Chad Kreuter Position: Head Coach

On June 2, 2006, Chad Kreuter became just the fourth head baseball coach at USC in the past 77 years. Kreuter was named head coach after his father-in-law, Mike Gillespie, announced his retirement.

Kreuter took the position after starting the 2006 season as the manager for the Modesto Nuts of the California League, the single A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. He spent the 2005 season as director of operations for the USC baseball program after retiring from the major leagues.

In a career that spanned 17 seasons, Kreuter played in a total of 944 games with a .237 career average, 54 home runs, 274 RBI and .990 fielding percentage. He started with the Texas Rangers in 1988 and later played with the Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, Anaheim Angels, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Dodgers.

His best season came in 1993 with Detroit, batting .286 (107-for-374) with 15 home runs and 51 RBI.

During his career, Kreuter worked with top-flight pitchers such as Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Eric Gagne, Kevin Brown, Charlie Hough, Frank Tanana, Bill Gullickson, Walt Terrell, James Baldwin, Chuck Finley, Mark Langston, Robb Nen, Kenny Rogers and Chan Ho Park.

He played collegiately at Pepperdine for three seasons (1983-85). While there, he was on a USA team that participated in an international tournament in Cuba in 1984. He was the 109th overall pick (fifth round) in the 1985 draft.

Kreuter prepped at Redwood High in Larkspur (Calif.).

Born Aug. 26, 1964, Kreuter is married to Gillespie's daughter, Kelly, and they have two sons, Cade, 15, and Cole, 10.