Paul Kostacopoulos announced his retirement as the head baseball coach at the Naval Academy on May 30, 2023, transitioning to an administrative support role within the Navy athletic department.
Prior to retiring from coaching, Kostacopoulos spent 18 seasons at the helm of the Navy baseball program, standing as the program’s second-winningest head coach with 523 victories in Annapolis. After passing Max Bishop (306) on March 20, 2016 with a 7-3 victory over NJIT, “Kosty” trailed just Joe Duff (595) in the Navy all-time coaching standings.
In 10 of his 18 seasons, the Mids won at least 30 games, marking the first time that the program accomplished the feat. During this run, Kostacopoulos’ 2016 Midshipmen squad won a school-record 43 games, the most ever for a Naval Academy athletic team, while, in 2019, he led Navy to the second-most wins in school history with 39. For those within the college baseball ranks, this type of success should not come as a surprise as it was synonymous with Kostacopoulos throughout his coaching career.
Additionally, Kostacopoulos became the then-19th active head coach and 92nd all-time across all divisions to reach the 1,000-win plateau with a 13-10 victory over Mount St. Mary’s on April 13, 2022. Through his 30-plus years as a head coach, Kostacopoulos had an all-time record of 1,027-705-7 (.593). He won 30-plus games 18 times during his career and boasted a winning percentage of .500 or better 26 times in his career, as the Middletown, Conn., native guided the Midshipmen to three-consecutive 30-win seasons from 2006-08 - a first in program history. In fact, prior to his arrival, Navy had posted just three 30-win campaigns in the program’s first 109 years. Kostacopoulos and the Mids were on a five-year run of 30-plus wins (2015-19) before Navy’s 2020 season was cut short following a 14-1 start.
Under Kostacopoulos’ watch, Navy had 10 selections in the MLB First-Year Player Draft since 2007. Most recently, Charlie Connolly was selected in the 20th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2021, while Noah Song became the highest drafted player in program history when he was selected in the fourth round of the 2019 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox. Before them, Luke Gillingham was selected in the 37th round by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2016 draft, and Stephen Moore set a then-program record as the highest chosen player from the Naval Academy in the MLB Draft as the right-hander went No. 300 to the Atlanta Braves in the 10th round of the 2015 draft. 2012 draftee Alex Azor held the previous mark, as Azor was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 10th round (No. 325 overall). In that same draft, Preston Gainey was taken in the 11th round (No. 365 overall) by the Milwaukee Brewers.
The selection of Azor and Gainey marked the third time Navy had two draft picks in the same year, as Mitch Harris (13th round, St. Louis) and Oliver Drake (43rd round, Baltimore) were both selected in 2008, while Harris (24th round, Atlanta) and Jonathan Johnston (42nd round, Oakland) became the first Navy duo selected in the same draft class in 2007.
In April of 2015, Harris became the first Naval Academy graduate since 1921 to reach the Major Leagues when he joined the St. Louis Cardinals in a bullpen role, as the 2008 USNA graduate posted a 2-1 record and 3.67 ERA in his debut season. Before Harris, Kostacopoulos had coached several players that went on to play in the professional ranks, including former MLB infielders John McDonald and Lou Merloni.
Kostacopoulos' final season saw the Mids go 23-27, including their third-straight series win over rival Air Force and then notching a 14-11 mark in league action to finish tied for second. Navy’s defense posed the second-best fielding percentage (.969) and turn the most double plays per game (0.88) of any league member.
The 2023 season also featured five Mids taking home All-Patriot League Second Team honors in pitchers Nate Mitchell, Matthew Shirah and Landon Kruer, catcher Alex Smith and outfielder Nick Burch, while Smith was also named a Buster Posey Catcher of the Year Award semifinalist.
In 2022, Kostacopoulos led the Mids to a 19-26 record, which included a 10-15 mark in Patriot League play. Navy finished the 2022 season as the top-fielding team in the Patriot League with a .976 fielding percentage, along with ranking third amongst league teams in triples (11) and home runs (26).
The Midshipmen produced three All-Patriot League performers, as Christian Policelli was a first-team honoree for the second-straight season, Colin Smith was named to the second team and Eduardo Diaz garnered recognition as the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year.
