Dave Van Horn

Van Horn in 2018
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Arkansas
Conference	SEC
Record	933–472 (.664)
Annual salary	$1,450,000[1]
Biographical details
Born	(1960-09-17)September 17, 1960 (age 65) Stanton, California, U.S.
Playing career
1980–1981	McLennan CC
1982	Arkansas
Position	Infielder
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1985–1988	Arkansas (GA)
1989–1993	Texarkana
1994	Central Missouri State
1995–1997	Northwestern State
1998–2002	Nebraska
2003–present	Arkansas
Head coaching record
Overall	1,304–642 (NCAA) (.670) 214–72 (NJCAA) (.748)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
NCAA Division II National Champions (1994) MIAA Conference regular season (1994) Texas Eastern (1992) Southland regular season (1995) Southland Louisiana Division (1997) Big 12 regular season (2001) 3×Big 12 Tournament (1999–2001) 3xSEC regular season (2004, 2021, 2023) SEC Tournament (2021) 8×SEC Western Division (2004, 2007, 2011, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024) 13x Regional Championships 10x Super Regional Championships 10 College World Series Appearances College World Series runner-up (2018)
Awards
3xSEC Coach of the Year: 2004, 2021, 2023 Baseball America National Coach of the Year: 2001 Big 12 Coach of the Year: 2001 2xABCAMidwest Region Coach of the Year: 2000, 2001 2x Southland Coach of the Year: 1995, 1997 NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year: 1994 ABCA Central Region Coach of the Year: 1994 All-Southwest Conference, infielder, 1982 Southwest Conference Newcomer of the Year, 1982

David Kevin Van Horn (born September 17, 1960) is an Americancollege baseball coach and former infielder, who is the head baseball coach of theArkansas Razorbacks. Van Horn won a Division II national title in 1994 while he was the head coach at Central Missouri.

Born inStanton, California,^[2] Van Horn graduated fromWinnetonka High School inKansas City, Missouri in 1979.^[3] He then played junior college baseball atMcLennan Community College in Texas for two years, earning all-conference and all-region honors as a freshman, while helping the Highlanders finish third in theJUCO World Series. His next season brought more individual and team success, as the team finished eighth in the nation and Van Horn earnedAll American and Region 5 Player of the Year accolades. Turning down theChicago White Sox, who drafted him, he transferred to Arkansas for the 1982 season.

As a Razorback, Van Horn would earn All-Southwest Conference and SWC Newcomer of the Year awards for his performance. He was also recognized as teamMVP. TheAtlanta Braves selected Van Horn in the 10th round, where he would spend his next three years in theminor leagues.

Coach Van Horn met his wife, the former Karen Lee, while serving as a graduate assistant at Arkansas. The couple has two daughters, Hollan and Mariel, along with three grandchildren.

• Arkansas, 1988
• Masters of Science,East Texas State University (inCommerce, Texas), 1992

Dave Van Horn's first collegiate head coaching job was in 1994 for the Central Missouri State Mules, now called theUniversity of Central Missouri. Van Horn coached that team (51–11 record) to their firstNCAA Division II national championship, in the Division IICollege World Series.

Van Horn's subsequent teams have had plenty of success as well, reaching theCollege World Series ten times, eight occurring at Arkansas (2004, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2025), the other two during his tenure at Nebraska (2001 and 2002). As a graduate assistant at Arkansas he has reached the CWS twice more, in 1985 and 1987. Coach Van Horn also led 17 straight teams to theNCAA tournament, from 1999 to 2015.

Arkansas reached theSEC Tournament every year under Van Horn as head coach from 2003 to 2007 and again in 2009. The 2008 team did not qualify for the SEC Tournament but qualified for the NCAA tournament.^[4]

• On April 5, 2015, Van Horn won his 500th game as the Arkansas head coach.^[5]
• On March 11, 2020, Van Horn won his 700th game as the Arkansas head coach.
• On March 15, 2025, Van Horn won his 900th game as the Arkansas head coach.^[6]

Arkansas went 34–22 in 2009, and set University records for single-game attendance (11,434) total season attendance, (269,216) and actual attendance (173,946). Despite beating #1 Arizona State twice, the Hogs faltered at the end of the season, losing their final eight SEC games.

Arkansas returned to Omaha in2009. The team won theNorman regional by knocking off top-eight seedOklahoma. The Hogs next defeatedFlorida State twice atDick Howser Stadium to punch their ticket to the College World Series. The Razorbacks were not expected to do well at the Series, but defeated the favoredCal State Fullerton Titans. Next, the Hogs were defeated byLSU, but staved off elimination the next day by beatingVirginia in twelve innings. The Hogs were eliminated by eventual national champion LSU in game 11.

Arkansas went 46–22 in 2012, which was the most wins in the Van Horn era and the most for a Razorback team since 1990, but limped into the postseason at theHouston Regional having lost both games it played at theSEC Tournament. Once it got in, it defeated Rice and then defeated Baylor at theWaco Super Regional to advance to the College World Series.

Arkansas won its first game in Omaha, defeating Kent State 8–1. The Razorbacks then endedSouth Carolina's 22-game postseason win streak with a 2–1 victory. The Gamecocks got them back though, winning 2–0 and 3–2 in the next two games to advance to the final, only to lose to upstartArizona in the best-of-three championship series.

After an extremely slow start to the 2015 campaign, where the Razorbacks were .500 going into April, Van Horn rallied the troops and the team responded by winning seven of its last eight SEC series and finished fifth overall in the SEC, and third in the West behind No. 2 national seedLSU andTexas A&M.Arkansas won theStillwater Regional by defeating Oral Roberts, host Oklahoma State and St. John's in succession. The Razorbacks then caught a break by getting to host theFayetteville Super Regional at Baum Stadium becauseMissouri State, the No. 8 national seed, couldn't host because it sharesHammons Field with theSpringfield Cardinals. It took all three games of the best-of-3 series, but Arkansas defeated the Bears to clinch Van Horn's sixth trip to Omaha overall and fourth with the Razorbacks, tying him with former coachNorm DeBriyn.

