Head Coach | Greg Goff

Greg Goff joined Purdue baseball as an assistant coach in July 2017 and was promoted to head coach in June 2019. The 2024 season was his 19th as a collegiate head coach, including the fifth with the Boilermakers. Goff has amassed 571 victories as the leader of a program.

Previously a head coach at four universities, Goff succeeded his friend and longtime colleague Mark Wasikowski, who returned to the University of Oregon as the Ducks’ new head coach in June 2019.

Goff has previously served as the head coach at Campbell University (2008-14), Louisiana Tech University (2015-16) and the University of Alabama (2017) as well as Division II University of Montevallo (2004-07). He also helped lead the Boilermakers to a memorable 38-win season in 2018, punctuated by an NCAA Regional bid. Purdue finished second in the Big Ten standings and was also the runner-up at the Big Ten Tournament in Goff’s first year with the program.

The Boilermakers enjoyed a record-breaking campaign in 2024, eclipsing team records for home runs (75), runs scored (457), runs per game (8.02), RBI (427), on-base percentage (.406) and hit by pitch (113). Purdue's record-breaking 11-game win streak in Big Ten play, the longest in the league since 2018, was another program benchmark and propelled the team into first place in the conference entering the month of May.

“Greg is highly respected by our student-athletes and was an important part of Mark Wasikowski’s staff as we have worked to position Purdue baseball for sustained success,” Purdue vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics Mike Bobinski says. “He is a lifelong baseball person and an experienced and successful head coach who led multiple programs to their highest level of success. Greg understands Purdue and our expectations for academic and athletic success.”

GREG GOFF IS A PROVEN...

• PROGRAM BUILDER: Purdue, Campbell, Louisiana Tech & Montevallo have all achieved unique and unprecedented levels of success under Goff's guidance
• DEVELOPER OF TALENT: 60 MLB Draft Picks, 11 MLB Players
• BELIEVER IN COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Baseball annually leads Purdue Athletics in service hours & hosts the most fan-friendly community events
• WINNER: 571 victories over 19 seasons, averaging 30 wins per year

PROGRAM BUILDER
As a head coach, Goff's teams have won over 40 games six times. Campbell was one of only eight Division I programs to win 40-plus games for three straight years from 2012 to 2014, posting 131 total victories during that span. The Camels enjoyed a historic 49-10 campaign in 2013.

Goff also won 42 games in his final season at Louisiana Tech, helping lead the Bulldogs to an NCAA Regional bid. Montevallo finished third at the 2006 Division II College World Series as the Southeast Region champions. Goff led the program to its first appearance at the DII World Series. In his four years at Montevallo, he compiled a 152-84 record. As an assistant coach at Delta State, the Statesmen also qualified for the DII College World Series in 1994 and 1996.

A national-best 15-0 start, program records for strikeouts and stolen bases, and a return to the Big Ten Tournament highlighted Purdue's resurgent and successful 2022 season. The Boilermakers raced out the best start in program history as the final unbeaten team nationally and recovered from a rough patch in April to return to the conference tournament, navigating a challenging back half of the league schedule. Purdue eclipsed its program benchmark in steals behind the first trio of Boilermakers ever with 20-plus steals each. Curtis Washington Jr. (31), Mike Bolton Jr. (28) and Evan Albrecht (22) teamed up to account for 81 of the 116 stolen bases (70%) as Purdue led the Big Ten and ranked sixth nationally in steals per game. CJ Valdez was a first-team All-Big Ten performer as a full-time DH; Cam Thompson also enjoyed a breakout season with 13 home runs and a 1.031 OPS.

Led by a consistent and equally effective weekend rotation, Purdue's 2023 campaign was highlighted by a 6-2 record on Fridays in Big Ten play and stretch in which the Boilermakers won five of six weekend series from March 31 to May 7. Purdue's community outreach coupled with an exciting brand of baseball and some favorable spring weather coalesced to create the best gameday atmosphere since Alexander Field opened in 2013. The Boilermakers ranked third in Big Ten in attendance, setting program records for overall attendance (34,218) and average per home date (1,710).

Khal Stephen, Jonathan Blackwell and Kyle Iwinski eamed up to make all 24 starts on the mound in Big Ten play, becoming Purdue's first rotation to start every weekend of the conference season since 2009. Stephen led the way during the excellence on Fridays and Iwinski impressed as the Boilermakers' most effective weekend starting pitcher at home since 2016. Offensively, Mike Bolton Jr. broke the program's all-time stolen base record that had stood since 1991 and Paul Toetz enjoyed a 1.000 OPS season.

The 2021 Boilermakers made the most of the unique conference-only campaign, winning three times in walk-off fashion (in three different stadiums), hitting four grand slams and becoming the first Big Ten team to sweep one of the league's three-team pods. Highlighted by a seven-run ninth inning that featured Mason Gavre's walk-off home run -- the program's first walk-off blast since 2006 -- in a March 27 home win vs. Rutgers, Purdue scored 41 runs in the ninth. The total ranked as the program's most since at least 2001 even while batting in the ninth only 36 times.

In Goff's first season as head coach, Purdue raced out to a 6-1 start and won the four-team Campbell Invitational the weekend of Feb. 21-23. The Boilermakers scored at least four times in an inning in each of the first seven games. Unfortunately, the 2020 college baseball season came to an abrupt end March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Boilermakers had a program-record 20 Academic All-Big Ten honorees in 2020, matching the benchmark again with 20 in 2022.