During the 2021 season, Kostacopoulos guided Navy to a record of 17-15 overall and another appearance in the Patriot League Tournament. The Midshipmen finished 11-12 in the Patriot League and earned the No. 4 seed in the league tournament. Navy also captured the Star Series against Army after it won the final two games of the series against the Black Knights to reclaim the Star.
The 2021 Midshipmen had one of the top offenses in the Patriot League as they led the league with a .281 batting average while also ranking second in slugging percentage (.389) and on-base percentage (.389). Navy also had the top defense in the Patriot League with a .978 fielding percentage.
Navy produced seven All-Patriot Leaguers in first-teamers Nico Valdez and Christian Policelli, while Charlie Connolly, Trey Braithwaite, Zach Stevens, Logan Keller and Zane Raba earned second team honors.
In the shortened 2020 season, Kostacopoulos helped Navy to a 14-1 mark, as the Midshipmen won their final 14 games of the abbreviated campaign. Navy’s start to the year was the best in program history since 1961, while its 14-game winning streak was the Midshipmen’s second-longest single-season win streak in program history.
During the 2020 season, Navy also posted a 10-0 record at home and led the Patriot League in average (.275), RBIs (84), slugging percentage (.404), on-base percentage (.398), fielding percentage (.989), ERA (3.07), saves (7), strikeouts (131) and opponent batting average (.212).
Nationally, Navy ranked third in fielding percentage, sixth in sacrifice flies (13), fourth in win-loss percentage (.933) and 26th in walks (90).
Heading into the 2020 season, Zach Biggers, Jared Leins and Trey Braithwaite were selected to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team and Braithwaite was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List.
In the 2019 season, the Mids captured their fifth-straight Patriot League Regular Season title after going 18-7 in the league and finishing 39-17 overall. As the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament, Navy earned its first semifinal sweep in program history after beating Lafayette, 3-0 and 10-2, during the first round of the tournament. The Midshipmen finished as the tournament runner-up following a three-game series against Army in the tournament championship series. Kostacopoulos was selected as the Patriot League Coach of the Year for the second-straight season and he helped coach two other league award winners: Patriot League Pitcher of the Year Noah Song and Patriot League Player of the Year Christian Hodge. Kostacopoulos also helped Song become a First Team All-American (the first in program history) and a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, Dick Howser Trophy and National Pitcher of the Year, while also being named as the Perfect Game Pitcher of the Year.
As a team, Navy finished sixth in the country with a .981 fielding percentage. The Midshipmen also placed in the top 50 in strikeouts per nine innings (10th, 10.0), hits allowed per nine innings (17th, 7.69), win-loss percentage (18th, .696), WHIP (25th, 1.28), shutouts (29th, five), strikeout-to-walk ratio (29th, 2.57), ERA (32nd, 3.82) and sacrifice flies (49th, 29).
Navy’s 2018 season had Kostacopoulos lead the Mids to a 38-16 record and their fourth-straight regular season championship as they went 18-7 in league play to tie with Army in the standings (Navy earned the No. 1 seed due to a 3-2 season series split). At the time, the 38 wins was the second-most victories in a single-season by a Navy ballclub. After defeating Holy Cross in the first round of the Patriot League postseason tournament, Navy was knocked out in the finals by Army. For postseason accolades, Kostacopoulos was named the 2018 Patriot League Coach of the Year, while Zach Biggers earned recognition as the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year. In total, eight Mids were selected to All-Patriot League teams with six honorees on the first team and two more on the second team. In the end-of-the-year DI national statistical rankings, Navy recorded top-25 finishes in seven categories: triples (fourth, 24), ERA (eighth, 3.10), shutouts (ninth, 7), winning percentage (12th, .704), fielding percentage (16th, .978), doubles (19th, 124), WHIP (20th, 1.26).
2017 saw the Mids once again rise to the top of the Patriot League as the team finished in first place with a 16-4 league mark, posting an overall record of 37-15. Under Kostacopoulos’ direction, Navy became the first Patriot League program to win the regular season title outright in three consecutive seasons. To put an exclamation point on the Mids’ dominance in 2017, the team finished first by four games over second-place Holy Cross (12-8). The regular season title gave Navy its seventh-straight bid to the Patriot League postseason tournament before the Mids were felled by the Bucknell Bison in the semifinals, 2-0. Individually, Navy players earned a host of postseason accolades as Travis Blue and Kyle Condry were named the Patriot League Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively. In total, Navy had seven players earn All-Patriot League honors, with five first-teamers and two second-team honorees, while Blue also went on to earn All-ECAC and ABCA All-East honors. Kostacopoulos’ freshmen class also generated national notoriety when Jacob Williamson and Zach Biggers were selected to the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American team. The duo became just the ninth and 10th players in program history to each such an honor.
