Bo Durkac will begin his fourth season as Illinois State’s head coach, and ninth season as a member of the Illinois State coaching staff, in 2018.

Illinois State has consistently ranked among the Missouri Valley Conference’s top offensive teams during Durkac’s tenure, and 16 student-athletes to play under Durkac have been selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

Most recently, Durkac led Illinois State to the title game of the 2017 MVC Tournament. Though the Redbirds’ final record stood at just 16-40, Illinois State was the only league team to defeat regular-season champion Missouri State and single-handedly eliminated the nationally-ranked Bears from the conference tournament with two victories over the NCAA Super Regional-bound foe. In the MVC Tournament’s title game, Illinois State scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to tie the game, but Dallas Baptist rallied in the ninth to secure the league’s automatic NCAA Tournament berth. 

The 2016 Redbirds posted a record of 17-37. The season was highlighted by three wins over Big Ten opponents, as well as Illinois State’s first victory over a top-10 nationally-ranked opponent in nearly nine years. An Illinois State player was also selected in the MLB Draft for the seventh-consecutive season.

In 2015, the Redbirds ranked among the top three teams in the Valley in batting average (.277), on-base percentage (.378), slugging percentage (.406), home runs (45) and walks (267) as the Redbirds posted an even 27-27 record. The Redbirds earned their first win over a nationally-ranked opponent in over eight years and two players from the 2015 team were selected in the MLB Draft, while another signed a rookie free-agent contract.

In his final season as associate head coach in 2014, Durkac helped guide the Redbirds to their second-straight appearance in the Missouri Valley Conference Championship’s title game, after ISU finished the regular season in fifth place in the league standings. After the season, a school-record six players were taken in the MLB Draft.

In 2013, Durkac helped the Redbirds to one of the most successful regular seasons in school history, as the team won 39 games and its first outright MVC title in school history. Additionally, five position players were named All-MVC First-Team selections and four players were drafted.

Under Durkac’s guidance, the 2012 Illinois State offense was one of the most potent in NCAA Division I baseball. The offense averaged 6.9 runs per game, ranking 12th nationally, and led the MVC in batting average (.297) and on-base percentage (.386), while finishing second in slugging percentage (.426).

Durkac helped the 2011 Redbirds win 36 games, as the squad posted a .271 batting average and an MVC-leading .409 slugging percentage and .385 on-base percentage. ISU also hit 39 home runs, which ranked second in the league.

In his first season at Illinois State in 2010, Durkac oversaw a team that hit .293, as the Redbirds earned a share of the MVC regular-season title for the first time in school history, and won their first MVC Tournament title since 1994.

Prior to his time at Illinois State, Durkac spent seven years at Charlotte, where he was the hitting instructor, worked with infielders and assisted in recruiting. Durkac helped the 49ers steadily improve their offensive output each season during his time on staff, with the 2008 team setting a school record with a .333 batting average.

In all, Durkac coached or recruited 36 all-conference selections, three All-Americans and three freshman All-America selections at Charlotte, and helped the team to a 232-153-1 (.604) overall record from 2003-09.

The 2008 team’s .333 batting average ranked 11th in the country, and the 2009 team’s .322 mark ranked among the top 50 teams in the nation. In 2008, the 49ers recorded their second-highest hit total in a single season (720), giving the team over 700 hits in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history. Charlotte registered over 100 doubles in 2009, tying the school record at six-straight seasons over the century mark, set from 1995-2000. In 2007, the 49ers set the team record for triples in a season (33) and saw an increase in hits, runs, RBIs and home runs. The 2007 squad played the best defense in school history, with a .966 fielding percentage, a mark that was repeated in 2008.

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, after playing for Sonoma County in the Western Baseball League that summer, and the Taichung Agan of the Taiwan Major Leagues during the spring. Before playing in Taiwan, 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 in affiliated Minor League Baseball. In 1996, he hit .298/.393./397 for the Visalia Oaks, a Detroit Tigers affiliate, in the Class A-Advanced California League. He spent the 1997 season with the High Desert Mavericks, an Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate, batting .282/.361/.398. 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 earning an affiliated contract.

Prior to 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. A reliable infielder, 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, Pennsylvania, native graduated with a liberal arts and sciences degree from Virginia Tech in 1995. He has authored two books on baseball: “2001: A Baseball Odyssey” and “How to Become a Professional Baseball Player.” He also contributed a semimonthly column for Baseball America’s website for two years.

Durkac and his wife, Heather, reside in Normal with their son, Gabe, and daughter, Dylan.