Saint Leo baseball head coach Rick O’Dette announced the addition of head assistant coach Tony Caldwell to his coaching staff Jan. 20, 2021. Caldwell, who most recently served as an assistant coach for NCAA Division I Kent State University, is a native of Florida and will serve as the recruiting coordinator for the Lions.
“We are so excited to welcome Tony to the Lion family,” said O’Dette. “This process has not been an easy one but we are extremely excited to add him to our program. He was a tremendous player, but is an even better coach. He knows the game and is an unbelievable communicator. His knowledge of Florida is excellent to go along with his connections from all over the country. His passion, energy and joy for the game and life will be contagious to all those associated with the Saint Leo baseball program.”
Caldwell was a standout catcher at Auburn University where he played for the Tigers from 2008-2011. He was an All-SEC selection as a senior and posted several single-season top-10 records while at Auburn including in home runs, runs scored, RBI, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, at bats, HBPs and total plate appearance while finishing with a career .344 batting average. He was a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award in 2011, making him one of the top-13 collegiate catchers that season. He led the SEC with 23 runners caught stealing and was second among the 13 finalists in that category.
He was named to the Johnny Bench Award watchlist all four seasons at Auburn and led the nation in caught stealing percentage at 47 percent. He threw out 59 base runners during his time behind the plate which topped the record books at Auburn. He also has the honor of sharing two records with Bo Jackson including hit by pitches and total bases in a single game. His total bases record is 14 while he went 5-for-5 at the plate with three home runs and nine RBI versus Kentucky. He also shares the record for most runs in an SEC Tournament game at Auburn with Hall of Famer Frank Thomas at three.
Caldwell competed for three different collegiate summer league teams throughout his time at Auburn including the Wareham Gateman squad in the prestigious Cape Cod League. In all three summers he was named an All-Star and was the team MVP for two of his three squads.
“I want to impact Saint Leo Baseball, Saint Leo University and the community to last a lifetime,” said Caldwell. “I am highly motivated and ready to attack the job. I appreciate Coach O’Dette for giving me the opportunity to join the great coaching staff at Saint Leo. I am excited and grateful to have a chance to work with young men and give back to a successful program in the 2021 season. Coach O’Dette is a tremendous coach and person. Coaching is a dream of mine and I am thrilled to help build a championship program.”
Following a tremendous collegiate career, he was drafted in 2011 Major League Baseball Draft by the then-named Florida Marlins. Caldwell spent seven years in professional baseball including three years as part of the Marlins organization.
While still competing in the professional ranks, Caldwell began his coaching journey during the offseason of 2014 and his first stop was with the East Alabama Aggies as an assistant coach with the 17U and 18U travel ball team which he coached for two seasons. He then made his way into the collegiate coaching ranks as a graduate assistant for his alma mater Auburn in 2016. After one season with the Tigers he joined the coaching staff at Kent State where he spent three seasons from 2017-2020. During the summer of 2018 he spent a season coaching the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod Baseball League as a hitting/catching coach.
While at Kent State he helped the Golden Flashes capture the 2018 MAC Regular Season Championship while advancing to the NCAA Tournament. He worked with several All-MAC performers, two All-Americans and helped Tim Dalporto advance to being named a Johnny Bench Award Finalist. In 2018, he helped Kent State secure the 25th ranked recruiting class according to the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, the first top-25 class in program history.
Caldwell graduated with a bachelor of arts in sociology from Auburn University in 2016.
