John "J.J." Brock takes over as Head Coach of Bears Baseball in 2024 after two seasons as Associate Head Coach with Bloomfield. Brock enters his 15th season as a collegiate coach and welcomes the challenge of the top spot.
Prior to his assignment as Head Coach, Brock was involved in all aspects of the program for the Bears, including recruiting, fundraising, and on the field coaching. Coach Brock led the offense, coached the infielders, and coached 3B. Bloomfield led the conference with 52 HR's in 2023, including 17 HR's and a .400 batting average by Tyree Bradley, who earned CACC Player of the Year honors and was an ABCA Third Team All-American First Baseman.
Prior to Bloomfield College, Coach Brock spent three seasons at Fairleigh Dickinson University(Florham) working with the outfielders his first year, then leading the pitching staff for two seasons.
In his first season as the pitching coach, Brock led the pitching staff to a 5.65 earned run average (ERA), their best since the 2014 season and a 1.62 WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched), the best since 2012. The Devils staff held opponents in 2020 to a .387 slugging percent against, the best since 2014, and a .280 batting average against, the best for a devils staff in the last 10 seasons. Overall, the pitching staff under Brock took major steps forward.
Coach Brock began his coaching career at Ohio University during the 2000-01 school year as the Graduate Assistant Coach, where he coached the Outfield, Hitters, and coached First Base. In 2001, the offense led all of NCAA Division 1 in home runs (122), was ranked 2nd in Slugging Percentage (.594), 4th in Scoring (9.76 runs/game), and 11th in the nation in batting average (.331).
Coach Brock then joined the staff at Saint Mary's College for two years where he was the Infield and Hitting Coach. In the 2002 season, the team tied the school record for wins in the West Coast Conference and turned 64 double plays, the most per game in NCAA Division 1. He also coached several players who eventually were drafted, including the Oakland A's supplemental 1st round pick, third baseman Mark Teahen.
From 2004-2007 Brock was an Assistant Baseball Coach at the University of Toledo, where he was the Infield Coach, while assisting with hitting and base running. At Toledo, he spearheaded the program's academic progress and study halls, where the team had a 3.0 or higher GPA for six straight semesters.
Between 2007 and 2010, Brock coached at Georgetown University where he led team defense, coached Outfield and Hitting, and was heavily involved in recruiting. For the Hoyas, Brock monitored the programs’ academic success, where they earned the Big East Team Academic Excellence Award in 2008
From 2014-2018, Coach Brock was the Director of Middle School Admissions for Landon School. Brock was the Head Baseball Coach for Landon from 2011-14, where he led his squad to the Interstate Athletic Conference Championship game in 2013.
Brock was invited by USA Baseball to evaluate and coach at the 17U National Team Identification Series in 2013 as well. The NTIS, an identification opportunity for the 18U National Team Trials, takes place at the home of USA Baseball in Cary, NC.
In his career, Brock has coached 20 players who have been drafted or who have signed professionally as free agents.
Playing Experience
A walk-on at the University of Notre Dame, Coach Brock was red-shirted as a freshman by current Milwaukee Brewers bench coach Pat Murphy, and became a four year starter on the infield for the Fighting Irish under Paul Mainieri, who recently retired as Head Coach at Louisiana State University.
Brock was a 2-year captain for Mainieri, who was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2014. In his last year for the Irish, Brock became the 1998 First Team All-Big East shortstop and Notre Dame Team MVP. Following his career at Notre Dame, Brock played professionally for the Arizona Diamondbacks, reaching the Double-A level.
Education
Bachelor of Science, Mathematics major, Notre Dame University (1998)
Master of Science in Physical Education, Athletic Administration major, Ohio University (2001)
