Bio

Former Spartan All-American Sam Militello is in his 24th season as a member of the coaching staff at The University of Tampa. He was promoted from assistant coach to associate head coach prior to the 2009 season.

Militello has served as the top assistant coach for Joe Urso's entire tenure at UT, as the duo became the fastest in NCAA Division II history to reach 500, 600, 700 and most recently 800 career wins. In his tenure with the Spartans, a total of 20 of his pitchers have been named All-Americans.

In 2024, his program captured the program's ninth national championship, marking the sixth of his career as the pitching coach and top assistant. The 2024 Spartans finished with a 52-8 overall record, also capturing the SSC crown. His team clicked in all areas, hitting 317 as a team and posting a +389 run differential as his Spartans defeated their opponents by an average of 5.3 runs per game. He led pitcher Skylar Gonzalez, who was honored as the National Pitcher of the Year as the team would finish second nationally in team ERA.

After clinching the program’s 23rd SSC regular season title, Militello helped guide the Spartans into the postseason where standout, Drew Ehrhard, became the University of Tampa and Sunshine State Conference all-time hits leader with 352. The team would conclude the 2023 campaign at the NCAA South Regional Championship finishing with an overall record of 43-11. Militello mentored several Spartans who earned All-SSC and All-South Region recognition including E.J. Cumbo, who was named the SSC Player of the Year, and Alex Canney, who was selected as the SSC Pitcher of the Year. 

In 2021, Militello's tutelage helped Jordan Leasure become SSC Pitcher of the Year and an All-American, prior to being drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers. The team would advance to the 2021 NCAA Division II National Championship Series semifinals. Leasure would conclude his Spartan career with a 0.94 ERA in 2021. He led the nation in strikeout rate as he struck out 60 batters in 38.1 innings. A four-year letterwinner, Leasure would post his lone sub-3.00 ERA season in his last year as he concluded his Spartan career-high with single-season highs in every pitching category.

Guiding the program to its eighth national title in 2019, Militello's squad was a perfect 9-0 in postseason play, including extra-inning victories in both the South Regional and Super Regional clinching games over Nova Southeastern and Delta State. His team then used a combination of excellent hitting and shutdown pitching in the NCAA Championship Series in Cary, outscoring its opponents 26-5 in the four games. The magical run concluded with a 3-1 win over top-seed Colorado Mesa to capture Militello's fifth championship as the top assistant and pitching coach for the Spartans. Pitcher Jacinto Arredondo was named the Most Outstanding Player for the championship series.

The pitching coach for five national championship teams, Militello coached David Lebron to National Pitcher of the Year honors in 2018. Lebron was a two-time South Region Pitcher of the Year, making a total of eight Spartans who earned the honor under Militello.

In the national championship season of 2015, Militello was charged with leading a pitching staff that was without its top two starters due to injury. He guided Michael Calkins from a reliever to starting pitcher, as the lefty would conclude the season with a complete game victory over Catawba in the national championship game en route to Most Outstanding Player honors.

Additionally, Mike Adams was the SSC and South Region Pitcher of the Year during the championship season of 2013. He became the second consecutive Spartan to earn the top SSC honor en route to also being a first-team All-American.

During his coaching career at his alma mater, he has also coached a total of 35 pitchers who have been selected in the MLB Draft. At least one Spartan pitcher has been selected in 13 of the last 14 drafts.

As Joe Urso’s top assistant, Militello is in charge of the pitching staff. Militello capped a brilliant three-year career with the Spartans by capturing the NCAA II National Player-of-the-Year award in 1990 when he posted a 15-2 record, 1.75 ERA and 182 strikeouts as he led Tampa to a third place finish in the NCAA II National Championship Series.

Militello owns UT single-season school records for victories (15), strikeouts (182) and innings pitched (143.2) and the school career record for strikeouts (340).

A member of the UT and Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame, Militello is also one of three Spartans to have their number retired.

He was a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Award, given to the top collegiate player in the country. At the time, he was only the second NCAA II player to be nominated for the Golden Spikes Award. Militello was a three-time All-American, all-South Region and all-Sunshine State Conference selection and was twice the South Region Pitcher of the Year. In 1990, he was selected to the NCAA II National Championship Series all-tourney team. He was named to the Sunshine State Conference Silver Anniversary team and the SSC and UT Athletic Hall of Fame.

A sixth-round draft pick of the New York Yankees, Militello broke into the "Show" in style with a 6-0 shutout of the Boston Red Sox in July 1992, going seven innings and striking out five while surrendering just one hit and three walks. He surged to a 3-0 record and finished his inaugural season at 4-4.

He pitched in the Yankees system from 1990-94, signed with the Florida Marlins (1994-95) and again with the Yankees ('96) until retiring to a coaching job with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1997-98). Prior to joining the Spartans, he spent the previous two seasons as a pitching coach in the Cleveland Indians organization with Burlington and Columbus, Ga.