Rich Wallace, an Orlando native with 19 years experience as a Division I baseball coach, will be Florida State’s new assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, head coach Link Jarrett announced Thursday.
Wallace spent the past three seasons with Jarrett at Notre Dame, serving as the recruiting coordinator and third base coach while also working with the Fighting Irish hitters and catchers.
He oversaw defensive alignments, managed opposing pitcher video scouting reports, helped coordinate baserunning instruction and assisted with game management during his tenure in South Bend.
“Rich helped guide our transition at Notre Dame through diligent personalized recruiting, a vast national recruiting network, and tireless hard work,” Jarrett said. “His on-field instructional versatility lends itself well to working with multiple positions while focusing his attention on the catchers. His work in helping the hitters, baserunners and defensive alignment was paramount in our team’s success and will be vital at FSU.
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“As Notre Dame’s recruiting coordinator, Rich navigated the university’s rigorous admission standards by finding the top athletic and academic players in the nation and they achieved at the highest level upon arrival. His wife Alex and daughters Easton and Maxx are fantastic and we look forward to their entire family’s arrival in Tallahassee.”
“I’m thankful to Coach Jarrett for this opportunity to return to my home state and work towards our ultimate goal of a national championship at Florida State,” Wallace said. “I’m excited to get started in Tallahassee and meet the players and staff that make FSU such an iconic program.”
Under Wallace’s guidance, Notre Dame led the Atlantic Coast Conference and ranked in the Top 15 nationally in fielding percentage each of the last two years. Notre Dame threw out over 35 percent of attemped base stealers, while Irish runners finished in the top four in the league in stolen bases each season.
Since 2020, Notre Dame is 86-32 (.729), the second-best winning percentage in the country in that span. Notre Dame’s 44-21 record in the Atlantic Coast Conference was the best in the league, and the Irish won the ACC by 4.5 games in 2021.
Wallace helped guide the Fighting Irish to back-to-back NCAA Super Regionals and the 2022 College World Series, the third in program history. In 2021, first baseman Niko Kavadas was a first team All-American – Notre Dame’s first since 2002 – and set the school record with 22 home runs.
At Notre Dame, Wallace coached two All-Americans, three All-ACC selections and 14 players were named to the All-ACC Academic Team. Throughout his extensive career, Wallace has produced 53 Major League Baseball draft selections and coached over 60 all-conference performers.
Prior to his time at Notre Dame, Wallace was an assistant coach at UCF (2004-08), High Point (2009-14), Creighton (2015-17) and Jacksonville (2018-19), serving as the recruiting coordinator at his previous four stops. In addition to the last two seasons at Notre Dame, Wallace led UCF (2004) and Jacksonville (2018) to the NCAA Tournament.
After wrapping a four-year playing career at the University of Central Florida, Wallace earned his bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from UCF in 2004. Wallace and his wife, Alex, have two daughters, Easton and Maxx.
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