Villanova Promotes Mulvey To Head Coach

Kevin Mulvey, assistant coach to Joe Godri at Villanova and a former big leaguer best known for being part of the Mets’ trade for Johan Santana, was promoted Thursday to head coach, replacing Godri, whose contract was not renewed last month.

Mulvey, 31, is a Villanova graduate, and returned to the school for the 2013 season to begin his coaching career. He has served as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator throughout his tenure with the Wildcats.

Athletic director Mark Jackson said in a statement he is excited for Mulvey to take over the program.

“His knowledge and experience at all levels of baseball, his respect and concern for our student-athletes, and his vision for the program stood out amongst a pool of highly qualified candidates,” he said. “Above all, as a Villanovan, Kevin understands the University’s mission and culture, which will be the foundation of his leadership.”

During his playing career at Villanova, Mulvey went 14-16, 4.46 with 222 strikeouts in 244 innings. The righthander was drafted 62nd overall by the Mets in 2006. He was a part of the package the Mets traded to the Twins in 2008 in exchange for Santana. He made his major league debut the next year and ultimately made 10 appearances for the Twins and Diamondbacks from 2009-2010.

Mulvey’s playing career ended after the 2012 season, and he immediately began his coaching career. He helped guide the Wildcats to a 4.14 team ERA in 2015, their lowest team ERA in 20 years.

Villanova went 20-32 this spring, including a 5-13 mark in Big East Conference play. The Wildcats last made the NCAA tournament in 1991.

2016 COACHING CHANGES
School	Departures	Arrivals
Alabama	Mitch Gaspard	Greg Goff
Alabama State	Mervyl Melendez	Jose Vazquez
Appalachian State	Billy Jones
Army	Matt Reid	Jim Foster
Butler	Steve Farley	Dave Schrage
Central Florida	Terry Rooney	Greg Lovelady
Florida International	Turtle Thomas	Mervyl Melendez
Furman	Ron Smith	Brett Harker
Jacksonville	Tim Montez	Chris Hayes
Kentucky	Gary Henderson	Nick Mingione
Lamar	Jim Gilligan (ret.)	Will Davis
Liberty	Jim Toman
Louisiana Tech	Greg Goff	Lane Burroughs
Missouri	Tim Jamieson	Steve Bieser
Nebraska-Omaha	Bob Herold
Northwestern State	Lane Burroughs	Bobby Barbier
Oakland	John Musachio	Jacke Heale, Colin Kaline
Purdue	Doug Schreiber	Mark Wasikowski
San Jose State	Dave Nakama	Jason Hawkins
South Dakota State	Dave Schrage
SIU-Edwardsville	Tony Stoecklin	Sean Lyons
Southeast Missouri State	Steve Bieser
Texas	Augie Garrido	David Pierce
Tulane	David Pierce
Villanova	Joe Godri	Kevin Mulvey
Wright State	Greg Lovelady	Jeff Mercer
Youngstown State	Steve Gillispie	Dan Bertolini