GHS grad Pete Meyer named athletic director at Florida Southern College

Friday, February 22, 2008

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Since 1972 only three people have occupied the position of athletics director at Florida Southern College: Hal Smeltzly (1972-2000), Mike Roberts (2000-01) and Lois Webb (2001-08). FSC president Dr. Anne Kerr announced today that current assistant athletics director and head baseball coach Pete Meyer will become the fourth person to occupy that position, effective June 30, when Webb retires.

Pete Meyer

Meyer is a 1983 graduate of Greencastle High School. He is the son of Edward and MaryAnn Meyer.

"Pete Meyer is the best person to carry forward the legendary success of Florida Southern's athletic programs," Dr. Kerr said. "His strength of character, commitment to a model scholar-athlete program, administrative skills, knowledge of intercollegiate athletics, dedication to students, and ability to work with the senior staff of the College to achieve the goals of our strategic plan position him as the best person for this key institutional position. Coach Meyer has an impressive record of accomplishments as both a coach and athletic administrator, and has demonstrated a deep commitment to Florida Southern. I am confident that he will be an outstanding leader for our program."

"I am extremely honored to become the next director of athletics at Florida Southern College," Meyer said. "I want to thank Dr. Kerr, Lois Webb and the board of trustees for their support and for their trust in my leadership ability for this position. Lois has been a wonderful source of guidance and leadership for me. I look forward to working with Dr. Kerr in bringing her vision to Florida Southern, while maintaining our championship athletics program."

Webb commented, "I have the utmost confidence in Pete to be Florida Southern's next athletics director. I have worked with him closely in his role as assistant athletics director for the past two years, and he has exhibited quality leadership as an administrator."

Meyer, who has been at Florida Southern since 1998, has served as assistant athletics director for Webb since February of 2006, in addition to maintaining his baseball coaching duties. In his position as assistant athletics director, Meyer has been responsible for acquiring major gifts for the athletic department that have included funding and equipment for the athletics weight room and upgrading the baseball and men's basketball locker rooms. He has coordinated all of the athletic department's fundraising efforts, coordinated athletic facilities, and served as game administrator for various home events. He also serves as Florida Southern's representative on the Sunshine State Conference Marketing Committee.

As baseball coach, Meyer, now in his sixth full season as head coach, has continued to keep the Moccasin program among the elite in NCAA Division II. Last year he guided the Moccasins to their 30th consecutive season of at least 35 wins. They were 44-16 overall, runner-up in the Sunshine State Conference with a 15-9 league mark, runner-up in the NCAA South Regional, made their 37th NCAA Division II Tournament appearance, and were ranked fifth in the final Division II poll by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.

In 2005, Meyer guided the Moccasins to their ninth NCAA Division II national title with a 51-11 record and was the American Baseball Coaches Association Division II Coach of the Year. In addition to his national coaching honors from the ABCA, Meyer also was South Region, Sunshine State Conference and Florida Diamond Club (scouting organization) Coach of the Year.

His head coaching record at Florida Southern is 228-90-1, while his overall record as a head coach is 267-120-1. His winning percentage of .689 ranks eighth among active Division II coaches. Thirty Moccasin baseball players have been drafted or signed professional contracts during Meyer's tenure at Florida Southern.

Meyer was officially named head coach on June 3, 2002, becoming just the fourth head coach in the last 50 years for the program. He had served as interim head coach since April 2, 2002, following the retirement of Chuck Anderson.

After taking over the head coaching duties in 2002, Meyer led the Moccasins to a berth in the NCAA Division II South Regional, the South Regional Championship and a trip to the Division II Championship for the 19th time. For his efforts, he was named the South Region Coach of the Year.

Before officially assuming the reigns of head coach, Meyer had served for over three years as Florida Southern's top assistant coach. His primary on-field duties included working with the infielders and serving as the hitting instructor. He also was the program's recruiting coordinator.

Prior to joining the FSC coaching staff, Meyer spent five seasons at Valdosta State University, working under veteran head coach Tommy Thomas. The Blazers were 159-111 during Meyer's five-year stay in Valdosta.

In addition to coaching at VSU, he taught in the university's health and physical education department and assisted in the design and fundraising for VSU's $750,000 baseball complex and indoor hitting facility.

Before his stint at Valdosta State, Meyer was head baseball coach at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, where he coordinated the start of the school's Division III baseball program in 1991. During Meyer's two years as head coach, the Stormy Petrels won two Eastern Division titles in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. He also spent one season (1990) as an assistant coach at Division I North Carolina-Greensboro and served as a graduate assistant at Valdosta State from 1988-1990, while earning his master's degree in physical education.

Meyer was a four-year baseball letterman at the College of Wooster in Ohio, graduating in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in speech communication.

Meyer married the former Julie Newnum in November 2005. The couple has three children, 19-year-old Ross, 17-year old Mitchell and 16-year-old Megan.

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