Dave Van Horn coaching career: Record, previous schools of Arkansas coach

Dave Van Horn has accomplished a lot in his coaching career, but is looking to add the one thing that has eluded him: a Division I national championship.

Van Horn leads No. 3 Arkansas into the Fayetteville Super Regional needing just one more win against No. 14 Tennessee to return to the College World Series. The 23-year Razorback coach has already won a Division II national championship, but has the chance to win one with Arkansas in 2025.

The Razorbacks defeated the Vols 4-2 on June 7 in Game 1 of the super regional and could make it back to Omaha, Nebraska, for the 10th time in his coaching career, including the eighth with Arkansas.

REQUIRED READING: What Arkansas baseball coach Dave Van Horn said about facing Tony Vitello in super regional

Here’s a closer look at Van Horn and his coaching career:

Dave Van Horn playing career

Van Horn began his collegiate playing career with McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas, before transferring to Arkansas in 1982 for his final season. In his lone season with the Razorbacks, he won All-Southwest Conference and SWC Newcomer of the Year awards.

The Atlanta Braves selected Van Horn in the 10th round of the 1982 MLB Draft. He played in the minor leagues from 1982 through 1985.

Dave Van Horn coaching career

Following his playing career, Van Horn returned to Fayetteville as a graduate assistant in 1985. He stayed with the program until he was hired to coach at Texarkana Community College in 1989, where he remained until 1993.

In 1994, he was hired by the Central Missouri State Mules ― now known as the University of Central Missouri. Van Horn coached the Mules to a 51-11 record before leading the program to its first-ever Division II national championship in the Division II College World Series. He led the team to the championship despite being hired six weeks before the season.

After one year with Central Missouri State, Van Horn landed his first Division I coaching gig with Northwestern State. In three years with the Demons, he led them to a 106-65 record, including two Southland Conference regular-season titles (1995 and 1997).

Nebraska hired Van Horn as its head coach following the 1997 season. The Cornhuskers had been to just four postseason appearances in 108 years of baseball history. Under Van Horn, Nebraska made four NCAA baseball tournaments in five seasons, including two trips to the CWS.

Van Horn posted a 214-92 (.699) record with the Cornhuskers, which included winning three consecutive Big 12 Tournament titles.

On June 21, 2002, Van Horn was hired by his alma mater to replace retiring legendary Arkansas coach Norm DeBriyn. Van Horn is the second-winningest coach in Razorback history with 929 wins, trailing only DeBriyn (1,161 wins). He has led the program to seven College World Series appearances, including a runner-up finish (2018) and four top-five finishes (2009, 2012, 2018, 2022). He is one of just five head coaches in college baseball history with 300 or more SEC wins in their career.

Interestingly, Van Horn has had just one losing season in his career, with that coming in a 26-29 finish in the 2016 season. The Razorbacks went 7-23 in SEC play that season. The following season, Arkansas went 45-19 and hosted a regional for the first time since 2010.

Van Horn has led the Razorbacks to the College World Series in the 2004, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2022 seasons. Arkansas finished as the national runner-up after losing the championship series to Oregon State in three games, despite winning the opener.

Dave Van Horn record

Over his 37 seasons as a college head coach, Glasco’s teams have amassed a record of 1,514-712. He has a 929-470 career record in 23 seasons with the Razorbacks. Van Horn led Central State Missouri to an NCAA Division II National Championship in 1994.

Here’s a year-by-year look at his coaching career:

• 1989 (Texarkana): 39-18
• 1990 (Texarkana): 44-14
• 1991 (Texarkana): 45-12
• 1992 (Texarkana): 48-10
• 1993 (Texarkana): 38-18
• 1994 (Central Missouri State): 51-11 (Division II national champions)
• 1995 (Northwestern State): 37-15
• 1996 (Northwestern State): 34-27
• 1997 (Northwestern State): 35-23
• 1998 (Nebraska): 24-20
• 1999 (Nebraska): 42-18
• 2000 (Nebraska): 51-17
• 2001 (Nebraska): 50-16 (Reached CWS)
• 2002 (Nebraska): 47-21 (Reached CWS)
• 2003 (Arkansas): 35-22
• 2004 (Arkansas): 45-24 (Reached CWS)
• 2005 (Arkansas): 39-22
• 2006 (Arkansas): 39-21
• 2007 (Arkansas): 43-21
• 2008 (Arkansas): 34-24
• 2009 (Arkansas): 41-24
• 2010 (Arkansas): 43-21
• 2011 (Arkansas): 40-22
• 2012 (Arkansas): 46-22 (Reached CWS)
• 2013 (Arkansas): 39-22
• 2014 (Arkansas): 40-25
• 2015 (Arkansas): 40-25 (Reached CWS)
• 2016 (Arkansas): 26-29
• 2017 (Arkansas): 45-19
• 2018 (Arkansas): 48-21 (CWS runner-up)
• 2019 (Arkansas): 46-20 (Reached CWS)
• 2020 (Arkansas): 11-5 (Season canceled due to COVID-19)
• 2021 (Arkansas): 50-13
• 2022 (Arkansas): 46-21 (Reached CWS)
• 2023 (Arkansas): 43-18
• 2024 (Arkansas): 44-16
• 2025 (Arkansas): 46-13

This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.