JOURNAL SPORTS
Brad Neffendorf, the head coach of the undefeated national championship LSU Shreveport baseball team, has been selected as the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Outstanding Collegiate Coach for Louisiana for 2024-25 from a pool of finalists that included Jay Johnson of the NCAA College World Series champion LSU Tigers baseball team.
Neffendorf led LSU Shreveport to an extraordinary and improbable perfect season. The Pilots won all 59 games to establish a new record for the longest winning streak in collegiate baseball history (all levels) while capturing the NAIA national championship.
“All recognition is great, but it’s recognition for the entire program,” Neffendorf said. “It all comes down to all of the people involved.
“I have to give a great deal of praise to the players. Their commitment, their investment, their ability to quickly being able to operate each and every day as one unit, on and off the field. They became incredibly close, extremely quick.
“I also have a great deal of respect and appreciation and praise for our coaching staff – the work and investment that they put in made this happen.”
LSUS recorded a perfect regular season with a 47-0 record. The Pilots then swept through the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament with four straight wins to establish the record for the longest winning streak in four-year college baseball history.
The Pilots hosted a first-round tournament in the NAIA national championship and continued their dominance, defeating Ottawa (Kan.), 5-2, No. 21 Johnson (Tenn.), 15-4, and No. 19 Mid-America Christian (Okla.), 9-6, to head to the NAIA World Series with a mind-blowing 54-0 record.
They then posted five straight wins at the NAIA World Series capped by a 13-7 come-from-behind victory over Southeastern (Fla.) to win the championship.
“The players did an unbelievable job of managing distractions,” Neffendorf said. “They did an incredible job of not talking about [the perfect record]. They managed their level of focus; their intent in practice, in the weight room, during the early work – they always had the same focus and demeanor.
“We were very talented, but what took our talent to the next level was their ability to always stay focused on getting better and getting back to the World Series.”
Neffendorf also was recognized with the Skip Bertman Award as the nation’s top coach from any level of college baseball and as the 2025 Perfect Game National Coach of the Year.
“Brad’s relentless commitment to excellence, leadership, and the belief he instills in his players have elevated LSUS baseball to legendary status,” said LSU Shreveport Director of Athletics Lucas Morgan. “I am so proud to have him leading our program.”
The Sugar Bowl also conducted a fan vote for its annual awards and the fan vote winner for Louisiana’s Outstanding Collegiate Coach was Jeremy Kennedy from Loyola University. Kennedy, in his sixth season at the helm of the Wolf Pack, not only led the team to the NAIA World Series for the first time in program history, but they also picked up their first World Series victory as they capped the year with a 42-18 record.
Joining Kennedy and Neffendorf as finalists in the highly competitive Coach of the Year field were Bo Browder (Xavier women’s basketball), Jay Johnson (LSU baseball), and Will Wade (McNeese State men’s basketball).
Browder directed XULA to a 29-4 record – setting the school-record for winning percentage and matching the record for wins – as the Gold Nuggets became the first XULA women’s basketball team to advance to the third round of the NAIA National Tournament.
Johnson, in his fourth season directing the program, guided LSU to its eighth national championship with a sensational postseason run that included eight straight wins to close the season.
Wade was selected as the Southland Conference Coach of the Year honors for the second straight season as he led the Cowboys to a 28-7 record, the Southland championship, and an NCAA Tournament First Round victory.
The Sugar Bowl has recognized an Outstanding Louisiana College Coach since 1961 and Neffendorf is the first LSU Shreveport coach to be honored.