Britt Bonneau (born May 11, 1970) is an American college baseball coach who had been the head coach at Abilene Christian (ACU) from 1997 to the competition of the 2018 season. Under Bonneau, ACU played in nine NCAA Tournaments. Previously, he was an assistant at UTSA, Lubbock Christian, and Abilene Christian. Bonneau played professional baseball in the mid-1990s after playing college baseball at Lubbock Christian and Oklahoma.[1]

Britt Bonneau
Current position
TitleVolunteer assistant
TeamOklahoma
ConferenceSEC
Biographical details
Born (1970-05-11) May 11, 1970 (age 54)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Alma materLubbock Christian '94 (B.S.)
Playing career
1989–1991Lubbock Christian
1992Oklahoma
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1993UTSA (asst.)
1994–1995Lubbock Christian (asst.)
1996Abilene Christian (asst.)
1997–2018Abilene Christian
2019–presentOklahoma (asst.)
Head coaching record
Overall766–511–1
TournamentsNCAA D2: 14–18
Lone Star: 34–19
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Division II South Central Regional: 2003
Lone Star Tournament: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010
Lone Star: 2008, 2010
Lone Star South: 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007

Playing career

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Bonneau played college baseball at Lubbock Christian (LCU) from 1989 to 1991 and Oklahoma in 1992. At LCU in 1991, he played on an NAIA World Series team and was named a First-Team All-American. At Oklahoma in 1992, he played in the College World Series.[1]

The Chicago Cubs signed Bonneau to a professional contract after college. He played in the Cubs' minor league system in 1993, advancing as far as short-season Geneva. He then played independent league baseball in 1994 and 1995 in the Texas–Louisiana League.[2]

Coaching career

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Early career

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While pursuing his professional playing career during the summers, Bonneau began his coaching career in the spring of 1993. He worked as an assistant at UTSA that year. He then spent 1994 and 1995 at Lubbock Christian, where he completed his bachelor's degree.[1]

Abilene Christian

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After his playing career ended at the end of the 1995 season, Bonneau spent the 1996 season as an assistant at Abilene Christian under Jimmy Shankle. That season, the Wildcats qualified for their first NCAA Tournament. Bonneau replaced Shankle as head coach the following season.[3][4]

After missing the Lone Star Tournament in his first season as head coach, Abilene Christian had six consecutive 40-win seasons from 1998 to 2003. This included a string of four consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 2000 to 2003 that culminated in a College World Series appearance in 2003. From 2000 to 2002, the Wildcats won three straight Lone Star South Division and Tournament titles. It won neither in 2003 but received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. In the 2003 South Regional, ACU won its first two games, 9–5 over Central Oklahoma and 14–5 over Delta State. It defeated Delta State again in the regional title game to advance to the College World Series, the program's first. There, it lost consecutive games to Tampa and UC Davis. After going 31–25 in 2004, Abilene Christian had another stretch of six straight 40-win seasons that culminated in a 50-win season in 2010. In that stretch, ACU won another three divisions titles, two conference titles, and two conference tournament titles.[1][3][5][6]

In 2014, Abilene Christian joined Division I. In the Southland Conference, the Wildcats finished 13th after an 18–36 overall season.[7][8][9][10][11]

On May 19, 2018, Bonneau resigned as the head coach of Abilene Christian.[12] Bonneau now works as a volunteer assistant coach at OU.

Head coaching record

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Below is a table of Bonneau's records as a collegiate head baseball coach.[3][4][5][6][7]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Abilene Christian Wildcats (Lone Star Conference) (1997–2013)
1997 Abilene Christian 34–22 8–12 5th
1998 Abilene Christian 41–17 15–5 1st (South) Lone Star Tournament
1999 Abilene Christian 41–19 12–6 2nd (South) Lone Star Tournament
2000 Abilene Christian 41–16–1 12–8 T–1st (South) NCAA Regional
2001 Abilene Christian 43–17 19–5 1st (South) NCAA Regional
2002 Abilene Christian 45–14 17–6 1st (South) NCAA Regional
2003 Abilene Christian 45–20 15–8 2nd (South) College World Series
2004 Abilene Christian 31–25 16–8 T–1st (South) Lone Star Tournament
2005 Abilene Christian 42–17 16–4 1st (South) NCAA Regional
2006 Abilene Christian 44–18 13–7 2nd (South) NCAA Regional
2007 Abilene Christian 47–13 17–3 1st (South) Lone Star Tournament
2008 Abilene Christian 44–17 35–7 1st NCAA Regional
2009 Abilene Christian 44–19 30–14 3rd NCAA Regional
2010 Abilene Christian 50–15 28–11 1st NCAA Regional
2011 Abilene Christian 24–23 16–17 9th
2012 Abilene Christian 26–28 11–17 6th Lone Star Tournament
2013 Abilene Christian 29–24 15–13 T–4th Lone Star Tournament
Abilene Christian Wildcats (Southland Conference) (2014–2018)
2014 Abilene Christian 18–36 6–18 13th Ineligible
2015 Abilene Christian 17–38 13–17 9th Ineligible
2016 Abilene Christian 16–37 5–22 12th Ineligible
2017 Abilene Christian 13–43 3–27 13th Ineligible
2018 Abilene Christian 21–33 3–25 13th
Abilene Christian: 766–511–1 (.600) 325–260 (.556)
Total: 766–511–1 (.600)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Britt Bonneau". ACUSports.com. Abilene Christian Athletics Media Relations. Archived from the original on May 26, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  2. ^ "Britt Bonneau". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c "2013 NCAA Division II Baseball Championship Record Book" (PDF). NCAA.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
  4. ^ a b "2014 Abilene Christian Baseball Record Book" (PDF). ACUSports.com. Abilene Christian Athletics Media Relations. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 16, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Lone Star Conference All-Time Baseball Standings" (PDF). LoneStarConference.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Lone Star Conference Baseball Championship History" (PDF). LoneStarConference.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 13, 2024. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  7. ^ a b "2014 Southland Conference Standings". D1Baseball.com. Archived from the original on April 12, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  8. ^ McMurphy, Brett (August 25, 2012). "Abilene Christian to Southland". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  9. ^ "Closer to Home: ACU Baseball Coach Bonneau Announces First DI Recruiting Class". ReporterNews.com. December 6, 2012. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  10. ^ Niemerowski, Shera (February 20, 2014). "Bonneau Nears Two Decades as Skipper". ACUOptimist.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  11. ^ "Aggies Host Abilene Christian on Wednesday". KBTX.com. April 15, 2014. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  12. ^ Joey D. Richards (May 26, 2018). "Bonneau ready for new challenges after 22 years with Abilene Christian baseball program". www.reporternews.com. Abilene Reporter News. Retrieved June 1, 2018.