Cliff Godwin Earns Contract Extension Through 2029

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina University Board of Trustees on Thursday approved a contract extension for head baseball coach Cliff Godwin. In addition to securing Godwin's position through June 30, 2029, the new agreement also includes coaching staff performance incentives.

"I'm extremely grateful to Dr. Philip Rogers, Jon Gilbert, J.J. McLamb and the East Carolina University Board of Trustees for allowing me and our staff to continue leading this program," Godwin said. "It's an honor and a privilege to be the head baseball coach at ECU. There are very few people who have the opportunity to lead their alma mater and I hold that responsibility in the highest regard."

During his eight years at the helm of the program, Godwin, a four-time American Athletic Conference Coach-of-the-Year, has guided ECU to six NCAA Regional berths (2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022 Greenville Regional host), four Super Regional appearances (2022 Greenville Super Regional), three American regular season and three AAC Tournament crowns while posting a 304-151-1 (.668) overall record. Twenty players have earned All-America status, while 23 were NCAA All-Regional selections, 33 were named all-conference (26 first teamers) and 14 were drafted by Major League Baseball teams.

"We are fortunate to have Cliff Godwin leading our baseball program into the future," ECU Director of Athletics Jon Gilbert said. "Cliff is a Pirate, he wants to be here, he understands what it means to be a student-athlete, and he brings a competitive drive and enthusiasm every day to make our program one of the nation's best.

"The success of our baseball program over the past four years is truly remarkable with four-straight NCAA Regional appearances and three consecutive trips to the Super Regional. It doesn't happen without dedication, discipline and accountability from our student-athletes, coaches and staff."

Off the field, his teams have excelled in the classroom by registering a 3.40 or higher grade point average for 10 consecutive semesters including a team-best 3.69 during the 2021 spring semester. Under Godwin, a two-time Academic All-America selection as a player at ECU, the Pirates have combined to have over 350 members on the East Carolina Director of Athletics Honor Roll (3.0 GPA or higher). In Godwin's eight years leading the program, 125-plus student-athletes have earned AAC All-Academic Team honors – including 37 of 38 members from the 2022 club.

ECU has also earned seven-straight AAC and six consecutive American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Team Academic Excellence Awards while boasting the highest team GPA of all baseball programs in The American since the 2015-16 academic year. Five players have earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors since 2016 (Travis Watkins/2016 first team, Charlie Yorgen/2016 third team, Jake Agnos/2019 first team, Alec Burleson/2019 third team and 2020 first team and Matt Bridges/2021 third team). Burleson became the third player in program history to be named a two-time Academic All-America selection joining Godwin and Sam Narron.

In back-to-back years, ECU Baseball has also had a student-athlete presented with the Male Scholar-Athlete-of-the-Year Award by The American. Agnos was the first student-athlete in school history to win the award in 2019, which was followed by Burleson in 2020.

In the community, the Pirates have volunteered over 6,000 hours working with programs in the Pitt County area such as the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, Team IMPACT, Riley's Army, Cypress Glenn Retirement Community Flood Relief, Hurricane Relief, Red Cross, First Born Community Development Center, ACES for Autism, Make-A-Wish Foundation and the James and Connie Maynard Children's Hospital.

Players Mentioned

Matt Bridges

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