UAB Baseball Coach Announces Retirement

BIRMINGHAM, AL — UAB baseball head coach Brian Shoop announced his retirement on Sunday after a career that spanned nearly four decades. Shoop spent the last 14 seasons as UAB's head coach.

The Columbus, Ohio, native was a head coach for 31 years and compiled 1,061 career victories, including the 2001 NAIA National Championship at Birmingham-Southern.

UAB assistant coach Perry Roth, who has been with the program for 14 years alongside Shoop, has been promoted to interim head coach for the 2020-21 season.

"Brian Shoop has had a phenomenal career," said Director of Athletics Mark Ingram. "While many will point to his on-field accomplishments like winning more than 1,000 games, I am confident that he is most proud of the relationships he's built with so many young men. No one has earned the right to retire and spend time with their family more than Brian Shoop. His family means the world to him and I am lucky to have worked with such an incredible man."

After his playing career at Malone University from 1977-80, Shoop began his assistant coaching career at his alma mater from 1981-82, before being hired as an assistant at Mississippi State under current UAB volunteer assistant Ron Polk.

Shoop was at MSU from 1983-89, and earned his first head coaching position at Birmingham Southern in 1990. Shoop compiled 699 victories at BSC, and along with winning the NAIA National Championship in 2001, Shoop navigated the Panthers' move to Division I, which included a 47-18 record in 2004 and a NCAA Regional appearance.

He won the 2012 C-USA Championship with UAB, was named Conference USA's Coach of the Year in 2014 and was the recipient of the 2015 Jerry Kindall Character in Coaching Award.