If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then George Mason head baseball coach Bill Brown should be pleased with what a few of his former assistants have accomplished so far this season.
Nick Giaquinto, Jeff Palumbo, Joe Raccuia and Shawn Stiffler, all past Mason baseball coaches under Brown, have each guided their respective programs to a spot in the 2015 NCAA Baseball Tournament; Giaquinto, Raccuia and Stiffler as head coaches while Palumbo is a top assistant and recruiting coordinator.
All four men achieved success at Mason under the tutelage of Brown, Palumbo and Stiffler first as players before they began their coaching careers as Patriots. Giaquinto was an assistant on the 1988 CAA Championship and NCAA Tournament team whereas Palumbo and Stiffer each enjoyed the success of the 2004 team that earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament; Palumbo as a senior and Stiffler as a third-year assistant coach. Raccuia helped coach the 2003 squad to a 31-20 record and a nationally ranked defense.
Giaquinto now leads the program at Sacred Heart and is in his 27th season at the helm. His first stint as a baseball coach came at Mason from 1987-88 while earning his master's degree in physical education, imparting knowledge of field vision and concentration on Brown's players after a four-year career in the NFL. He was hired at SHU the year after he completed his degree and takes the Pioneers to their fourth NCAA Tournament in 16 years as a Division I program. The Patriots went 31-23 and 34-27 in Giaquinto's two seasons with the 1988 conference championship and Regional berth.
Head coaching at Radford since 2008, Raccuio spent four seasons as the top assistant at George Mason from 2000-03. He has led the Highlanders to six straight winning seasons and guides them to their first appearance in an NCAA Regional this season. At Mason he helped recruit three freshman All-Americans and in his final season four players earned All-CAA honors, including 2003 CAA Defensive Player of the Year Jeff Palumbo. The 2003 team also finished with a .970 fielding percentage, still a team record, and a stat that ranked 21st nationally.
Palumbo played under Brown from 2001-04 and sits atop the Mason record books in five different offensive categories. He put on his Green and Gold coaching cap from 2006-08 as the recruiting coordinator and hitting coach. The 2007 team finished with a batting average of .317 and the 2008 team recorded 617 hits, both third all-time for a single season. During his time as a coach at Mason, Palumbo worked with Brown to guide four players into the professional ranks including three-time all-conference honoree Scott Krieger, as well as Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American Justin Bour. From Mason he moved onto stints at UCF and VCU before being named the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at East Carolina, which makes its 27th NCAA Regional appearance this season and first since 2012.
Stiffler was a Patriot from 1998-2001 and coached at Mason for a slightly longer period of time that the other three. He assumed duties as the pitching coach at his alma mater in 2002, the year after his senior season and remained at Mason through 2006. His staff's set single-season program records for fewest walks (2003), innings pitched (2004) and strikeout to walk ratio (2005). Among his successes was pitcher Stacen Gant (2002-05), the Patriots' all-time leader in victories, winning percentage and opponent batting average. Stiffler assumed head coaching duties at VCU prior to the 2013 season after joining the program in 2007 as an assistant. He guided VCU to the 2015 Atlantic 10 Championship and their first NCAA Regional appearance since 2010, his first as a head coach.
The success of all four past Patriots can be traced back in part to Brown, three of which had their first coaching opportunity come at Mason. Brown is a three-time conference champion and seven-time NCAA Regional attendee, most recently in 2014 when Mason won the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
