Travis Janssen, who revived a Northeastern State (Oklahoma) program as head coach in between two stints as an assistant at Jacksonville State, begins his third season as Austin Peay’s head baseball coach.
The Governors 11th head coach in program history, Janssen has led Austin Peay to consecutive Ohio Valley Conference tournament appearances in his first two seasons after the program missed the previous three tournaments.
In his first season, Janssen led Austin Peay to a six-game improvement overall. It was the second best year-to-year improvement in the OVC and 51st best among Division I programs. The Govs ultimately finished third in the OVC regular-season race – a four-spot improvement from the previous year – and they returned to the league tournament for the first time since 2013.
The Manhattan, Kansas, native joined Austin Peay in September 2015 after a short second stop as assistant coach at Jacksonville State. Prior to that he led Northeastern State to more than 100 wins in four seasons.
While in charge of the Division II RiverHawks, the program rose to great heights. Janssen inherited a program that won just six games the year prior to his arrival and had not enjoyed a winning record since the 2002 season. Janssen’s first NSU squad finished 2012 with a 25-24 overall record. The 19-win improvement over the previous season’s 6-33 record was the third-best turnaround in the NCAA that year.
All told, Janssen guided the RiverHawks to at least 25 victories in each of his four campaigns, marking the first such occurrence during Northeastern State’s NCAA era (since 1996). In addition, the RiverHawks advanced to the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association’s (MIAA) Championship tournament each of the three seasons after NSU joined the league in 2013.
In his final season in Tahlequah, Janseen guided Northeastern State to a 25-24 mark in another appearance in the MIAA tournament. After the season, pitcher Ryan Helsley was selected in the fifth round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. It was the program’s first player picked in the draft’s first five rounds and only the ninth player in program history drafted. Helsley was one of five RiverHawks players selected in the MLB Draft during Janssen’s tenure.
Janssen led the 2014 RiverHawks’ squad to the MIAA Championship semifinals after posting back-to-back wins over No. 1 seed Central Missouri (upset Central Missouri in first round, which was played as best of three series at Central Missouri). The RiverHawks went 26-28 in 2014 and boasted the league’s Freshman of the Year (Helsley) and five All-MIAA honorees, including consensus All-America outfielder Cody Robinson.
The previous season Northeastern State posted a 28-23 record, the program’s most wins since 2002 and the program’s first conference tournament appearance since 2000. The 2013 squad led Division II in home runs (69) and home runs per game (1.35), while finishing fourth in slugging percentage (0.511) and in the top 30 in scoring (7.4), runs (376), doubles (104), and doubles per game (2.04).
In his initial stint at Jacksonville State from 2006-11, Janssen’s primary coaching responsibilities were coaching infielders and hitters, while serving as third base coach. The Gamecocks won at least 30 games in each of his six seasons, including two Ohio Valley Conference tournament championships (2006 and 2010) and the 2008 regular-season crown. In addition, JSU was one of the final three teams standing in the OVC tournament each of his six seasons. Jacksonville State also boasted the highest MLB draft pick from the state of Alabama in both 2009 and 2010.
Janssen began his coaching career as a student assistant at Kansas State in 1996. A year later he moved to Butler County (Kansas) Community College and also served as an associate scout for the Florida Marlins. From 1998-2001, Janssen was a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Arkansas under legendary coach Norm DeBriyn. He helped lead the Razorbacks to a 42-23 record and NCAA regional berth in 1999 as the team claimed the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship and a runner-up finish in the SEC Tournament that year.
He also had coaching stops at Northwestern (La.) State (2001-04) and Hawaii (2005), along with extensive experience coaching summer camps.
Janssen has worked on coaching staffs that have produced 10 major league baseball players, including Atlanta Braves outfielder Todd Cunningham and Donovan Hand, who has pitched with the Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds. Both were former stars at Jacksonville State.Â
Janssen earned his undergraduate degree from Kansas State University in 1996. He was an All-Region VI choice at Butler County and played his final two seasons at New Mexico State. There, he was a third-team National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) All-America selection as a junior and hit .401 before a season-ending injury cut short his senior campaign. He also played one year with the Adirondack Lumberjacks in the Northeastern Independent League.
Janssen is married to the former Christy Brown, of Springdale, Arkansas. The couple has three children.
