Villano Named New Head Baseball Coach at WIU

MACOMB, Ill. -- Central Michigan baseball assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Mike Villano has been hired as the head coach at Western Illinois University.

Villano, who was approaching his seventh season at Central Michigan, spent five seasons as the program's pitching coach before switching last season to hitting instructor.

CMU boasted one of the Mid-American Conference's top pitching staffs throughout Villano's tenure as pitching coach. During the 2008 season, the Chippewas paced the MAC in ERA and issued the fewest walks per nine innings in the league. CMU also tossed the most complete games and issued the fewest home runs. In 2007 the Maroon and Gold hurlers were equally impressive, ranking second in the league in ERA, opponent's batting average, total strikeouts and strikeouts per nine.

"Mike and I didn't know each other when I hired him, and it's been a great voyage," head CMU baseball coach Steve Jaksa said. "We've become good friends and I couldn't be happier for him. He went through the steps and did the work necessary to become a head coach. He knew he could stay here indefinitely if that's what he wanted, but I knew there was a part of him that wanted to see what he could do with his own program."

Villano also worked with 2007 MAC Pitcher of the Year and Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Josh Collmenter. The third-team All-American was 9-4 with a 1.93 ERA, including an 8-1 record with a 0.71 ERA in nine MAC starts.

As a recruiting coordinator, Villano's 2006 recruiting class was ranked as the No. 1 group in the Midwest by Collegiate Baseball.

"We have a strong mutual respect, and Mike did a outstanding job for this program," Jaksa said. "He understood the great tradition we have here at CMU, including developing a solid relationship with our alumni. I know he will take that same passion to Western Illinois."

Villano was a four-time all-conference selection at Saginaw Valley State and earned Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year honors in 1991. He was drafted in the 24th round by the San Francisco Giants in 1994 and played pro baseball for nine seasons, highlighted by a promotion to the Major Leagues with the Florida Marlins in 1998.