Ed Servais Named Head Baseball Coach
7/29/2003 7:00:00 AM | Baseball
OMAHA, Neb. -- Ed Servais, associate head baseball coach at Creighton the past six seasons, has been promoted to be the program’s new head coach. Servais succeeds Jack Dahm, who resigned after 10 seasons on June 27, 2003. Upon his hiring, Servais completed his staff by naming Travis Wyckoff and Dan Heefner as his assistant coaches.
“In the past few weeks I made a tremendous number of phone calls and talked to many people about our baseball program,” said Creighton Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen. “I am convinced the best person to lead our program at this time under these circumstances is Ed Servais.”
“Ed was very successful as a head coach and has done a good job as an assistant at Creighton for the past six years,” said Rasmussen. “He is known as a great teacher of the game and is a man of very high character. Ed has held our team together over the past few weeks under less than ideal circumstances and has the solid support of our players. The baseball players and their families are also to be commended for their patience and understanding during this process.”
Head Coach Ed Servais
Ed Servais will enter his seventh season at Creighton with a promotion to head coach of the Bluejays. Servais has previously been a head coach at both St. Mary’s University (Winona, Minn.) and Viterbo College (La Crosse, Wis.), owning a combined mark of 182-82-1 (.689) from 1988-95.
“It’s an exciting opportunity because we have so many good student-athletes returning,” said Servais. “I’ve known all along that we have a great group of guys and that’s been reinforced during this uncertain time.”
Since coming to Creighton on Aug. 25, 1997, Servais has helped Creighton win 174 games, earn a pair of NCAA Regional bids (1999, 2000), and was twice on MVC Coach of the Year Jack Dahm’s staff (1999, 2002). Creighton’s 2002 team placed second in the MVC and won a school-record 21 league games. He has served as the team’s hitting coach, first-base coach, defensive infield coach and recruiting coordinator.
“I thank Jack Dahm for the opportunity to work at Creighton and appreciate everything he did for me and my family during our six years together. Jack did a lot of good things for Creighton baseball and we look to build on that.”
Servais’ most talented team was in 1999, when the squad hit .326 and averaged close to eight runs per game. Following the season, Ryan Gripp was named a first-team ABCA All-American and drafted in the third round by the Chicago Cubs.
Creighton student-athletes he’s coached that went on to play pro ball are Peyton Lewis, Dan Gooris, Vince Pietro, Kenny Sarna, Dan Lawler, Tim Gradoville, Tom Oldham and Ryan Fitzgerald.
Servais arrived at CU after two years as an assistant coach at Iowa State, where he served as the recruiting coordinator, hitting instructor, third base coach and infield and outfield coach as the Cyclones took second at the final Big Eight Conference Tournament in 1996.
Prior to his stint at Iowa State, Servais was the head coach at St. Mary’s University from 1989 through 1995. In his seven years at the helm of the NCAA Division III program, Servais compiled a 159-76 (.676) record and was named the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference “Coach of the Year” in 1990 and 1993 after leading St. Mary’s to league titles. His 1990 squad led all NCAA Division III schools with a 2.34 ERA while his 1993 club was runner-up in the Midwest Regional.
Servais’ collegiate head coaching career began in 1988 as the skipper at Viterbo College in La Crosse, Wis., where he led the NAIA Division II V-Hawks to a 23-6 record in his one year before returning to St. Mary’s as head coach. Among his pupils at Viterbo was then-freshman catcher Damian Miller, now an All-Star backstop with the Chicago Cubs.
Servais began his coaching career in 1982 at Rib Lake, Wis., High School, where he posted a 24-11 record in two seasons. He then joined the college coaching ranks as an assistant at St. Mary’s in 1984, staying through the 1987 season.
A 1981 graduate of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Servais earned his master’s degree from his alma mater in 1986 while serving on the St. Mary’s coaching staff. As a player at UW-La Crosse, Servais was a three-time all-conference pick and was the co-captain and team “Most Valuable Player” his senior year. He graduated with school records for career hits (149), runs (102), and doubles (29) while his 151 career RBI remains a school record.
Servais and his wife, Anne, have three children, 19-year old daughter Angela and sons Joe (17) and Michael (12). He is the uncle of Scott Servais, a member of the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame who played 11 years in the Major Leagues.
Assistant Coach Travis Wyckoff
Travis Wyckoff, 29, has been the pitching coach at the University of Iowa for the past four seasons while serving as the recruiting coordinator the last two years. His 2001 Hawkeye pitching staff gave up fewer earned runs than any team in the Big 10 and he coached freshmen All-Americans Reed Pawelk in 2000 and Ryan Mentkowski in 2001.
Wyckoff enjoyed a standout career at Wichita State from 1993-96 as both a pitcher and outfielder. He was named a first-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball in 1996 and helped the Shockers reach the College World Series in both 1993 and 1996. He was recently named to WSU’s 25th anniversary team as a utility player.
After graduating with a degree in General Studies from Wichita State in 1996, Wyckoff was drafted by the Florida Marlins in 1996 and spent three seasons in the minors.
He and his wife Cherice have a son, Trevor, born in October 2001.
“Travis bring experience as a Division I pitching coach to Creighton,” said Servais. “He’s been part of a pair of College World Series teams while graduating from Wichita State and is a passionate, enthusiastic coach. We are fortunate to have him join us.”
Assistant Coach Dan Heefner
Dan Heefner, 25, has served as an assistant coach at the University of Northern Iowa the past two seasons. While at UNI, Heefner worked with the outfielders and coordinated UNI’s camps and winter hitting leagues. At Creighton, he will work with the catchers and first basemen while also serving as the team’s bullpen coach.
He graduated with All-American honors from Olivet Nazarene in Kankakee, Ill. in 2001 after leading the nation with 22 homers and 102 RBI in 2000. At ONU, he was named all-conference, all-region and Academic All-American twice each.
Heefner began his playing career at UNI, playing in 47 games while being used primarily as a third baseman. The Iowa City, Iowa native was a first-team all-state pick after hitting .430 as a senior at City High.
He and his wife Liz, have a one-year old son, Luke, born in August 2002.
“Dan brings experience as a player in the league and knows the grind of the MVC,” said Servais. “Working with Rick Heller and staff at UNI for two years gives him valuable experience.”
