J.P. Davis Named Head Baseball Coach At Northwestern State
NATCHITOCHES, La. - After serving as pitching coach at Northwestern State for the last seven seasons, three in which the Demons won Southland Conference championships, Jon Paul Davis was introduced Wednesday as NSU’s new head baseball coach.
His hiring, announced by director of athletics Greg Burke, is subject to approval by the Board of Supervisors of the University of Louisiana system. Davis succeeds Mitch Gaspard, head coach for the past six seasons, who resigned last month to become the No. 1 assistant to former NSU head coach Jim Wells at the University of Alabama.
Davis steps into a charmed spot in college baseball. His immediate predecessors in the Demons’ dugout have carved prominent identities in the game. Wells coached the Demons from 1990-94 before taking the Alabama job and was succeeded by Dave Van Horn, who headed NSU’s program from 1995-97 before going to Nebraska and then to his alma mater, Arkansas. John Cohen took over in 1998 and departed four seasons later, and is the head coach at Kentucky.
Wells, Van Horn and Cohen all have won national coach of the year honors in their current positions after each led the Demons to at least two Southland Conference titles. Gaspard, who turned down at least two head coaching offers elsewhere during his six seasons with the Demons, guided NSU to SLC titles in 2002 and 2005 and was strongly considered for head coaching posts at Oklahoma and Auburn while at NSU.
Since Wells arrived and revitalized Northwestern’s program, the Demons have won nine of the last 17 SLC championships with 654 wins, a .602 winning percentage, and six 40-win seasons since 1990, best by any conference team.
Davis, 36, was hired by Cohen prior to the 2001 season in which Northwestern won the SLC title with a 38-17 mark. Gaspard retained him after Cohen’s departure following the 2001 season, and the Demons immediately won another SLC title. The third Southland crown won in his tenure came in 2005, when NSU set a league marks with 22 wins and an .815 winning percentage in league play (22-5) and a record six-game margin in the league standings.
Known as “J.P.”, Davis received ringing endorsements from Gaspard, former and current players and emerged from a four-week national search as the choice to lead the NSU program.
Said Burke: “There is no doubt in my mind that J.P. has the baseball knowledge and background to be the next successful head baseball coach at Northwestern State. He truly has played a major role in the high level of success achieved by NSU baseball over the past seven years. In addition, he knows the Demon baseball program, as well as our university and community, very well and will certainly utilize that knowledge to his advantage.
“I was impressed with J.P.’s perspective regarding NSU’s baseball program, both in terms of what has happened in the past and in terms of the vision he has for the future. He will work with great passion, an intangible which is always a positive. In fact, I have met very few individuals who were as eager to ?hit the ground running’ as a new head coach than J.P.
“The transition from assistant coach to head coach, as always, will be an adjustment but in J.P.’s case, his familiarity with NSU will lessen that adjustment.”
Gaspard, who teamed with Davis to produce a Top 40-ranked recruiting class at Northwestern in 2006, said the new head coach earned the opportunity.
“During our six years together, J.P. has definitely been one of the more respected assistants in the Southland Conference as both a pitching coach and as a recruiter. We worked hand-in-hand through the championships and other successful moments enjoyed by the NSU baseball program,” said Gaspard. “He has proved his mark over that time as an assistant and it is now time for him to get this opportunity as a head coach.”
Three times, in 2002 (No. 23), 2003 (35th) and 2005 (No. 30), Northwestern has earned rankings in national collegiate polls with Davis handling the pitching staff. The Demons ranked 17th nationally in earned run average (3.85) and led the SLC in his first season, 2001, and a year later ranked 12th nationally and tops in the league with a 3.54 ERA. NSU also led the SLC in ERA in 2005 (3.99).
Ten school pitching marks have fallen under Davis’ tutelage while NSU compiled a 248-155 (.615) overall record, including a 120-72 (.625) mark in the Southland. He recruited 19 All-SLC players, including 10 pitchers ? notably 2002 SLC Pitcher of the Year O.J. King and 2005 SLC Player of the Year Blake Jones.
One of his craftiest pitchers, left-hander Zach Sanches (2001-03), was the winning pitcher over third-ranked LSU as a sophomore.
“’Coach D’ was one of the main reasons I was successful at NSU. I had a terrible fall my first year but he stuck with me and turned my career around,” said Sanchez, now district sales manager for Association Member Benefits Advisors. “He is tenacious, he’s a winner, and he gets the most out of you.”
Carl Makowsky, who beat No. 21 Arkansas in 2001, his junior year, said: “’Coach D’ understands the entire game, not just the pitching aspect. Any time I was fundamentally unsound, he would pick up what I was doing wrong. He always got the best out of our pitching staff and that will carry over to the entire team as head coach.”
One of his recent pupils was Daniel Lonsberry, a star on the 2005 team which reached the NCAA Tournament. Lonsberry is pitching in the Baltimore Orioles minor league organization.
“’Coach D’ is an extremely hard worker and a great recruiter. He always had a way of going out and finding the answer to a problem. He turned my career around and that has given me the chance to play professional baseball,” said Lonsberry.
Davis said he planned to retain current assistant coaches Jeff McCannon and Bobby Barbier.