Southeastern Louisiana University Athletics

2025 Southland Conference Coach of the Year
2018 ABCA Central Region Coach of the Year
2018 LSWA Louisiana Coach of the Year
2018 Southland Conference Coach of the Year

Veteran coach, and Louisiana native, Bobby Barbier was named the 18th head baseball coach in Southeastern history on June 5, 2023.
 
In his first season at the helm, Barbier led SLU to its first winning record in three years (30-28) and established program single-season records for home runs and fan attendance along the way. The No. 6-seeded Lions picked up a pair of wins in the North Oaks Health System Southland Conference Baseball Championship, advancing to the semifinal round.
 
Brennan Stuprich, TJ Salvaggio and Shea Thomas each earned first-team All-Conference honors while left-handed pitcher Larson Fabre was named the Southland Conference Freshman of the Year. Salvaggio and Thomas joined Rhett Rosevear and Jackson Rodriguez on the Southland’s All-Academic squad.
 
Four SLU hitters produced double-figure home run totals – Salvaggio (13), Parker Coley (12), Jude Hall (12) and Thomas (10) – as the Lions blasted 86 home runs as a team, besting the previous program record by three.
 
Hall, Coley and Justin Williams would each earn Southland Conference Hitter of the Week honors during the season, while Stuprich was named the conference’s Pitcher of the Week twice.
 
A grand total of 51,112 fans were in attendance for Lion games at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field during the 2024 season, an average of 1,460 per game. Both totals established new program records along with leading the conference.
 
Barbier previously served as the head coach at his alma mater, Northwestern State, from 2017-2023.
 
During his seven-year tenure as the head baseball coach, Barbier left his imprint on the Northwestern State baseball program - from leading the Demons to their first Southland Conference Tournament championship in 2018 to coaching the first single-season trio of All-Americans in Demon baseball history.
 
Eight Northwestern State players were drafted during Barbier’s time at the helm, including a pitcher in each of his last five seasons, while former Miami Marlin right-hander Adam Oller spent two seasons with Barbier as his pitching coach.
 
In 2020, right-handed pitchers Logan Hofmann (second-team Collegiate Baseball), Jonathan Harmon (Collegiate Baseball Freshman) and Kyle Swanson (third-team CoSIDA Academic) earned All-American honors.
 
During the COVID-19 shortened season, Hofmann led the nation in ERA (0.00) and struck out 38 batters in 28 innings, becoming a fifth-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates, giving NSU consecutive seasons with the highest draft selection in the Southland Conference.
 
Behind that trio, the Demons ranked fifth nationally in team ERA (2.05), 10th in hits allowed per nine innings (5.97) and 12th in shutouts (3). All three totals led the Southland Conference.
 
One year after engineering the largest single-season turnaround in program history — a jump of 18 wins — the Demons returned to the Southland Conference Tournament in 2019 and produced a pair of Major League Baseball draftees for the second time in as many seasons.
 
Right-handed pitcher Nathan Jones became the first top-five-round draft pick from Northwestern State since 2012. Junior shortstop Caleb Ricca then was tabbed by Seattle in the 23rd round.
 
Jones (second team), Ricca (third team) and outfielder Tyler Smith (third team) were named All-Southland Conference in 2019, giving NSU nine all-league players in the first three years of the Barbier era.
 
In 2018, en route to the Demons’ first NCAA Regional appearance since Barbier’s junior season of 2005, the Demons won 18 more games than they had the previous season and captured the first Southland Conference Tournament championship in program history. Northwestern State’s 38 victories were also its most since winning 41 games during the 2005 season.
 
Three Demons earned individual acclaim from both the Southland Conference and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. Barbier was both organization’s Coach of the Year and earned the Central Region Coach of the Year award from the American Baseball Coaches Association.
 
Catcher/first baseman David Fry was the Southland Conference’s Player of the Year and the LSWA’s Hitter of the Year while right-handed pitcher Jerry Maddox was both the Southland and LSWA Newcomer of the Year.
 
Fry was named a third-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball Magazine, giving Northwestern State its second All-American in three seasons, joining Adam Oller, who earned the honor during Barbier’s term as the Demons’ pitching coach.
 
That role was one Barbier resumed in 2018, and his impact was immediately measurable.
 
In addition to Maddox’ first-team All-Louisiana and second-team All-Southland Conference selections, fellow junior Ridge Heisler was a third-team all-conference selection. Overall, the Demons shaved more than two and a half runs from their ERA, pitching to a 3.41 mark in 2018. That number ranked 18th nationally and was 2.65 lower than the previous season.
 
