Keith Guttin, Missouri State (MSU photo)
Missouri State’s Guttin Retiring After 2024 Season
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Missouri State head coach Keith Guttin, the second-winningest coach in terms of active wins in Division I Baseball, is retiring at the end of the 2024 season after 41 years with the program, D1Baseball has learned.
Guttin informed the program earlier this fall that he was retiring effective next summer and will leave behind quite a legacy. The long-time Bears head coach is the second-longest tenured head coach in D1 baseball, only trailing Minnesota head coach John Anderson, who got his first head coaching job just a year before Guttin back in 1982.
Besides being the second-longest tenured coach in the sport, Guttin also ranks second in terms of active wins — 1,373 — only trailing long-time Georgia Tech head coach Danny Hall.
Guttin, who played for then Southwest Missouri State back in 1976 and 1977, got off to a fast start as the head man for the Bears, leading the program to 32 and 35 wins, respectively in ’83 and ’84, while also establishing himself as one of the premier head coaches in the Midwest after that point.
The Bears reached a high-water mark under Guttin back in 2003 when they won the Lincoln Regional with a win over Nebraska before defeating Ohio State in the Columbus Super Regional. Missouri State proceeded to make Super Regionals in 2015 and ’17.
Overall, Guttin guided the Bears to 12 NCAA tournament appearances along with 10 Missouri Valley Conference regular season titles. He also earned conference Coach of the Year honors on seven occasions throughout his career. Guttin also coached six first-round picks in his career, including Jake Burger, Jon Harris, Pierce Johnson, Ross Detwiler, Brett Sinkbell and John Rheinecker.
Most recently, the Bears compiled a 33-23 overall record and an impressive 18-9 mark in the MVC. They’ll look to finish off the Guttin era with a bang during the 2024 campaign.
As for the future beyond Guttin, Missouri State will announce a hire later, but all signs point to associate head coach and recruiting coordinator Joey Hawkins being promoted to the post. Hawkins is a former shortstop and two-year captain for the Bears who has spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach in the program.
For now, though, all attention is on Guttin and celebrating his fantastic coaching career.