Finwood, 39, comes to the Hill from Auburn, where he has served as an assistant coach for five seasons and helped lead the Tigers to three NCAA Regionals in his first four seasons. He replaces Joel Murrie, who will retire at the end of the 2005 season after 26 years at the helm of the Hilltopper program.
“Obviously I’m very excited to join a program with such a great tradition like Western Kentucky,” said Finwood. “I see the future being very bright for Hilltopper baseball, and the support of the university and the community lends itself to us being very competitive.
“I still have some unfinished business to take care of with our season at Auburn, but it’s hard not to be excited about what the future holds at Western Kentucky. I‘m looking forward to getting up to Bowling Green and getting started.”
During his time at Auburn, Finwood has been responsible for all aspects of the Tiger defense, while also coordinating the program’s recruiting efforts. In his five seasons, Auburn has posted five winning seasons and combining for 178 victories — including 31 so far in 2005. The Tigers made the NCAA Tournament field in each of his first three seasons, earning a top-seed and hosting a regional in 2003 after a 42-21 season and second-place finish with the West Division of the Southeastern Conference.
In his first four seasons, he oversaw a defense that posted the two best fielding percentages in school history, finishing at .970 in 2002 and .968 in 2003. That 2002 fielding percentage also ranked second in the SEC and 12th nationally.
“Chris Finwood has established himself as one of the elite assistant coaches in the nation, helping entrench Auburn as one of the elite programs in the SEC,” said WKU Director of Athletics Dr. Wood Selig. “We feel that coach Finwood’s previous head coaching experience, combined with his current involvement at Auburn, translate into him being the ideal leader for Western Kentucky baseball.”
Prior to joining the staff at Auburn, the Hampton, Va., native spent six seasons at Virginia Commonwealth — four seasons as an assistant (1995-98) before serving as the Rams’ associate head coach in 1999 and ‘00. Finwood helped guide VCU to a 219-139 record in six years in Richmond. In his six seasons, VCU claimed Colonial Athletic Association regular-season titles in 1997 and ‘98. The Rams also earned trips to the NCAA Tournament in 1998 and ‘99, winning 40-plus games each season, including a school-record 46 victories during the ‘98 campaign.
Finwood began his coaching career at his alma mater — Virginia Military Institute — serving as an assistant for three seasons before taking over the head coaching duties from 1992-94. After inheriting a VMI team that had won just two games the year before, Finwood led the Keydets to a school-record 21 wins in ‘93 and ‘94, and a berth in the 1993 Southern Conference Tournament championship game.
A four-year starter at VMI from 1985-88, Finwood was named to the Southern Conference all-Northern Division team three times. A career .300 hitter, he posted a .399 batting average as a senior — the sixth-best average in school history. He was also named team captain during his senior season, and finished his career with the Keydets ranked second in hits and runs scored. Finwood was inducted into the VMI Athletics Hall of Fame in the summer of 2003.
Finwood and his wife Annette have two children — a daughter Riley (12) and son Greyson (9).
The Finwood File — Born: Jan. 20, 1966 in Plattsburgh, N.Y. High School: Hampton (Va.) High School High School Athletics: Varsity Baseball (3 years), Varsity Basketball (3 years) College: Virginia Military Institute, 1988 (BA, English) College Athletics: Baseball (1985-88), shortstop, four letters (Three-time Southern Conference all-North division) Coaching Experience: Virginia Military Institute, Assistant Coach, 1989-90; 1991 Radford, Assistant Coach, Fall 1990 Virginia Military Institute, Head Coach, 1992-94 Virginia Commonwealth, Assistant Coach, 1995-98 Virginia Commonwealth, Associate Head Coach, 1999-2000 Auburn, Assistant Coach, 2001-05 Wife: Annette Children: One daughter, Riley (12); one son, Greyson (9)
