AZUSA, Calif. — After 19 seasons at the helm of the Azusa Pacific baseball program, head coach Paul Svagdis announced on Thursday he will return to his alma mater, Tufts University, to become the successor to John Casey, his former baseball coach. 

Statement from Coach Svagdis:

"It has been nothing short of an amazing run at Azusa Pacific. There have been so many great people that have spoken into me and my family's life over the last twenty years. My wife, Catherine and I have been so grateful for our APU experience. Raising our kids as munchkins to seeing our oldest Emma play volleyball and graduate from APU. Although it is extremely sad to end this chapter, I know the relationships we were able to develop with so many great alumni extend well beyond the University. We are so grateful for Stephen, Alyssa, and the Vogt family who have walked alongside our family and the baseball program for the last fifteen years. I am confident that our current players are prepared and ready to handle this new journey as young men who put each other first and understand where their identity lies. I am thankful for Bill Odell who has been a mentor and friend through the years as well as Gary Pine who has been a confidant and support during my tenure. I am grateful for the many department members and coaches who have spoken into my life as a coach over the last twenty years. Cougar baseball is in a tremendous place and I am humbled to have been give a chance to lead such a terrific group of young men."

The seven-time Conference Coach of the Year (GSAC & PacWest) leaves the program as the winningest coach in Azusa Pacific history with 606 total wins and a winning percentage of .636. Under his leadership, the Cougars had 29 All-Americans, 28 players drafted, 18 Academic All-Americans, and 11 West Region Players of the Year.

"Azusa Pacific has been blessed to have had Paul Svagdis for the betterment of 19 seasons," Director of Athletics Gary Pine said. "He has helped our baseball program become one of the very best Division II programs in the West region, and it continues to be recognized at the national level year in and year out. Even more importantly, his commitment to our student-athletes and their development as young men has and will continue to have a lasting impact on every Cougar he has coached and been around."

There have been many highlights throughout his Azusa Pacific tenure, starting with a breakthrough 2007 season that saw the Cougars reach the NAIA World Series for the first time in 23 years.

"For our team, the 2007 season was a culmination of the product that Coach Svagdis had built through his first four years," former Cougar and current MLB catcher Stephen Vogt ('07) said. "Everyone was bought in, winning the right way, playing the right way, treating each other the right way."

That season saw the Cougars win a program-record 51 games and set many program single-season records, including runs, hits, doubles, and home runs. Svagdis was named the GSAC and NAIA Region II Coach of the Year for the first time in his career after engineering one of the most remarkable turnarounds in college baseball that year, as he turned a 2006 squad that finished 24-25 into the runaway 2007 GSAC champion that finished 51-10 overall and 32-4 in conference play.

The Cougars followed it up with another NAIA World Series berth in 2008 as they swept through the GSAC and NAIA Region II playoffs for a second straight season. From those two seasons, Svagdis sent five Cougars on to the professional ranks through the Major League Baseball draft, two of which have played extended time in the majors (Kirk Nieuwenhuis ('08) and Stephen Vogt ('07)). 

Azusa Pacific officially made the jump to the NCAA Division II ranks after the 2012 season that saw Svagdis record his third GSAC Conference title with a 47-12 overall record including a 28-4 record in conference play. 

Since the Cougars became NCAA postseason eligible in 2014, Svagdis and the Cougars have not recorded a single losing season and have qualified for the NCAA West Regional in six of seven total opportunities. During that stretch, Azusa Pacific won the PacWest Conference title for the first time in 2017 before defending the title in 2018 and 2019. The Cougars hosted the NCAA West Regional all three seasons, highlighted by a 2019 squad that hit 107 home runs to lead all NCAA divisions.

"Coach (Svagdis) is a special person and the success speaks for itself," former Cougar and current Los Angeles Dodgers personal trainer, Johnathan Erb ('12) said. "He built a powerhouse program at this tiny little school."

Svagdis leaves behind a legacy that goes far beyond the field, however, as his emphasis on developing young men has been on display since he became the coach back in 2003.

"Basically as a player, you knew he cared about you as a person off the field," former Cougar player and assistant coach Matt Venegas ('08) said. "It was always super genuine and all the guys feel it and sense it. He cares for his players on a personal level that is uncommon. He's always said, you being a CEO or teacher is just like you making it to the big leagues for him." 

Throughout the thousands of practices and hundreds of games, Svagdis rarely missed a moment to put things into perspective for his players. Using teachable moments and instilling life lessons to his student-athletes that uphold the Christ-like values he has. It's a crucial reason his relationships with his players grow long after their time playing for him.

"He's more impactful once you leave because the investment he continues to have in you after you're gone is incredible," Erb said. "It's remarkable to me how this one guy can have this kind of impact on generations of players."

"There's not enough room in your article for how much he has meant to me," Vogt said. "As I look back, he was preparing me to become the man I am today. He was preparing me to be a husband, a father, and a leader. That's something about all of his players, we are all better people and better in our workplace because of Coach (Svagdis)." 

As his 19-year tenure at Azusa Pacific comes to a close, Svagdis will return to his home state of Massachusetts and his alma mater, Tufts University, where he played collegiate football and baseball.

"His legacy will long outstand his tenure at APU, it's not something that will just go away," Erb said. "He truly has been that impactful for the last 19 years, which is a long time."
 

Quotable: "Outside of my parents, he's the guy that has developed me the most," Venegas said. "He's helped me in so many ways. He's the guy I looked up to and the guy I turned to for advice. It's always been cool to see him as a dad and a coach and how he has always put his family first and encouraging me to do so as well"

"Over the last 14-15 years, he's become one of my most trusted friends and mentors," Vogt said. "He's a very special person to me and he's become such a big influence in my life."

"The thing I think about, I've told coach this yearly, he doesn't want to hear this he's too modest," Erb said. "It's pretty striking how many generations of players show up to the yearly golf tournament and the only common denominator is coach. The main reason people show up is because of Paul. I consider him one of the most important people in my life."

"He was such a huge influence on the University," Vogt said. "He held people on campus to a high standard, he challenged APU to be a better place. Not only did he make the program better but he made the campus and university a way better place. And that should be something that is celebrated, he's been such a great leader and APU has been lucky to have him."