Academy of Art University Athletics

Dan McDermott began as the head coach of the Academy of Art University baseball program in 2014. The 2022-23 season marked his 31st year as a head coach at the collegiate level.

It was a 2023 Academy of Art baseball season that featured career achievements, multiple Pacific West Conference recognitions, the program's second no-hitter, and a celebration of its senior class as the Urban Knights worked hard every day. McDermott notched his 800th career victory in the early part of the campaign before three different ART U student-athletes earned PacWest weekly honors including Brian Kraft who was also named NCBWA National and Regional Pitcher of the Week after tossing a no-hitter versus Concordia on Apr. 1. Cannon Secrist also made history by becoming the program's new career strikeouts leader, ending with 202 strikeouts in 201.0 total innings. He would join fellow senior Hayato Niki on the All-PacWest Third Team alongside Gabe Henderson on the Second Team at the season's end while Landon Levine secured a place on the ABCA West Region All-Defensive Team. Additionally, a grand total of 12 Knights were honored on the Academic All-PacWest Team and three were named CSC Academic All-District Team.

Back to a full schedule for the first time in nearly two full calendar years, the 2022 ART U campaign saw the Urban Knights earn a trio of victories over ranked opponents in addition to setting numerous records along the way. Following a win hosting No. 23 Concordia on Feb. 26 that saw Collin Carriger break the program's single-game strikeouts record (16), Academy of Art defeated its highest ranked opponent to date in No. 3 Point Loma twice on back-to-back days (Apr. 8 and Apr. 9). While ART U single-season program records were broken by Charles Morgan (eight home runs) and Cannon Secrist (82 strikeouts), the trio Dominic Ruggiero, Vincent Lontz, and Carriger collected All-PacWest Team honors. It was a career-best batting average for Ruggiero at .351 (47-for-134) in 35 games played, which was not only the highest average on ART U and sixth-best in the PacWest (third-best single-season average in ART U history with a minimum of 100 at-bats). Carriger tallied another career-best with a total of 86 strikeouts, fifth-most in the PacWest, while Lontz ended his ART U career with a career-best .314 (54-for-172) in 49 games played this season. Ruggiero would even take it a step further, as he was named to the Division II Conference Commissioners Association All-West Region Second Team for the first time in his career.  Additionally, baseball was represented by nine 2021-22 Academic All-PacWest recipients.

Highlighting McDermott's seventh campaign as head coach was ART U's first ever trip to the postseason, as the Urban Knights finished a single game ahead of Fresno Pacific to claim the PacWest NorCal pod title and the subsequent spot at the PacWest AQ Pod Series. Even in the shortened COVID-19 year, ART U claimed 16 victories, winning three series on the year while splitting one. The 13-11 record in PacWest play marked the first time in program history that the Knights finished conference play above .500. For the first time this season an Urban Knight was named the NCBWA West Region Pitcher of the Week, with both Matthew Sanchez (Mar. 10) and Collin Carriger (May 3) earned the honor after also being named the PacWest Pitcher of the Week (Sanchez–Mar. 8; Carriger–May 3). Playing a major role in a season-opening series win over Fresno Pacific in which he delivered seven hits in his first 10 at-bats, Adam Inouye was named the PacWest Player of the Week on Mar. 8. By the end of the campaign, four Urban Knights would earn All-PacWest honors, with Ty Conrad and Jayson Summers named to the All-PacWest Second Team while Dominic Ruggiero and Andrew Shebloski found spots on the All-PacWest Third Team. The accolades kept rolling in for Conrad in the postseason, earning selections to each of the 2021 ABCA/Rawlings NCAA DII West All-Region Second Team, 2021 D2CCA All-Region Second Team, and 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-District Team. Additionally, baseball was represented by 10 2020-21 Academic All-PacWest recipients. 

The Urban Knights' 2020 campaign, McDermott's sixth at the helm, was highlighted by several dominant pitching performances as well as an epic nine-run comeback against Central Washington, but was ultimately halted by the COVID-19 global pandemic. At the spring's conclusion, the team collected nine Academic All-PacWest honors with four of those also resulting in D2 ADA Academic Achievement Awards.