Arkansas lost both games it played in Omaha in 2015, which was the first time since 2004 that the Razorbacks did not win a game there. They fell to Virginia in the CWS opener, 5–3, and then fell to Miami in an elimination game, 4–3.

The Razorbacks came into the 2018 season with enormous expectations, and they lived up to those expectations. Arkansas earned a share of the SEC Western Division title with Ole Miss, and secured the No. 5 overall national seed in theNCAA tournament.

Arkansas hosted a regional at Baum Stadium, dispatching Oral Roberts, Southern Miss and Dallas Baptist in consecutive games in the Fayetteville Regional to advance to the Super Regional, also in Fayetteville, with SEC foe South Carolina. The 3-game series went the distance before the Razorbacks defeated the Gamecocks to clinch its fifth trip to Omaha of Van Horn's tenure, and ninth in program history, with a 14–4 victory on June 11.

Arkansas won its opening game in Omaha against former Southwest Conference rivalTexas, 11–5. The game was delayed by weather in the sixth inning for nearly three hours.

Arkansas then defeated another former SWC foe inTexas Tech, upending the Red Raiders 7–4. This game was delayed by inclement weather twice. Originally scheduled for 7 p.m. on June 19, the game was rescheduled for 11 a.m. on June 20. Thunderstorms delayed the game further, and was finally played at 2:30 p.m. that afternoon.

Arkansas defeatedFlorida in an elimination game for the Gators to earn a trip to the CWS finals against theOregon State Beavers. The Razorbacks took game 1 of the series after it was delayed a day by weather, 4–1.

The Razorbacks were on the verge of securing their first baseball national championship but misplayed a foul ball with two outs in the 9th inning of Game 2, which would have ended the series and given Arkansas the title. It left the door open and the Beavers won the game and won the rubber game the following evening, forcing Arkansas to settle for a national runner-up finish.

After seeing the previous season be cut short because ofCOVID-19 after just 16 games, Arkansas went into the 2021 season with high expectations, looking to make its third consecutive trip to Omaha.

The Razorbacks spent most of the campaign ranked No. 1, and ended up winning the SEC title outright for the first time since 1999 and won theSEC Tournament for the first time under Van Horn.

It was also the first time since 1989 that the team won 50 games and the fourth time in school history. Arkansas hosted a regional and defeated NJIT and Nebraska twice to advance to the Super Regional, before succumbing toNC State in three games to not make the College World Series for the first time since 2017.

Arkansas spent much of the season ranked in the top five, eager to follow up on a terrific 2021 campaign. A late season swoon kept them from hosting a regional for the first time since 2015.

The team went to Stillwater again, dispatching Grand Canyon and #7 national seedOklahoma State twice to advance to the super regional, where the Razorbacks had to travel to Chapel Hill. Arkansas upended the #10 national seedTar Heels in two games to secure Van Horn's seventh trip to Omaha as the Hog boss and ninth overall.

Arkansas opened its Omaha slate by walloping #2 national seededStanford 17–2, the highest victory margin for a Razorback team in the College World Series and tallied 21 hits, an Omaha record.

The Razorbacks dropped their next game to Ole Miss, and had to win an elimination game against division rival Auburn to play Ole Miss again. Arkansas beat the Rebels on Wednesday, June 22, but had to do it twice to advance to the championship series, and the following day Ole Miss' Dylan DeLucia threw a complete-game shutout to end Arkansas' season. The defeat marked another failed attempt ln Van Horn's National Championship pursuit, as he now has the most CWS appearances among active head coaches (9) along with Kevin O’Sullivan of Florida.

Arkansas failed to advance out of an NCAA regional for the second consecutive season. A shocking defeat to Southeast Missouri State in the 2024 Fayetteville Regional put a damper on an otherwise sterling campaign.

Arkansas briefly spent a week ranked No. 1, and would go on to finish their season 43–12, and 20–10 in SEC-play. The Razorbacks enjoyed a home sweep of then-#1 Texas on the May 1–3 weekend, as well as sweeps over South Carolina, Missouri, and at Vanderbilt. Arkansas ended the regular season beating Tennessee 2 games to 1 at Baum-Walker Stadium. Although they lost to Ole Miss in their first game in the SEC Tournament, Arkansas was tabbed as the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and hosted a Regional. The Razorbacks defeated North Dakota State once and Creighton twice to win the Fayetteville Regional championship, Van Horn's 10th as head coach of Arkansas. The Hogs then hosted Tennessee for a Super Regional, and Arkansas would sweep the Vols, winning Game One 4-3 and Game Two 11–4, to win the Fayetteville Super Regional championship, earning a spot in the 2025 College World Series. It is Van Horn's 8th trip to Omaha at Arkansas.

Arkansas lost game one to the LSU Tigers 4–1 on Saturday, June 14. On June 16, the Razorbacks defeated Murray State 3–0, in large part because pitcherGage Wood threw a no hitter with 19 strikeouts. It was only the third no hitter in CWS history, and the first since 1960. On June 17, Arkansas defeated UCLA 7–3, and advanced to the CWS semi-finals versus LSU. Arkansas was subsequently eliminated in the next game against LSU, 6–5, on a walk off hit after Arkansas had just taken a 5–3 lead in the top of the 9th.

• List of college baseball career coaching wins leaders

• Media related toDave Van Horn at Wikimedia Commons
• Career statistics fromBaseball Reference (Minors)

• 1960 births
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