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Frank "Porky" Vieira, a legend to the sport and the father of the UNH baseball, retired from his coaching position following the 2006 season. Under Vieira, the UNH baseball program posted a record of 1,127-324-6 in 44 seasons. That included a string of 42-straight winning seasons from 1963 to 2004, and 44 winning seasons overall.
No matter how you break down the numbers, Vieira was one of the all-time greatest coaches in the college game. Prior to the 2008 season, he ranked second among all Division II coaches with a career winning percentage of .776 and fourth in total victories. "Coach V" ranks eighth all-time in winning percentage and 36th in total wins, across all divisions. He is also one of only 39 coaches to win at least 1,100 games at any division of college baseball.
Vieira's achievements have not gone unrecognized by the media or his peers. Featured in several publications, including Sports Illustrated, he received the "Gold Key" from the Connecticut Sports Writers Association and was named Coach of the Year numerous times for the NCAA Northeast Region as well as the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) and the East Coast Conference (ECC).
Over Vieira's 44 seasons, the UNH baseball team made 35 regional tournament appearances (26 NCAA, 9 NAIA) and earned 17 College World Series berths (15 NCAA, 2 NAIA). UNH had 81 total postseason wins, the second most of any school in NCAA Division II history at the time of his retirement, and advanced to the College World Series a school-record seven consecutive times from 1984 to 1990. Vieira's best finishes came as NCAA Runners-Up in 1980 and 1989.
In 1978, Vieira recorded his best single-season winning percentage of .889 after advancing to the College World Series and ending the season with a 32-4 overall record. Vieira won his most games in 1989 when the Chargers went 36-5 and again advanced to the College World Series.
Coach Vieira is the first one to tell you that a great coach can't do anything without great players and UNH has certainly had its share. Vieira recruited and helped produce more than 80 players who went on to play professional baseball, including 10 players who made it to Major League Baseball. Further evidence of Vieira's contributions to the sport can be found in the NCAA Record Book, where you'll see the name "New Haven" appear nearly 50 times among the various team and individual records.
Vieira joins 46 of his former student-athletes who have already been inducted into the UNH Athletics Hall of Fame.
