| Dennis McManus' 31st season will be this last for Plymouth State. Plymouth State athletics photo |
PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Veteran Plymouth State University head baseball coach Dennis McManus has announced that he will retire from coaching at the end of the upcoming college baseball season. McManus will coach his 31st and final season for the Panthers in 2015.
Associate Head Coach Clay Jenkins, who is in his fourth year on the staff as Pitching Coach, will take over as head coach of the Panthers at the end of the season.
“I always told the players and my assistant coaches,” said McManus, “‘when it stops being fun, you should get out.’ Part of it is still fun: I still love the game and the kids, and the interacting with the people, but the other day-to-day stuff is getting old. It’s time, it’s just time.”
The Panthers have been solid New England contenders during the McManus era, earning post-season bids 13 times from 1984-2002. He earned his 300th career victory with the final win of the 2001 season, and his 400th win in April 2009. McManus heads into the 2015 season with 490 career wins, which ranks 42nd among active NCAA Division III Baseball coaches.
PSU finished with a 22-16 record under McManus in 2014, and finished tied for fourth in the Little East Conference regular season race, the team's best finish in 15 seasons.
“Dennis is one of the finest individuals I’ve had the good fortune to work with,” said PSU Director of Athletics John Clark. “We’ve known each other and worked together for 40 years… he is one of the finest role models for integrity of anyone I know, and his programs have always been run with the highest level of class and sportsmanship. His student-athletes are always gentlemen and good students, and the top priority is on students graduating and being good citizens on and off the field. We wish him the very best in his “post-coaching” days.”
A 1973 graduate of Plymouth State, McManus, 62, earned a master's degree from Indiana University. He had a stint at Northeastern University as the ice hockey trainer before coming to PSU as head athletic trainer in 1979. After one year as assistant baseball coach in 1984, McManus took over as head coach a year later.
McManus led the Panthers to seven ECAC post-season berths from 1985-96, and Little East Conference Tournament berths from 1997-2001. PSU made noise in the 2012 LEC Tournament, posting three upset victories to advance to the championship game.
“I’m proud that over the years we tried to do things the right way,” said McManus. “We worked hard and didn’t cut corners. I’m proud of all the guys that are still involved in baseball. Those and the relationships are the things I’ll remember…. the kids, the personalities, the interaction with the players, and being a part of their college experience. It was an honor and a pleasure coaching all the guys over the years, and working with longtime assistant coaches Guy Kenneson and Dave Anderson and a slew of younger assistant coaches who got their start at Plymouth State as well.”
McManus coached the Laconia American Legion baseball team from 1993-95, winning the 1993 New Hampshire State Championship, the only title in Laconia’s 89 years of American Legion baseball, and finishing runner-up at the regional tournament. He served the first three seasons (2001-03) as manager of the Concord Quarry Dogs of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, advancing to the NECBL Tournament in two of the three seasons.
The veteran Panther coach has also been active on numerous NCAA and ECAC Selection Committees, and is past president of the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association. He received the Jack Butterfield Award from the NEIBA for “outstanding work and devotion to college baseball,” and he was presented the Patricia Storer Award by Plymouth State University for “commitment and service to the University Community.”
“Dennis’ impact on the baseball program goes beyond the playing field in a quiet and unassuming way,” added Clark. “He has been instrumental in the community with civic activities, such as working with the Hunger and Homelessnes program. He’s always wanted to use participation in baseball for students to develop lifelong qualities, like lifetime community service.”
Originally from Concord, N.H. (Bishop Brady HS ’79), McManus has been married to his wife Debbie for 27 years and has two daughters and two grandchildren. He plans to remain in the Plymouth area, work on his golf game, and become PSU’s newest SuperFan.
| Clay Jenkins will lead the Panthers after the end of the 2015 season. Plymouth State athletics photo |
Associate Head Coach Clay Jenkins: Clay Jenkins is in his fourth season as Plymouth State Baseball Pitching Coach and his second season as Associate Head Coach. An Easton, N.H native, Jenkins was a standout pitcher at both nearby Profile High School and then Franklin Pierce University.
During his collegiate playing career (2004-2007), Jenkins was a versatile pitcher used in a variety of situations. As a captain and Academic All-American his senior year, Jenkins helped lead Franklin Pierce University to the Division II College World Series for the second consecutive year by accumulating a 6-1 record and one save with a 1.88 ERA in 22 appearances. Among the all-time leaders in both single season and career appearances, Jenkins brings not only experience, but a strategic mind-set to the Panther pitching staff.
After playing at Franklin Pierce University, Jenkins played professionally for a short stint in the Frontier League with the Kalamazoo Kings in Kalamazoo, Mich. In addition to his Bachelor’s degree in Finance/Management from Franklin Pierce, Jenkins earned his Master’s degree in Global Business and Project Management from Southern New Hampshire University in 2012.
“The PSU Baseball program is going to be in good hands,” said McManus. “I wouldn’t step away unless I was sure of that. It was always one of my concerns as to what would happen when I left. I wouldn’t just want them to put an ad in the paper. Part of the timing of this decision coincided with Clay coming on board. When you do something for 31 years, you want it to be in good hands when you leave, and it is.”