The 2025 season marks Chuck Ristano’s second campaign as the head baseball coach at the U.S. Naval Academy.
A veteran coach with two decades of Division I experience, Ristano became just the sixth coach to lead the program in the last 85 years when he was named to the position on June 17, 2023.
Ristano’s first season leading the Midshipmen provided an immediate boost, with the program posting its first winning season since 2021 and using a league semifinal series win over Holy Cross to advance to Navy’s first Patriot League Championship Series since 2019. A new aggressive style of play under Ristano also saw the Mids set the program record for hit-by-pitches (89) while stealing the third-most bases (86) and tallying the third-best fielding percentage (.981) in program history, with the team’s .981 fielding percentage also finishing as the seventh best in Division I in 2024.
Individually, Ristano’s guidance saw shortstop Eduardo Diaz named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year for the second time and starter Tyler Grenn earn a spot on the All-Patriot League First Team, while infielder Brock Murtha and reliever Nolan Jorgenson picked second-team all-league honors. Additionally, Diaz used a six-hit game at Saint Joseph’s on March 20 to match the program single-game record, while closer Landon Kruer became the program record holder for career saves (25).
An ace recruiter and coach during his 19-year rise through the Division I level, Ristano found and developed nine conference award winners, 27 All-Americans and 51 all-conference selections during his time as an assistant coach across five schools. Additionally, Ristano saw 41 of his student-athletes selected in the Major League Baseball Draft and nine former players reach the MLB.
Spending the previous 13 seasons as a pitching coach in the Big East and Atlantic Coast Conferences, Ristano helped guide Notre Dame to three NCAA Tournaments and a College World Series berth during his 12 years in South Bend before heading to Florida State for the 2023 campaign.
While coaching at Florida State, Ristano guided Jackson Baumeister to All-ACC honors, as the Seminoles’ sophomore struck out the third-most batters in the ACC (95), tallied 12.39 strikeouts per nine innings to rank 18th nationally and was picked by the Baltimore Orioles in the second round of the 2023 MLB Draft.
In addition to directing and managing the pitching staff, Ristano was involved with all phases of Florida State’s roster management, recruiting, player development, technology integration and academics, while serving as the program’s liaison with MLB scouts and scouting directors.
Ristano’s 12-year tenure on the Notre Dame staff produced 17 MLB Draft picks on the mound, 13 all-conference pitchers and eight seasons with an earned run average under 4.00. Most impressive were Ristano’s last three seasons on staff in South Bend, as the Fighting Irish had the second-best winning percentage nationally between 2020-22 (86-32, .729) and appeared in back-to-back NCAA Super Regionals for the first time in program history (2021, 2022).
The 2022 season was a historic one for Ristano and the Irish, as Notre Dame reached the College World Series for the third time in school history en route to a 41-win season. Knocking off No. 1 overall seed Tennessee in the Super Regionals, the Irish eclipsed the 40-win plateau for the first time since the 2006 season. Individually, left-hander John Michael Bertrand was named a unanimous All-American in addition to his second-straight All-ACC First Team selection, while Jack Findlay earned a Freshman All-American nod.
Ristano’s 2022 pitching staff was also one of the best in the nation statistically, leading the ACC and ranking 10th in the nation in both ERA (3.91) and hits allowed per nine innings (7.77), while the team’s 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings ranked eighth nationally and the Irish’s 615 set a school record.
Helping lead the Irish to a magical 2021 campaign as well, Ristano saw them go from unranked to as high as No. 2 in the nation and fall just one game short of advancing to Omaha for the College World Series.
The 2021 Irish pitching staff also ranked as one of the best in the ACC on the way to the program’s first Super Regional appearance since 2002. Finishing third in the ACC with a 3.95 team ERA, Notre Dame had three pitchers among the Top-10 conference ERA leaders, while Bertrand and Tanner Kohlhepp both earned all-conference selections, with Bertrand becoming the first Irish pitcher to garner first team conference honors since Adam Norton in 2013.
During the shortened 2020 season, Ristano’s staff was one of the toughest to get hits against in the country, as Irish pitchers led the ACC and ranked seventh nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (5.85) while Tommy Vail finished second in the NCAA in WHIP with a 0.46 mark.
Ristano’s arms also set a new standard at Notre Dame in the 2017 MLB Draft, as five of his pitchers were selected, with Peter Solomon, Sean Guenther and Brad Bass all going in the first seven rounds. It marked the most selections over the first seven rounds in school history and the third time Notre Dame produced three picks in the opening 10 rounds of a single draft.
A key part of the program’s successful transition from the Big East to the ACC, Ristano helped guide the Irish to the 2015 NCAA Tournament, Notre Dame’s first appearance in the tournament in nearly a decade. That postseason run also featured Ryan Smoyer earning Third-Team All-ACC honors and the duo of Brad Bass and Sean Guenther collecting Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America accolades.
Notre Dame’s final year in the Big East saw a pair of Ristano’s pitchers earn All-Big East honors in 2013, as Dan Slania led the league in ERA (1.21) and saves (13), while Adam Norton was third nationally with three shutouts.
Arriving in South Bend for the 2011 season, Ristano’s impact was immediate with improvements from the year before in ERA (down to 3.42 from 5.95), quality starts (up to 33 from 11) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (up to 2.57 from 1.73).
Prior to Notre Dame, Ristano served as Temple’s pitching coach during the 2010 season and spent four seasons (2006-2009) on the coaching staff at Monmouth. During his time on the Monmouth staff, Ristano helped the Hawks claim back-to-back Northeast Conference regular-season titles (2007, 2008) and win the NEC Tournament in both 2007 and 2009. Under Ristano, three Monmouth pitchers were drafted and eight signed professional contracts, including 2007 NEC Pitcher of the Year and future MLB reliever Brad Brach as well as 2007 NEC Rookie of the Year Ryan Buch.
A native of Valley Stream, N.Y., Ristano began his coaching career at his alma mater, Sacred Heart, helping the Pioneers to the program’s first NEC Tournament appearance in 2005 and tutoring a pair of all-conference first-teamers, including 2005 NEC Pitcher of the Year Jay Monti.
Outside of his college coaching experience, Ristano has also served as a pitching coach and manager for the 2019 and 2022 USA Baseball 16U/17U National Team Development Program, a program that identifies, evaluates, coaches and selects the most elite players in the country for eventual placement on the 18U National Team.
Additionally, during the 2021 MLB Home Run Derby, Ristano was the pitcher for former Baltimore Oriole and Notre Dame star Trey Mancini, with Mancini finishing as the runner-up in the midsummer event.
A four-year letterwinner for the Sacred Heart baseball team, Ristano was also a two-time captain and four-time NEC All-Academic honoree for the Pioneers. Graduating from SHU in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in sports management, Ristano then earned a master’s degree in sports management from Liberty University in 2018.
Ristano and his wife, Lizzy – a 17-year member of the Notre Dame softball coaching staff and the 2001 Big EAST Player of the Year for the Irish – have a daughter, Jane, and son, CJ.
