Alan Dunn was at a crossroads. With Dave Trembley out and Buck Showalter in as manager of the Baltimore Orioles, Dunn had a sneaking suspicion that his job as bullpen coach was in jeopardy. “Usually when there’s change, there’s change,” Dunn said. “[I] kind of felt like [I] wasn’t going to get an opportunity to stay at the big league level.” Offered the job of pitching coordinator over the entire Orioles minor league system prior to the 2011 season, Dunn knew the new assignment would require traveling to a different city “every five days.” So when LSU head coach Paul Mainieri came calling, it was a “no-brainer.” Now, a year later, Dunn has revitalized a pitching staff that largely underachieved in 2011, all the while going back to his roots as a coach. “I got into coaching so I could be with pitchers on a daily basis, when you’re in that grind and trying to figure things out,” Dunn said. Dunn took a pitching staff who struggled with a 4.13 ERA in 2011 and transformed it into one of the deepest staffs in the country this past season, one that boasted a 3.25 ERA and held opponents to a .246 batting average. He molded sophomore Kevin Gausman into the second highest MLB draft pick in school history to his former employer, the Orioles, by working on developing his slider and pitching to his strength – an overpowering fastball. Transitioning from the refined, polished pitchers of the major leagues to the college pitchers who are sometimes wet behind the ears has not fazed the 50-year-old Alabama native. Dunn explained that no matter what level of baseball he coaches, his mantra for his pitching staffs stay the same. “I’ve always been a pitching coach that I want guys to pitch to their strengths,” Dunn said. “If they’re doing that, they’re putting them in a position to be successful.” The grind of a 162-game season in the major leagues and the focus on strictly developing pitchers in the minor leagues took away the priority to win, something Dunn longed for as he returned to college. He’s found it at LSU, calling every weekend in the Southeastern Conference “playoff” caliber games. “This is the big league level,” Dunn said. “You only play 56 games, every pitch matters, every game matters, and that’s fun.” Dunn said an energetic fanbase and self-proclaimed “major league” caliber facilities renewed his energy for the game from the time he stepped on campus. He pointed to a Coaches Committee meeting held in early October 2011, when he estimated there were around 200 people in the batting cages ready to talk baseball, a full five months before the season started. “It was refreshing for me to come in and see the passion and commitment of these fans,” Dunn said. “That’s what I’ve enjoyed about being back around the college game.” Eighteen years removed from his first job in professional baseball, Dunn has found a renewed energy for the game and a strong base on which to keep his family. “I’m extremely happy here, my family is happy here,” Dunn said. “I hope to be a part of Baton Rouge for a long time.” Mainieri said nothing would make him happier than to see his hopes become reality. “The guy is, without a doubt in my mind, the best pitching coach in the country,” Mainieri said. “If there’s a better pitching coach in the country, at any level, I’d like to meet the guy.”
 
____ Contact Chandler Rome at [email protected]