Brian Cleary

From BR Bullpen

Brian Cleary

Biographical Information[edit]

Brian Cleary has been a longtime college coach.

In high school, he was a teammate of John McCormack, another future Division I coach. After graduating college, Cleary became an assistant coach at the University of Louisville in 1991. In 1992-1993, he was assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the University of Notre Dame. He was assistant coach at Tulane University from 1994-1996, again in charge of recruiting. He helped the team to the 1996 Conference USA title.

Cleary became head coach at the University of Cincinnati in 1997 when he was only 27 years old. The team had won only five games in '96. He guided them to 12 wins in 1997, 15 in 1998, 30 in 1999 (for a winning record) and 35 in 2000. His 2001 club finished third in Conference USA, the best finish in school history to that point. The team was led by Cleary recruit Kevin Youkilis, a future MLB All-Star.

Cleary coached for the British national team in the 2007 European Championship, helping them win a Silver Medal for the first time in decades of European Championship play. He also coached for Britain in the 2009 Baseball World Cup and 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers.

In 2008, Cleary's Bearcats won 39 games, a school record. They finished second in the Big East Conference tournament and produced four MLB draft picks. He went 436-529-1 to break Glenn Sample's career record for school wins before being let go in 2013. He then became a scout for the Cincinnati Reds (2014) and Washington Nationals (2015- ).

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