Statistically, Navy had both a 13-game winning streak (April 5 - April 22) and an 11-game streak (March 8 - March 24) during the year, as the 13-game streak was third-longest in program history and seventh-longest in NCAA Division I in 2017. The Mids finished top-50 in five NCAA categories: triples (8th, 25), winning percentage (23rd, .685), batting average (35th, .297), pitching walks allowed/9 ratio (38th, 3.14) and scoring average (39th, 6.8).
The 2016 season saw Kostacopoulos spearhead the Mids into a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in his Navy tenure. After winning both the Patriot League regular season title with a 15-5 mark and the postseason title with a dramatic three-game tilt versus Holy Cross in the conference finals, the Mids were NCAA Regional-bound for the first time since 2011. The No. 4 seed in the Raleigh Regional, the 2016 team secured just the fifth all-time NCAA Tournament victory in program history with an 8-5 victory over Saint Mary’s in 13 innings. Kostacopoulos repeated as the Patriot League Coach of the Year and saw two members of his starting pitching staff, Luke Gillingham and Noah Song, garner Patriot League Pitcher and Rookie of the Year nods, respectively, as well. In total, seven Mids were recognized with All-Patriot League honors, six on the first team and one on the second team. Additionally, both Gillingham and Song were honored on a national level with a pair of All-American accolades going to Gillingham and a pair of Freshmen All-American nods for Song. Statistically, Navy finished top-50 in 10 NCAA categories with shutouts thrown (second), triples (four), winning percentage (10th) and ERA (19th) leading the way.
In Kostacopoulos’ 10th season in Annapolis in 2015, he led Navy to its fifth consecutive Patriot League tournament appearance with a league-best 13-7 record and an overall mark of 37-20, capturing the first of five-straight league regular season titles and setting a then-program record for most victories in a season. Leading the Mids were a pair of All-Americans in second-teamer Luke Gillingham and third-teamer Sean Trent, as the duo and Kostacopoulos swept the major Patriot League awards with the Player, Pitcher and Coach of the Year honors all coming home to Annapolis. Statistically, the Mids finished top-50 in 10 NCAA categories, including triples (first), shutouts (12th), ERA (21st) and winning percentage (36th). The Mids’ 36 triples offensively and 464 strikeouts by its pitchers were both school records at the time.
In 2014, Kostacopoulos led Navy to its fourth consecutive Patriot League tournament appearance, as his Class of 2014 was the first since 2003 to qualify for the league tournament in all four years. An extremely young squad with 22 sophomores or freshmen, Kostacopoulos led the Mids from an 0-4 opening Patriot League weekend to the fourth seed in the league’s end-of-the-year tournament. The 2014 campaign also saw Navy sweep the top Patriot League Honors as Kash Manzelli ‘14 and Anthony Parenti ‘15 were named Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, marking the first time since 1998 the pair of honors were swept by Mids.
2013 saw Kostacopoulos lead Navy to its third consecutive Patriot League tournament appearance after finishing second in the regular season, while the 2012 squad punched its ticket to the league tournament with a third-place finish in the regular season.
In 2011, he led Navy to both the Patriot League regular season and tournament championships as the Mids earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Kostacopoulos was named Patriot League Coach of the Year and a total of six Mids picked up All-Patriot League distinction.
The 2011 NCAA Tournament appearance was the fifth of Kostacopoulos’ career as he previously guided Providence (1992, ‘95) and Maine (2002, ‘05) to the postseason. The Mids’ 33 wins marked the fourth-highest total in program history at the time, while their runs (358) and hits (530) were both good for second on Navy’s all-time list.
In 2010, Kostacopoulos led Navy to its fourth 30-win season in five years and seventh 30-win campaign in academy history, as his 2010 senior class finished with a total of 117 victories - the most by any class in program history. As a team in 2010, Kostacopoulos helped the Mids to top-10 marks in program history in several offensive categories, including: batting average (.314, seventh), runs (328, fifth), hits (522, third) and RBI (298, fourth).
