After 28 years with Suffolk University, Director of Athletics and former baseball coach Cary McConnell will be inducted into the Suffolk Athletics Hall of Fame, class of 2024.
“It’s an honor, it’s recognition that I’ve been here a long time and worked hard at it. I appreciate the honor,” said McConnell.
McConnell’s time coaching the baseball team earned him the honor of becoming viewed as a legendary coach in Suffolk’s long history.
“He’s had the biggest impact of any coach of the baseball team. He almost won 500 games as coach, which is very unusual for a coach,” said women’s golf head coach and former assistant baseball coach Jay Parker.
McConnell is credited with putting Suffolk’s baseball team on the map, winning 479 games throughout his career and having the 46th-most wins among NCAA DIII baseball coaches all-time, according to Suffolk’s press release.
Although this is McConnell’s first time being inducted as an individual, he will become a multi-team inductee as he was also inducted alongside the 2000 baseball team during the inaugural Hall of Fame class.
“Both are special to me. That was a special team to be inducted with and to be inducted as an individual is special also. Both are really nice honors,” said McConnell.
A large part of McConnell’s legacy at Suffolk includes his time as head coach of the baseball team, where he became the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year six times.
Though McConnell has moved on from coaching, he still has a love for the job.
“I miss it. I certainly miss the recruiting piece, I miss seeing the student-athletes develop as baseball players and people and seeing them graduate is a big deal,” said McConnell.
McConnell’s accomplishments throughout his baseball coaching career earned him a lot of respect from both his players and coaching peers, as he is one of the most successful coaches in Suffolk’s athletic history.
“When you look at what he was able to accomplish, he really took Suffolk baseball to the next level: national rankings, the All-Americans that he had, I know in 2000 they led the country in earned run average,” said Head baseball Coach and Associate Director of Athletics Anthony Del Prete. “I think he was well respected, certainly by the players but also other coaches within the department because of what he was able to accomplish.”
Despite not being a coach anymore, McConnell continues to work on improving Suffolk Athletics, both for student-athletes and for the coaches of every team.
“The athletic programs at Suffolk have improved 1000 percent since he’s been the athletic director,” said Parker. “Everything’s changed. We have better facilities, we have better offices. When we first started as a baseball team, we’d drive around the city looking for a practice field. Our sports don’t have to do that anymore.”
It’s not just the improvements made to the program that have garnered McConnell so much respect over the years; the abilities he showed as a head coach at Suffolk command the trust and respect of the coaches he works with as athletic director.
Coaches such as Del Prete noted their respect for the leadership that comes with McConnell’s hall-of-fame caliber resume, as McConnell knows what these coaches have to deal with, having been in their situation before.
“From a coaching standpoint, it’s really nice to have a leader who’s been in the foxhole and understands all of the challenges you have in coaching. Obviously, Suffolk is a different college experience, it’s a different setting in terms of facilities and resources than a lot of the schools in our conference. So it’s nice to have someone you can go to who’s been in those situations to seek advice from,” said Del Prete.
This Hall of Fame class has inductees from throughout Suffolk Athletics’ long history, including the 1947 baseball team and Jake Stahl, who played basketball at the university from 1949 to 1953.
“What’s nice about these events is you get an opportunity to hear stories from the past and the impact Suffolk has made upon the individual or team,” said Del Prete. “What’s really exciting about this event is that you’re gonna hear about it from different spans throughout history. I think it will be really cool for people to go through those journeys and experiences, and really see how much the school and athletics programs have evolved over the past eight decades.”
Not only is McConnell excited about being inducted himself, but one of the things he is most excited about is this year’s class connection with Suffolk athletics’ rich history.
“It’s exciting, Jake Stahl who’s going in is 93 years old. He was actually a student-athlete under Charlie Law, who was the first athletic director at Suffolk University, so that’s a really nice story. He was a tremendous athlete and belongs in the Hall so I’m excited to see him,” said McConnell.
Although McConnell’s getting inducted into the Hall of Fame, he is not going anywhere and will remain Suffolk’s Athletic Director. After this celebration of the past, McConnell is preparing to focus on the future of Suffolk Athletics.
“I hope I can continue to do a good job and build the athletic program, and hopefully put Suffolk on the map in terms of athletics as a department. I think we’re on our way to that and I’m excited about that,” said McConnell. “We’re really starting to show some success in the department in terms of wins and losses, but also the student-athletes are great in the classroom, they stay in school and it’s a really great community to be involved in.”
