Jordon Banfield named CSUB's new baseball head coach

After a national search that attracted candidates with experience at all levels, Jordon Banfield has been named the fourth baseball head coach in the history of California State University, Bakersfield.

Banfield comes to Bakersfield with an impressive resume that includes nearly 20 years of coaching and recruiting experience in baseball. He arrives at CSUB after serving the last four seasons as the head coach at Oakland University. His experience also includes time as a Major League Baseball scout, the associate head coach at the University of Akron and assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV).

The new leader of the baseball team will be formally introduced at a press conference being held on campus this Thursday.

"Coach Banfield stood out from the beginning of our search," said Athletics Director Kyle Conder. "He is enthusiastic about realizing our vision of Pursuing Championships and Graduating Leaders for CSUB Baseball. Coach Banfield's unprecedented success as an NCAA Division I Head Coach is exactly what we need for our program. He has high standards and ambitious goals, which aligns with our pillars of academic excellence, an outstanding student-athlete experience, competitive success and community engagement."

Taking over the Golden Grizzlies' program in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Banfield set out to develop an Oakland program that had posted a 45-199 record in the four years prior to his arrival. Under Banfield's leadership, Oakland experienced a 13-win improvement after his first season at the helm. Despite dealing with limiting recruiting restrictions, Banfield produced immediate results and was voted the 2022 Horizon League Coach of the Year in just his second year.

During that 2022 season, the Golden Grizzlies posted their best overall and conference records (31-27, 18-11) in program history, finishing second in the regular-season standings and runner-up at the Horizon League Tournament. This past year, Oakland registered another 30-win season and tallied a combined 5-1 record against Michigan's other Division I teams, including an 11-7 road win at Michigan State, while ranking Top 15 in the NCAA in triples, stolen bases, on-base percentage, and walks.

Banfield's squads have won 91 games and posted three-consecutive Top 3 finishes in the Horizon League over the past three seasons, all while breaking several program records, both on the field and in the classroom. He led Oakland to its first winning season in 25 years and its first 30-win season in 27 years. Under Banfield, Oakland also produced multiple All-League honors, including Brandon Decker's Pitcher of the Year nod in 2024. In the community, the OU baseball team won the Athletics Department's Team Community Service Award three years straight.

"First off, I want to thank my coaches and players at Oakland," Banfield said. "Building that program into a winner from the ground up was truly a dream and I couldn't have done it without you all. I am forever connected to OU and wish them nothing but success under coaches Nelson and Helmic in the years to come."

Prior to his time at Oakland, Banfield was the associate head coach/recruiting coordinator at Akron for a year-and-a-half. With a small number of scholarships to utilize, he helped recruit an entire roster in a five-month span and the recruiting class was ranked No. 7 in the nation by The JBB.

Before changing pace for a year to be the Arizona Scouting Director for Prep Baseball Report, Banfield spent two years as the assistant coach/recruiting coordinator for UTRGV, which was at the time a fellow Western Athletic Conference member with CSUB.

Three times in Banfield's career his former teams faced off against Cal State Bakersfield, producing a fair amount of familiarity with the program he would eventually lead. In 2022, Oakland came to CSUB and took two of three games from the `Runners. Back in 2016 and 2017, while on the staff at UTRGV, the Vaqueros split six conference games against CSUB.

"The decision to leave Oakland is a reflection of the opportunity I believe Cal State Bakersfield presents," Banfield added. "I can't thank Kyle Conder, Cindy Goodman and Dr. Wallace enough for entrusting me to lead the program here at CSUB. Everyone keeps telling me that Bakersfield is a baseball town, and I can't wait to be a part of that on Friday nights come spring."

Banfield's other experience includes two seasons as assistant coach/recruiting Ccordinator at University of Illinois Springfield, time as an assistant coach for USA Baseball during the U18 Trials, several years of training and coaching elite-level prep athletes as the owner the Great Lakes Baseball Academy and the head coach of the Ann Arbor Travelers national travel club. He also spent three years as an associate scout for the Texas Rangers, evaluating potential draftees for the Major League club.

The new head coach of the `Runners brings his experience in building programs to help CSUB become a contender in The Big West and return to the NCAA Regionals. With two league teams making the postseason in 2024, and one of those being ranked in the Top 10 during the season, Banfield's expertise will be crucial in the process of guiding the `Runners to rise in the ranks.

Banfield rounded out his thoughts by promising to develop his program the right way.

"We're putting together a first-rate staff that will allow us to recruit and develop the type of players required to compete at this level," he said. "People win, and my first task is to get the right people in place in a short amount of time. I'm deeply committed to building a program that the University and city of Bakersfield can be proud of. Support and stick with us, and I promise the `Runners will truly be 'on the rise' in short order."

Stay tuned for more news as Banfield looks to put together his first roster of `Runners. Follow @CSUB_baseball on Twitter and @CSUB.baseball on Instagram for the most up-to-date information and behind-the-scenes access.

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