Tom Nilles

Tom Nilles

• School Laney College, University of California, Davis

Biographical Information

Tom Nilles has been the head coach at Santa Ana College since 2017 (as of 2024).

Nilles was an assistant coach at Diablo Valley College for the 2006 season and two years at his alma mater, Laney College in Oakland, CA for the 2004 and 2005 seasons.

From the 2007 through the 2009 seasons, Nilles served as an assistant coach for a Sierra College team that went 105-50 over the three years he was there. The 2008 Sierra College baseball team won the 2008 State Championship. Nilles then was the Associate Head Coach at Fullerton College from 2010 through 2015. Prior to his arrival Fullerton had not participated in the post-season since 1992, until the 2013 season.

2017 was Nilles’ first year at the head coach at Santa Ana College. In 2017 the Dons finished the year 29-17 and marked the first playoff appearance for Nilles as a Head Coach. In Nilles’ fifth season at the helm, the Dons returned to one of the top programs in the state. Santa Ana College finished the 2020 campaign ranked as high as No. 1 (The JBB Rankings) when the COVID-19 pandemic halted the season after 22 games.

In 2023, Nilles won the State Championship, his first as head coach of the Dons.

Related Sites

• Santa Ana bio