CMU signs baseball coach Steve Jaksa to new four-year contract
This season will be the 11th for Steve Jaksa as head baseball coach at Central Michigan University, but a new contract will ensure he will remain in the third base dugout another four years.
On Wednesday, CMU announced a new four-year deal for Jaksa, keeping him in Mount Pleasant through the 2016 season. His salary will not change.
Jaksa has the third most wins by head coach in CMU baseball history. His 328 wins currently puts him 125 behind Dave Keilitz (1971-84) and 188 behind Dean Kreiner (1985-98).
“We are very pleased to sign coach Jaksa to a multi-year deal,” athletics director Dave Heeke said in a news release. “He and his staff have continued to build a program that competes for championships year in and year out.”
Jaksa led CMU to five Mid-American Conference West Division championships, three MAC Championship game appearances and two regular-season MAC championships, but has yet to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
"This extension shows that not only is the administration supportive of the championship culture we have across all of our programs at Central Michigan, but that they are happy with the current state of the baseball program,” Jaksa said in the release.
Jaksa was an assistant coach under Judd Folske from 1999-2002 and was named the interim head coach in September 2002 before taking over full-time in May 2003.
Jaksa is also an alumni player of the program, graduating in 1979. He currently sits at No. 10 all-time with career ERA with a 2.76 ERA from 1977-79.
“"I'm a Chippewa,” Jaksa said. “I was born and raised that way so to speak and this extension says that we are going to continue to play for championships the next four years. Everyone is on board with the vision we have for this program and I'm very excited for the next four years"