In 2019, ART U put together the best offensive numbers in program history. They set new team records in runs (234), hits (428), and runs batted in (212). The Knights also broke the single-season doubles (77) and triples (16) record, and set the mark for highest team batting average in history at .282. Four players were selected to the All-PacWest Team and a pair to the All-West Region Team. The regional honors were the first such accolades in the history of the program.

For the third consecutive season, Academy of Art baseball improved its overall wins record under McDermott in 2018. The Urban Knights concluded the year 24-25 overall and sixth in the PacWest Conference standings. ART U swept Dixie State and Holy Names while also winning season series against Simpson, UH Hilo, and Hawaii Pacific. Additionally, three Knights were named to the All-PacWest Team including second baseman Elijah Smith, LHP Alex Fernandez, and RHP Chris Rost. Along the way, McDermott was inducted into two Hall of Fames (Colorado Dugout Club and the Briar Cliff College Hall of Fame).

ART U improved once more in 2017, finishing the year with a 20-30 overall record that featured a tie for sixth place in the PacWest Conference standings. The campaign was highlighted by a 4-3 win over No. 9 Azusa Pacific on Mar. 31 as well as RHP Jacob Green earning All-PacWest Second Team honors.

In 2016, the Urban Knights achieved the most successful season in the history of the program, as the team posted the most season victories and their highest PacWest finish. Highlights included series victories against Chico State, Sonoma State, Holy Names, and Fresno Pacific University. During the course of the season, LHP Alex Kuisel, RHP Daniel Farfan, and RHP Brett Bovee all earned PacWest weekly honors. The season saw the establishment of 17 new individual, career and team records. McDermott earned his 700th collegiate victory as a head coach on May 7, 2016. He is one of only 20 active NCAA II coaches to achieve this milestone. Senior centerfielder, Joey Marchini was a West Region selection and national nominee for the prestigious Rawlings Gold Glove Award.

In McDermott’s first year at ART U, the Urban Knights finished tied for the second-most wins in program history and had one of their student-athletes, All-PacWest Second Team senior pitcher Nate Gercken, drafted in the 17th round of the MLB Draft. Additionally, junior center fielder Joseph Marchini was an All-PacWest Team honoree after he posted a .321 average. The team set 11 new single-season ART U records in 2015.

The 2014 hiring of McDermott completed a full circle in a college coaching career that spans over three decades. McDermott returned to the Bay Area where he began his collegiate baseball coaching as an assistant at Saint Mary’s College of California during a four year span from 1985-89. Subsequent positions included appointments in Iowa and Colorado at both the collegiate and professional level.

McDermott finished his 13-year tenure at Regis University in Denver, Colorado as the winningest coach in program history. He led Regis to a NCAA Top 20 ranking in both 2004 and 2006, and the squad qualified for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) playoffs nine separate seasons, including his last seven seasons. Under McDermott, the 2003 RMAC Coach of the Year, the Rangers produced eleven NCAA All-Americans, seven Academic All-Americans and 12 Major League Baseball  selections. The Rangers reached the NCAA Regionals as recently as 2012. It was more than simply on the field success for McDermott’s squad, however, as they consistently placed in the top tier in team academic achievements. The team earned the inaugural Paul Brechler Award for the Highest Team GPA in the RMAC in 2013.

Prior to his extensive stay at Regis (1998-2013), McDermott served for nine years as the head baseball coach at Briar Cliff University, a NAIA institution in Sioux City, Iowa. There he was the winningest coach in program history as well, collectively going 345-181 (.656). The Chargers achieved a national Top 20 ranking for six consecutive years from 1992-1997 and were District Champions on for occasions. McDermott was a five-time District Coach of the Year, guiding twelve NAIA All-Americans, five MLB Draft selections and 23 All-Region honorees.

During his baseball coaching career, McDermott served as an assistant Saint Mary’s College and Metro State University of Denver, and the pitching coach at both Colorado School of Mines and Regis University. He also coached for the Sioux City Explorers of the Northern League for four seasons.

Accepting the position at Academy of Art, McDermott returned to California where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Saint Mary’s College in Moraga. While with the Gaels, he played for legendary coach, Miles McAfee.

A native of Wheat Ridge, Colorado, McDermott, and his wife Joan, parents of six children, live in San Francisco. Joan is the Director of Athletics at the University of San Francisco.