James Michael Andrew Toman (born November 28, 1961) is an American

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

coach and former player. He had been head coach of

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

from the 2008 season until 2016. Under Toman, Liberty has qualified for two NCAA tournaments. He also served as the head coach of the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (2019–2022).

Playing career

Toman, a 1985 graduate of

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

, played baseball for the Wolfpack from 1981–1984. He served as a

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

in 1983 and 1984 and was named to the All-Tournament Team at the 1984 ACC tournament. His teammates included Doug Davis,

Dan Plesac Daniel Thomas Plesac (born February 4, 1962) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1986 to 2003. He pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks, and P ...

, Doug Strange, and

Tracy Woodson Tracy Michael Woodson (born October 5, 1962) is an American former professional baseball player and college coach. He played all or part of five seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1987 to 1989 and 1992 to 1993, primarily as a third bas ...

. When Woodson became the head coach at

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

ahead of the 2014 season, the two coached against each other.

Coaching career

Assistant positions

After graduating, Toman worked as a high school coach for several years before starting his college coaching career in 1989 with a one-year stint at FIU. From 1989 to 1991 he was the pitching coach of the

Brewster Whitecaps The Brewster Whitecaps are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Brewster, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Whitecaps play their home games at Stony Bro ...

, a

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

team in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

. Toman returned to his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

to serve as an assistant to

Ray Tanner Donald Ray Tanner Jr. (born March 25, 1958) was a former baseball coach at the University of South Carolina-Columbia, University of South Carolina. Tanner began this role after leading the South Carolina Gamecocks baseball, South Carolina Gameco ...

at NC State; he held the position from 1990–1996. When Tanner left for

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

for the 1997 season, Toman went with him and worked as an assistant for the Gamecocks from 1997–2007. In 2002, he was named the ABCA/''Baseball America'' Assistant Coach of the Year.

Liberty

Toman left South Carolina to become the head coach at

for the 2008 season. At his introductory press conference, Toman said, "I am very honored and excited to accept the head coaching position at Liberty University. My wife and family are also very excited to join the Liberty family and work in a Christian environment. I have enjoyed my 11 years at the University of South Carolina and take away many fond memories. I appreciate the opportunity Ray Tanner gave me to be a member of his staff. I am ready to get started on putting a quality staff together and continuing to move the program forward, having success both in conference and nationally." From 2008–2014, Toman's first seven seasons, Liberty won at least 30 games each year and at least 40 games three times. After losing in the Big South championship game in 2008, 2010, and 2012, the Flames reached their first NCAA tournament under Toman in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

. In the Big South tournament, which Liberty hosted at the newly built Liberty Baseball Stadium, the Flames went 4–0 to win the championship; in the championship game, Liberty defeated top-seeded Campbell, 2–1, after an Ashton Perritt RBI single broke a 1–1 tie in the top of the ninth. At the Columbia Regional, the Flames went 2–2, beating second-seeded Clemson twice and losing to host South Carolina twice. In

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, Liberty qualified for the NCAA tournament with an at-large bid. The Flames won the Big South's North Division and swept the conference's major awards, with Toman winning Coach of the Year. At the Charlottesville Regional, the team went 0–2, losing games to

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

and Bucknell. In 2011, Liberty set a Big South record with seven draftees. In 2012, the Flames had two players drafted in the top ten rounds. On June 24, 2016 Toman resigned from Liberty as their baseball coach.

After Liberty

On August 4, 2017, it was announced that Toman would become the assistant head coach for the

College of Charleston Cougars baseball The Charleston Cougars baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. The team is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, which is part of the National Col ...

team.

Middle Tennessee

On June 20, 2018, Toman was named the head coach of the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders baseball program. In August 2022, a few weeks after being arrested on suspicion

driving while intoxicated Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether recreational or ...

Murfreesboro, Tennessee Murfreesboro is a city in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 165,430 according to the 2023 census estimate, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010 United States census, 2010. Murfreesboro i ...

, Toman resigned as MTSU's head coach.

Head coaching record

Below is a table of Toman's yearly records as a collegiate head baseball coach.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toman, Jim Living people 1961 births People from Monroeville, Pennsylvania NC State Wolfpack baseball players FIU Panthers baseball coaches Cape Cod Baseball League coaches NC State Wolfpack baseball coaches South Carolina Gamecocks baseball coaches Liberty Flames baseball coaches Charleston Cougars baseball coaches Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders baseball coaches Baseball coaches from Pennsylvania