“The relationships I made at Southern New Hampshire, they’ll all last a lifetime,” Loiseau said. “My boss was incredible. The people I worked with were so supportive. It was an incredible place to work and live and all those things, but I had known coach Gambino a long time and he’s a great guy and he provided me with an opportunity. State College is a great place to raise a family as well.”
After one season with the Nittany Lions, Loiseau made another jump with his wife Haley and their fourth daughters, becoming the head coach of the Dayton Flyers. UD announced his hiring on June 24. The news came two weeks after Jayson King left Dayton after seven seasons to take an assistant coaching job at Vanderbilt.
Loiseau is a 2002 graduate of Franklin Pierce University. He played there for King from 1999-2002. King talked to Loiseau about UD and had “incredible things to say,” Loiseau said.
“This is a place that’s set up to perform at a high level,” Loiseau said, “and hopefully we can do that.”
The Flyers finished 33-22 in King’s last season. They had winning records twice in his seven seasons. Dayton has not played in the NCAA tournament since 2012 when it won the A-10 tournament for the first title. The program shared the A-10 regular-season title that season and won its other A-10 title in 2009.
Loiseau was 480-209-2 in 14 seasons at Southern New Hampshire. He led the program to five Division II College World Series appearances and 11 straight NCAA tournament appearances.
Despite spending much of his career in Division II, Loiseau does have Division I experience beyond his one season at Penn State. He spent one season as an assistant coach at Holy Cross early in his career and one season at Oklahoma.
Loiseau said he has a good feel for what he’s getting into at Dayton. He has talked to everyone on the roster, mostly by phone because many players are playing summer baseball in various locations. He has met with a couple of local players in person.
“We’re already recruiting,” he said. “We know things are moving quickly. Luckily, the roster is in a really good spot. It’s not like we have a ton of work to do. We can fill so some gaps and hopefully have a good roster for the fall.”
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