Long coaching tenures still occur in sports, but careers that span 20, 30 or even 40 or more years have become less and less common.
Johns Hopkins head coach Bob Babb was an exception to the rule. One of the greatest college baseball coaches ever, Babb finished a 46-year tenure with the Blue Jays last season.
Babb finished his career with 1,346 wins, 19 Centennial Conference championships and seven trips to the Division III College World Series.
Now Nate Mulberg, most recently an assistant coach at Richmond, has taken the path up I-95 to begin what he hopes will be a successful coaching stint in Baltimore.
“Nate has a deep respect for the program that Coach Babb built and is committed to honoring that legacy while leading the Blue Jays into their next chapter,” Johns Hopkins athletic director Jennifer S. Baker said in a press release after hiring Mulberg last July.
The question is: Why did a Division I assistant baseball coach decide to take his talents to Division III?
Mulberg was a former Division III player himself, starting for four years at Rochester and helping the program reach its first-ever conference tournament final back in 2014. Division III baseball was already in his blood, so it was only fitting to return to the level that gave him an opportunity to play.
“I played D-III,” Mulberg said. “I worked for head coaches who played D-III. … All of these experiences I’ve had definitely make me ready for the experience of being a Division III head coach. I feel like I’m as prepared as I could be thanks to all the people who have so graciously taught me.”
Coaching at the Division I level for the past decade or so with the Spiders and briefly with Bucknell provided Mulberg perspective and knowledge about how the best of the best in amateur baseball operate. On top of that, Mulberg has insight into the international game. He was the first base coach for Team Israel in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021.
Experiences like that are invaluable to any program, especially one in which athletic scholarships are prohibited.
“Not only have I worked for so many amazing leaders and coaches, they were also very different leaders and head coaches,” Mulberg said. “They all had different qualities and different leadership styles.”
Mulberg inherits one of the country’s top Division III programs. Hopkins went 44-5 last year, reaching the College World Series but falling short of a national title in Babb’s final year as head coach. The Jays enter 2026 ranked 11th in D3Baseball’s preseason top 25.
“There are definitely nerves, but it’s a normal and positive feeling to show that this is a very, very exciting opportunity,” Mulberg said. “… I think we have a really special group of young men. I’m just excited for them to have the opportunity to do something special.”
Grant Meert, a D3Baseball preseason All-American and one of the top left-handed arms in Division III, returns for his junior season. He was sensational as a sophomore, striking out 42 hitters across 18 appearances and 22.2 innings pitched. He also recorded a 1.19 ERA and six saves.
Three-time first-team All-Centennial Conference outfielder Alex Shane is also part of that returning group. He is hoping to become an All-American for the first time this spring after hitting .332/.450/.604 with 11 home runs a year ago.
“Any time you change coaches, it’s a little bit of an adjustment, especially after having a coach that’s run the program for as long as Babb did, but I think the transition has been pretty seamless,” Shane said. “… [Mulberg] coming from the D-I level, it’s been great to get a different perspective. Him talking about the other teams he’s coached has been helpful for us.”
For Mulberg, the pressure of 46 years of coaching that precedes him is something he’s not worried about. The only thing on Mulberg’s mind is continuing to uphold the standard of excellence that has been set for the program, a standard that pulled him to Baltimore last summer.
“I may not have known it at the time, but for me, I was always destined and meant to be a coach,” Mulberg said. “… It’s something that I definitely dreamed about for a long time, ever since I started playing competitive baseball, and it’s here now.”
Photo Credits: Courtesy of Johns Hopkins Athletics
Issue 297: February / March 2026
Originally published Feb. 18, 2026