Jim Lawler was named head coach of baseball on June 16, 2005 after a 21-year career as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at Texas A&M.  He was named the National Assistant Coach of the Year by the American Coaches Association and Baseball America Magazine in 2003.

The Aggies compiled a record of 876-433-3 (.669) during Lawler’s tenure - from 1985 to 2005 - and made 13 appearances in the NCAA playoffs and two College World Series berths in 1993 and 1999. Texas A&M also won back-to-back Big XII Championships in 1998 and 1999 while also winning three Southwest Conference Championships in 1986, 1989 and 1993.

As recruiting coordinator at Texas A&M, Lawler has been rated among the nation’s best by Collegiate Baseball Magazine. His recruits who arrived in 1996-97 was ranked first in the country by Collegiate Baseball. Nine of the 11 recruits were drafted but decided to attend Texas A&M.  Lawler’s 1994 recruiting class was also ranked fourth in the country by Collegiate Baseball.

Lawler is also respected as one of the top pitching coaches in the nation. He has seen his staff perform extremely well over the past few seasons in this day of aluminum bats while competing in the Big XII, one of the top baseball conferences in the nation. The Aggie staff combined for a team ERA of 3.66 in 2005, 4.07 in 2004, 4.05 in 2003, 4.04 in 2002, 4.30 in 1999, 4.24 in 1994, 3.40 in 1993, 3.17 in 1992, 3.79 ERA in 1991 and the 1990 staff ended with a 2.80 ERA.  A&M has had a pitcher earn All-America honors nine of the past 16 seasons and five of the pitchers - Zach Jackson, Chance Caple, Jeff Granger, Kelly Wunsch and Chris Clemons - were selected in the first round of the major league draft.

Prior to his career at Texas A&M in 1985, Lawler compiled a 178-149 record in six seasons as a head coach at Gonzaga and Texas-El Paso.

Lawler led Gonzaga to a 64-32 record in two seasons in 1979-80. He led the Bulldogs to a 39-15 record and a #9 national ranking in 1980, missing a berth in the College World Series by one game with an 8-5 loss to Arizona in the Tucson Regional Championship Game.

He then spent four seasons - 1981 to 1984 - as the head coach at Texas-El Paso where he compiled 114 victories, the second highest total for a head coach in school history. He twice led the Miners to a school-record victory total in both 1982 and 1984.

From 1974 to '77, Lawler was a graduate assistant at the University of Arizona.

Lawler, a native of Carroll, Iowa, was born June 26, 1951, and graduated from Buena Vista College in Iowa in 1972 and lettered three years as a pitcher. He was drafted by the New York Yankees in 1972 and played in that organization for one season.

Lawler is married to the former Trish Brucker and they have five children: Amy, 27; Julie 26; Lisa, 23; Brett, 21; and Travis 17.

THE JIM LAWLER FILE

Coaching Career:

1984-2005    Assistant head coach – Texas A&M University
1980-1984    Head coach - University of Texas-El Pas
1978-1980    Head coach – Gonzaga University
1977-1978    Head coach – Cholla High School (Tucson, Ariz.)
1974-1977    Graduate assistant coach – University of Arizona
1973-1974    Head coach – Aurelia (Iowa) High School