Following the Demons’ run to the NCAA Corvallis Regional, half of the NSU senior class heard its name called in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Fry was a seventh-round selection by the Milwaukee Brewers while center fielder Kwan Adkins, a third-team All-SLC pick, was nabbed by the San Francisco Giants in the 30th round.
 
During Barbier’s first season, Fry produced the first 20-double, 10-home run season in school history, earning first-team American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings All-South Central Region honors.
 
Before becoming the 12th head coach in the more than 100 years of Northwestern State baseball history, Barbier spent two stints as an assistant coach with the Demons.
 
He spent the 2015 and 2016 seasons helping the Demons craft two of the lowest ERAs in recent Northwestern State baseball history.
 
In addition to helping guide Oller to a pair of All-American selections, Barbier’s tutelage led the Demons staff to a 3.01 ERA that ranked ninth nationally.
 
Oller wrapped up a season in which he went 8-1, posted a 1.23 ERA (third-lowest nationally) and earned Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year honors, along with All-American nods from Louisville Slugger/ Collegiate Baseball magazine and the American Baseball Coaches Association.
 
In his first season, Barbier helped the NSU staff post a 3.55 ERA while Josh Oller became the program’s first 10-game winner in 11 years and Brandon Smith tied the program record for single-season saves (10). The overall ERA marked an improvement of more than one run from 2014 and was the lowest mark since 2002 (3.54).
 
Between his two coaching stints at his alma mater, Barbier joined former NSU head coach Mitch Gaspard’s staff at the University of Alabama, where he spent five seasons (2010-2014) as the Crimson Tide’s third base coach.
 
While at Alabama, Barbier coached five All-Southeastern Conference selections, including Academic All-American Taylor Dugas. Twelve Alabama players were selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft during Barbier’s Crimson Tide tenure.
 
He was also part of a Crimson Tide coaching staff that led Alabama to four regional appearances, including the Atlanta Regional championship and a berth in the 2010 Clemson Super Regional.
 
Barbier’s responsibilities at Alabama included coaching outfielders, assisting with catchers and infielders, directing camps and scouting and being heavily involved in recruiting. Barbier also was the staff’s academic coordinator. Barbier was a key contributor on the field as Alabama’s defense set a school record for fielding percentage in 2011.
 
During his first stint as a Demon assistant, Barbier coached NSU infielders and hitters as well as acting as the team’s base running coordinator. Under his tutelage, NSU led the Southland Conference in stolen bases with 99. Barbier also coordinated travel, field maintenance and team academics as an NSU assistant.
 
On the field, Barbier saw the majority of his playing time at first base, earning honorable mention all-conference accolades in 2004 and first-team All-Southland honors in 2005, while helping lead NSU to the 2005 Southland Conference title and an NCAA Baton Rouge Regional berth.
 
During his Northwestern State playing career, Barbier epitomized the term student-athlete. In addition to being awarded the Southland’s top individual academic honor, Barbier was a 2004 Academic All-American and part of the 2005 Southland Conference All-Academic Team.
 
The 2006 Southland Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year, Barbier played four seasons for the Demons and still ranks in the program's career top 10 for HBPs (2nd, 44), RBIs (4th, 130), games played (7th, 209), doubles (T-10th, 33), hits (10th, 181) and total bases (10th, 267).
 
Barbier earned both a bachelor’s degree (2006) and master’s degree (2008) in health and human performance from Northwestern State. The son of former Nicholls football coach Darren Barbier, he is married to the former Kody Sprout. The couple has one daughter, Landry.


THE BOBBY BARBIER FILE
Head Coach
Year: Overall Record, (Conference), NCAA Finish
2017: 20-34 (10-20), n/a                                
2018: 38-24 (18-12), NCAA Corvallis Regional      
2019: 30-25 (15-15), n/a                    
2020: 12-4 (2-1), Rest of season canceled due to COVID-19 Pandemic                  
2021: 27-26 (20-16), n/a                    
2022: 25-29 (12-12), n/a                    
2023: 29-27 (12-12), n/a 
2024: 30-28 (10-14), n/a                   
TOTAL: 211-197 (Overall); 99-102 (SLC)
 
Coaching Career
2007: Student Assistant, Northwestern State
2007-09: Assistant Coach, Northwestern State
2010-14: Volunteer Assistant, Alabama
2015-16: Assistant Coach, Northwestern State
2017-23: Head Coach, Northwestern State (181-169/89-88 SLC)
2024-: Head Coach, Southeastern Louisiana
 
Playing Career
Northwestern State: 2003-06, Academic All-American (2004), All-Southland Conference (2005), Southland Conference Baseball Student-Athlete of the Year (2006)
 
Personal
College: Northwestern State, B.A. in Human Performance (2006); M.S. in Human Performance (2008)
Family: Wife - Kody; Daughter - Landry