July 10, 2012

2012 Coaching Changes  

Piraro announces retirement from San Jose State

Sam Piraro, head coach at San Jose State for the past 25 seasons, recently announced his retirement.

Piraro, 60, posted a record of 806-632-6 with the Spartans. He led SJSU to 18 winning seasons and three WAC titles (1997, 2000, 2009). The Spartans earned NCAA Regional berths in 2000 and 2002, while advancing to the College World Series for the first time in program history in 2000.

During his tenure, Piraro had three Academic All-Americans. His student-athletes earned 61 academic all-conference awards, including 55 since joining the WAC in 1996. The latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) score for the SJSU baseball program was an all-time high of 982 out of 1,000.

A native of San Jose, Piraro played for the Spartans in 1971 and 1972 and graduated from San Jose State. He started his coaching career as SJSU’s junior varsity coach in 1974, compiling a record of 74-43 in three seasons. Piraro was a varsity assistant for three years before becoming head coach at Mission College in San Jose. He went 190-70 in seven seasons (1980-86) with five Coast Conference titles and California Community College crowns in 1981 and 1983.

Piraro was named conference Coach of the Year nine times, including five at Mission College and four at San Jose State. He was inducted into the California Community College Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986. More than 50 of his former players are coaching in high school or college.

Associate head coach Mark O’Brien will be the interim head coach during the search for Piraro’s successor. O’Brien, who played at SJSU for Piraro in 1991 and 1992, spent 10 seasons as head coach at Santa Clara.