Despite the 2009 season being plagued with several preseason injuries and Navy having the youngest team in the Patriot League, the Mids still won 20 games, hit 30-plus homers in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history and recorded the fourth-most strikeouts in school history.
In 2008, Kostacopoulos led the Midshipmen to the Patriot League Championship series for the first time since 2003, capping the year with a 32-25-1 overall record and an 11-9 mark in Patriot League play. Navy hosted both the Patriot League Semifinals and Championship series and set nine team records in the process, while the offense finished the year with a .304 batting average and the pitching staff recorded a 4.77 ERA - both marks ranking among the top-100 nationally.
During his second season in Annapolis in 2007, Kostacopoulos directed the Midshipmen to a then-school record of 35 wins and their first Patriot League Tournament appearance since 2003. Navy also smashed the program record for home wins with 22 and posted winning streaks of four games or more on four occasions. The pitching staff excelled with a 3.88 team ERA, the lowest in 12 years and 34th-best mark in the country that season.
Inheriting a team that won only 12 games in 2005, Kostacopoulos engineered a turnaround that saw the team go 32-21-1 in 2006, the second-highest win total in school history at the time and the most by a first-year Navy skipper. The 20-win improvement over the previous season’s mark ranks as the best turnaround in school history and tied for the largest win-improvement in Patriot League history, as Navy’s 24 victories in non-league contests also established a school record. That season, Mitch Harris also became the first Navy baseball player in over a decade to earn All-America honors.
Prior to his arrival in Annapolis, Kostacopoulos coached Maine to a 284-195 (.593) mark over nine years in Orono. In his final year at Maine, he led the team to a 35-19 record in 2005, as the Black Bears won the America East Championship and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in his tenure. At the NCAA Regional in Oxford, Miss., Maine defeated Southern Miss, 12-2, giving the school its first NCAA Tournament win in baseball since 1991.
In 1997, Kostacopoulos took over a struggling Maine program and brought instant success. The Black Bears finished with a 24-27 mark, a five-win improvement over the previous season, and Maine’s 16-8 league record earned Kostacopoulos America East Coach-of-the-Year honors. The 2001 team turned in a 36-15 record, the fifth-highest win total in program history at the time, and finished second in the America East with a 20-8 league record, as Kostacopoulos was named America East Coach of the Year - the third time he had earned a league coach-of-the-year award. Following that up, Kostacopoulos’ 2002 squad finished with the first 40-win season at Maine since 1991 and only the third in school history. The Black Bears also won the school’s 12th conference title and made an appearance in the NCAA Regional.
Kostacopoulos arrived in Maine after seven years at the helm of his alma-mater, Providence College, where he led his Friar squads to a record of 220-137-2 (.616). Kostacopoulos served as an assistant at Providence for two seasons before he became the youngest Division I head coach in the country in 1990 at age 25. By his third season in charge, Providence was 29-23 in 1992 and won the Big East Tournament to advance to the NCAA South I Regional. In 1995, his Friars were 44-15 and won a school-record 16 Big East games to claim the regular-season Big East Championship, going on to finish as the tournament runner-up and receive an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament.
In Kostacopoulos’ time with the Friars, he was named the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Northeast Coach of the Year in 1992 and 1995, and received both Big East and New England Coach-of-the-Year honors in 1995.
Kostacopoulos earned his bachelor’s degree from Providence College in 1987, capping a four-year career as a member of the Friar baseball team in which he played 139 games and batted .260. As a senior, he was both captain and defensive player of the year.
A member of three different Hall of Fames, Kostacopoulos was inducted into the Providence College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019, adding to his 2018 induction into the Maryland Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame and his 2014 entry into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame.
Kostacopoulos comes from a family steeped in New England baseball; his father, Peter, recorded over 400 wins in 27 seasons as head baseball coach at Wesleyan University, and his brother, Pete, head coach at the Worcester Academy, has held coaching positions at Colby College, Dartmouth College, and Wesleyan.
Kostacopoulos is married to former Providence College basketball standout Joanie Powers. The couple have two children, Annie and Matthew.
