Ron Polk Biography

College baseball coaching legend Ron Polk was born on January 12th, 1944 in Boston, MA. After finishing school, Polk served as a graduate assistant at Arizona (1966) and New Mexico (1967) before he was hired as the head coach at Miami Dade Community College in 1968. His success there between 1968 and 1971 led to his hire by Georgia Southern in 1972. Polk made his initial reputation as a brilliant baseball mind and coach at Georgia Southern. From 1972-1975, Polk returned Georgia Southern to relevance, never winning less than thirty games and leading the school in an unexpected trip to the College World Series in 1973. This great success convinced SEC power Mississippi State to hire Polk in 1976.

Between 1976 and 1997, Polk was the head coach at Mississippi State and compiled a record that compares with any other all time college coaching great. Polk coaxed steady improvement out of his teams from 1976-8, which led to a 48-12 campaign in 1979 that led to an SEC Championship, SEC Tournament Championship, and a visit to the College World Series. Between 1980-1997, Polk led Mississippi State to four more College World Series trips (1981,85,90,97), three more SEC Championships (1985,87,89), and three SEC tournament titles (1985,87,90). Polk also won a National Coach of the Year award in 1985 for his efforts.

In 1997, Polk retired from coaching after a 47 win campaign and a visit to the College World Series. However, Polk itched to return and he was hired in 2000 to coach at Georgia. The first year of his tenure was rocky as he led the team to a poor 32-26 record, but his second season was a 47 win campaign and an SEC Championship. His success convinced Mississippi State to rehire him in 2002 and Polk spent another seven years as the school’s coach. However, despite winning an SEC tournament championship in 2005, Polk was unable to return the school to its former heights and, following an abysmal 23-33 campaign in 2008, Polk chose to retire. The legend retired with an unprecedented 1373-702-2 record that ranks eighth on the all time wins list and a special place in Mississippi State history. We've named Ron Polk to our list of Best All Time SEC Baseball Coaches.

Check out our current Mississippi State Bulldogs Baseball page. Read more about current Mississippi State head coach John Cohen Biography.

Mitch Gaspard Biography -- current alabama head coach | Jim Wells Biography -- former alabama coach | Dave Van Horn Biography -- current arkansas head coach | John Pawlowski Biography -- current auburn head coach | Kevin O'Sullivan Biography -- current florida head coach | David Perno Biography -- current georgia head coach | Gary Henderson Biography -- current kentucky head coach | Paul Mainieri Biography -- current lsu head coach | Skip Bertman Biography -- former lsu coach | John Cohen Biography -- current mississippi head coach | Mike Bianco Biography -- current ole Miss head coach | Ray Tanner Biography -- current south Carolina head coach | Todd Raleigh Biography -- current tennessee head coach | Tim Corbin Biography -- current vanderbilt head coach |

From Ron Polk Biography to SEC Baseball | SEC Sports Blog | SEC Football | SEC Football Blog | SEC Basketball | SEC Women's Basketball | SEC Track and Field | SEC Swimming and Diving | SEC Tennis | SEC Golf | SEC Gymnastics | SEC Soccer | SEC Softball | SEC Volleyball | Best College Sports Conference | College Football Bowl History | BCS Controversy | SEC vs Big Ten Debate | SEC Sports News | Current SEC Sports News | SEC Sports Pictures and Videos | SEC Sports Fan Forum | College Sports Blogs | College Football Association | SEC Sports Fan Trips | College Sports Gift | Fathead | College Sports Tailgate Party Shop | College Sports Merchandise | College Sports Apparel | SEC Sports Fan Store | SEC Football Tickets |