Kentucky baseball coach Nick Mingione gets new contract to stay with the Wildcats
The beginning of this University of Kentucky baseball season is coinciding with some positive news for the team’s head coach.
Nick Mingione, who began his fifth season in charge of UK’s program with the Wildcats’ opener last week, has agreed to a contract extension, the school announced Monday.
Mingione has agreed to a contract that will keep him with the Wildcats through the end of the 2025 season, a three-year extension to his previous deal.
“Nick Mingione has done an excellent job laying the foundation for a successful baseball program, both on and off the field,” UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart said in a news release by the school. “From making an NCAA Super Regional for the first time in program history, the development of 24 players selected in the MLB Draft, numerous awards for academic achievement in the classroom and a commitment to service in the Lexington community, Nick is building a well-rounded program. We are excited to see Kentucky baseball continue to grow under his leadership.”
Financial details of the new contract were not immediately available.
Mingione, 42, came to UK following the 2016 season after spending eight years as an assistant under former Kentucky head coach John Cohen at Mississippi State. He was also an assistant coach at UK in Cohen’s final two seasons with the Wildcats.
“Nothing is possible without the commitment of our players, coaches, support staff and the Big Blue Nation,” Mingione said in UK’s news release. “We all want to continue building Kentucky baseball as we strive to reach Omaha and bring a championship to Kentucky Proud Park.”
The Cats got off to a terrific start in Mingione’s first season as a head coach, advancing all the way to the 2017 NCAA Tournament Super Regional, where UK lost to rival Louisville, just one step short of the program’s first trip to the College World Series.
Kentucky finished that season with a 43-23 overall record and a 19-11 mark in the Southeastern Conference, the program’s fourth-most overall wins and second-most league wins all time. Mingione was named SEC Coach of the Year.
Following the 2017 season, Mingione’s contract was amended to add an extra year — extending his deal through the 2022 season — as well as a general raise in bonuses, effectively paying the UK coach $575,000 per year, with the possibility of higher compensation if the team advanced in the NCAA Tournament.
“The progress our program has made in one year under Nick’s leadership is outstanding,” Barnhart said at the time. “We are committed to making Kentucky baseball a consistent winner both in the Southeastern Conference and on a national level, and he is the coach to make that happen. We are excited to have Nick and his family in Lexington for a long time.”
UK has not returned to the NCAA Tournament since Mingione’s first year.
The Cats were eliminated after one game of the SEC Tournament in 2018 — finishing with a 34-22 overall record — and failed to make the SEC Tournament in 2019, ending that campaign with a 26-29 record and a 7-23 mark in league play, the program’s worst SEC record in 15 years.
UK was 11-6 last year and had not yet played a league game when the season was canceled due to COVID-19, giving Mingione a 114-80 record (39-51 SEC) in his first four seasons.
The Cats started the 2021 campaign last Tuesday with a 5-1 victory over Miami (Ohio) and followed that up with a weekend sweep of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Kentucky Proud Park.
This story was originally published March 1, 2021 at 5:32 PM.
