”

McPhee echoed Massaro’s praises for McGuire.

“Jim McGuire is among the most knowledgeable and respected coaches in college baseball,” McPhee said. “He has worked tirelessly for more than two decades to help establish the winning tradition of the Blue Raiders, and I look forward to him taking our program to the next level.”

After eight years as an assistant under Peterson, McGuire was promoted to associate head coach after the 2000 season. During his tenure, he served as recruiting coordinator for the program and worked with infielders and hitters.

He also has taken an active role in coordinating evaluation visits with professional scouts as well as organizing baseball camps and the annual ‘Boro Bash summer tournament. McGuire helped Peterson with all three of the Blue Raiders’ major fundraisers — the Grand Slam Fish Fry, the Groundhog Day Luncheon and the Chuck Taylor Golf Tournament — and served as liaison for placing players on summer teams across the country.

After the Blue Raiders’ historic winning season in 2009, SEBaseball.com named McGuire the Sun Belt Assistant Coach of the Year for his work with the record-breaking offense.

Throughout his 20 years in Murfreesboro, McGuire has been a key ingredient in making Blue Raider baseball known throughout the country. He has been a part of 14 winning seasons, six trips to the NCAA Tournament, seven league championships and five conference tournament titles.

He’s helped mold 58 players who have been drafted by the pros and 98 first-team all-conference performers, including six conference players of the year and 10 All-Americans. The Blue Raiders are 626-520-1 during his tenure, a .546 winning percentage.

Before joining the Blue Raider staff in the summer of 1992, McGuire was head coach at Rend Lake (Ill.) Junior College from 1989 to 1992. During his stint there, he compiled a record of 220-116, a winning percentage of .655, and his teams turned in four second-place finishes in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference. His 1992 squad was Section III champion and Region 24 runner-up.

McGuire began his coaching career at Missouri-St. Louis in 1986 and eserved as assistant coach at Rend Lake from 1987 to 1988. His playing career began at Illinois State before he transferred to Rend Lake CC. The final two years of his collegiate career were spent under the legendary Woody Hunt at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tenn.

The Belleville, Ill., native played baseball and basketball at Freeburg High School. He is married to the former Lynn Christophe from Belleville, and they have two daughters, Kristen and Katie.

— MT Athletics (GoBlueRaiders.com)