Jeff Stewart resigned from his post as the head baseball coach at Illinois State, Friday, effective immediately.
Stewart, who just finished his 14th season, guided the Redbirds to a 380-403-1 (.485) record during his career, including a trip to the NCAA Regionals in 1994.
This is a difficult situation and I respect Jeffs decision, Illinois State Director of Athletics Perk Weisenburger said. We both want a more competitive baseball program. I would like to thank Coach Stewart for his dedication to Illinois State and Redbird baseball. Jeff is a fine man and a fine coach, and I wish him and his family well.
Stewart was only the seventh baseball coach in Illinois State history and ends his career ranked second in career wins behind his predecessor Duffy Bass (713). Despite the number of wins, four times in the last eight years, the Birds failed to finish in the top six to qualify for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. With a seventh-place effort this season on a 24-30 mark, the Redbirds have posted only three league tournament wins since 1994.
The search process for a new head coach will begin immediately, Weisenburger said. We have a multitude of outstanding resources at Illinois State and this is a very good baseball job. Our competitive goals, and they are the same for all of our teams, are to win, compete for conference championships and have the expectation of participating in the NCAA tournament.
The Elk Grove, Ill., native took over the Illinois State program in 1989 and led the Redbirds to the first of two third-place conference finishes during his tenure with a 26-34 overall record. The next five seasons, ISU finished sixth in the league four times, with a seventh-place performance in 1991. After finishing sixth-place in 1994, the Redbirds won their only conference tournament and earned a bid to the NCAA Regionals.
Coming off the NCAA appearance, the Birds failed to make the league tournament in 1995 and 1996 with an eighth and ninth-place finish, respectively. In 1997, the Redbirds finished with a 29-26 record for the first of three straight winning seasons, including a 35-24 effort in 1999, which was the most single season wins ever by an Illinois State team.
In 2000, Stewart and the Redbirds were one game under .500 at 27-28, but finished eighth in the conference. The following year, Illinois State responded with a third-place finish powered by a 31-22 mark, but lost the first two games of the league tournament.
Under Stewart, 32 players have gone on to play professional baseball, including two current major leaguers Matt Herges (Montreal) and Jason Pearson (San Diego). He also played an integral part in the development of Redbird Field during his tenure, which claimed the Beam Clay Baseball Diamond of the Year award in 1992.
Prior to Illinois State, Stewart spent two seasons at both Kansas State and Mississippi State. He began his coaching career in 1979 at Elk Grove High School, before moving to West Chicago High School from 1980-84.