In Goff's final season at Campbell (2014), the Camels qualified for their first NCAA Regional in 24 years. Two years later, he led Louisiana Tech to its first Regional bid in 29 years. The 2014 Camels and 2016 Bulldogs both won at least one game in their Regionals, with La Tech coming through the loser's bracket to reach a Regional final at Mississippi State.

Goff's teams have had a losing record only seven times in his 18 years as a head coach. Four of those seven seasons were his first at a respective university. He has led his teams to some impressive turnarounds. In just two seasons, Louisiana Tech went from 15-35 the year before Goff's arrival to 42-20 in 2016, ending a 29-year NCAA Regional drought in the process. At Campbell, he inherited a team that was 11-45 in 2007. But under Goff, the Camels posted a winning record (27-24) in his second season and won 40 games by his fifth year (2012). Purdue’s win total jumped from 29-27 in 2017 to 38-21 in Goff’s first year on the staff in 2018.

The Boilermakers also enjoyed a 13-win improvement from 2021 to 2022, which proved to be his first traditional season as head coach in West Lafayette after the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the two years prior.

DEVELOPER OF TALENT
Goff has coached 11 future big leaguers and over 50 MLB Draft picks, highlighted by Cy Young award winner Brandon Webb while he was the pitching coach at Kentucky (2000-03). Longtime big leaguer and World Series champion Joe Blanton also pitched for Goff at Kentucky.

The Boilermakers fielded one of their best outfields in recent history in 2021. Ben Nisle and Miles Simington were both named All-Big Ten while starting every game in the corners, giving Purdue a pair of all-conference honorees in the outfield for the first time since 2011 and sixth time ever. Bolton Jr., an outfielder by trade, was also named All-Big Ten at DH, becoming the program's first sophomore position player to be an all-conference honoree since 2011. Five-year starter in center field Skyler Hunter closed out his career third on the program's all-time hits list with 268, most among active players in the Big Ten as the season came to an end.

Along with bringing an upbeat personality to the dugout and contagious energy to his role as the first-base coach, Goff helped numerous Purdue players develop offensively during his two years as an assistant. He played a leading role in coaching the base running and outfield defense. He also filled in as the program's pitching coach for a few games during a 2018 home sweep of Michigan while Steve Holm was with his wife for the birth of their second child. The Boilermakers compiled a 28-15 record at Alexander in Goff's two years as an assistant, headlined by a program-record 13-game home win streak to close the 2018 campaign. That represents Purdue’s best two-year mark at home since 2011 to 2012.

Along with his years as the pitching coach at Kentucky, Goff served as an assistant at Southeast Missouri State (1998-99) and his alma mater Delta State (1994-97) before becoming a head coach for the first time in the summer of 2003 at Montevallo. It was at SEMO in the late 1990s where he first worked with Wasikowski. They helped lead the RedHawks to an NCAA Regional in 1998.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
In his first two years at Purdue, Goff helped develop and organize new community events for the program like the Preseason Fan Fest and first pitch dinner. Both events have proved very popular and are well attended, helping generate preseason interest going into a campaign.

The Boilermakers also continue to expand their community outreach, exceeding 600 combined hours of service for the 2021-22 academic year. The Purdue players annually visit the Food Finders food bank in Lafayette, participate in the annual Walk to School Day at a local elementary school, and contribute to the the Purdue University Dance Marathon. The Boilermakers have also volunteered at Lafayette Transitional Housing Center and visited the Purdue University firehouse on the anniversary of 9/11. During the 2019 fall semester, over 40 players logged at least 10 hours of community service as Purdue completed over 450 hours of community outreach as a team.

Meanwhile, former assistant coach Chris Marx and Goff led the way in a partnership with Team IMPACT, which produced a pairing with the Teyema Family of Frankfort, Indiana. The Boilermakers officially welcomed 12-year-old Graham, who was born with Singleton-Merten syndrome (a rare gene mutation), into the program in September 2021. Graham was among the players on hand when Purdue hosted the Tippy Stars special needs team for a full Saturday morning of game action and fellowship in the fall of 2022.

“It is an absolute privilege to lead the Baseball program at Purdue,” Goff says. “I take the responsibility of representing Purdue, our alumni and our players very seriously and gratefully. I am humbled to be a part of what Purdue is and what it means to be a Boilermaker. We are committed to build on the winning tradition that coaches such as Alexander, Schreiber and Waz have built.

“My family and I look forward to great things and to contribute to our Purdue baseball mission with great citizens, successful student-athletes, commitment to the community and of course, competing for championships at the national level. I want to thank Mike Bobinski and Dr. Ed Howat for their trust and confidence. My family and I appreciate and embrace this opportunity. Boiler Up!”

Goff was named the South Central Region Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association at both Louisiana Tech (2016) and Montevallo (2006). He was the 2013 Big South Coach of the Year at Campbell after leading his team to a school-record 49 wins and a conference title. Montevallo won a combined 100 games over his final two seasons, posting a new single-season record both years.

A Jackson, Tennessee, native, Goff played collegiately at both Delta State and Jackson State Community College. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees from DSU. He was inducted into the Jackson Madison County Sports Hall of Fame in April 2024.

Goff and his wife, Tina, are the parents of four daughters: Kara, Kiley, Kolby and Kenzie. Kara played softball at Louisiana Tech and LSU; Kiley played softball at Louisville, Maryland and Purdue.