E-Mail: tgdavid@samford.edu

Tony David enters his fifth season at Samford, and his 14th in coaching overall. He serves as the recruiting coordinator, infield instructor and assists with hitters. The 2009 season will be David's fourth as the team's Associate Head Coach, where he was promoted to after his first year at Samford. Overall in his coaching career at all levels, he has coached two future major leaguers (Jake Peavy, Adam Lind) as well as a total of 14 players that would be drafted and/or signed contracts with major league baseball.

"We have had an incredible start to what our overall plans," David said. "The move to the Southern Conference is an outstanding next step for us. The momentum has begun with three successful seasons as the first stages to get to all of our major goals."

He has helped coordinate the three best recruiting classes in Samford's baseball history with his first three groups, all classes receiving recognition by being nationally ranked by Collegiate Baseball. The 2007 class was the top ranked class in the Southern Conference. More importantly, those classes have made an impact with the first conference championship in school history in 2006, the first back-to-back winning seasons since the 1960's, first two All-Americans, highest draft pick in school history, draft picks in back to back years for the first time, and the three highest win totals ever at Samford.

The Bulldogs have averaged 33 wins a season the last three years after averaging 18 the previous 15 seasons. The 2008 season produced the most regular season victories (33) at the school and boasted the longest current home winning streak (16) during the season. David's top infielder, Mikey Marseco, widely considered one of the top defensive shortstops in the nation was selected in the 11th round by the Milwaukee Brewers in addition to his third All Conference selection.

In three of the four seasons, David has led the bulldog defense as one of the top defenses in the conference including consecutive seasons as the top defensive team in conference. The 2007 squad finished the year with a spectacular .981 fielding percentage in conference after a 2006 season that led the way at .973. Despite inheriting an infield without a true shortstop, David helped lead the 2005 team to a fielding percentage that was second overall in the conference.

Marseco earned All-Conference honors for the second season in a row in 2007, while also leading the team in hitting with a .360 batting average. Marseco was also the first Freshmen All-American for his work in the 2006 season. In addition to Marseco, third baseman Parker Gargis also earned All-Conference honors in 2006 while leading the team with a .396 batting average.

David spent the 2004 season as an assistant coach at his alma mater, South Alabama. He helped lead the squad to its fourth consecutive Sun Belt Conference Championship. While assisting with infield instruction and overseeing the outfield, David managed an outfield that would produce two major league draft picks (Adam Lind - 3rd Round, Kevin Williams - 30th Round).

Before returning to South Alabama, David spent six seasons as the head coach at Bayside Academy in Daphne, Ala. David was hired in 1998 to start the program from scratch and watched it grow from nine players the first season to well over forty in his last. He established a consistent winner, never suffered a losing season, and finished with an overall record of 91-64. David also served as a coach at the University of South Alabama Baseball Camps for eleven years. Building on that experience, including the last four years as the director of those camps, he serves as the Director of the Samford Baseball Winter and Summer Camps.

David began his high school coaching career an assistant coach at Citronelle High School in Citronelle, Ala., in 1997. In the summer of 1996, David was the head coach of the high school summer select team in the NABF for the Mobile Bears Baseball team, leading the team to a 55-5 record and runner-up finish at the NABF World Series. David played at South Alabama in 1994 and 1995, helping lead the team to the 1994 Sun Belt Conference Regular Season Championship. As a senior in 1995, David received the Eddie Stanky Award on a team ranked as high as 13th in the nation, finishing the year with an NCAA Regional Appearance in Tallahassee. In his two years at USA, the Jaguars compiled a record of 73-42.

David is married to the former Bethany Snodgrass, a South Alabama graduate. The couple has two daughters, Peyton Elizabeth, who will be four years old in January, and Addison Nicole, who will be two years old also in January.