Rick Blanc Hometown: Sylvania, Ohio Experience: 1st season Alma Mater: Bowling Green State University '98

Rick Blanc enters his first season coaching his alma mater after being named as a new assistant coach on October 3rd. The 1998 graduate of BGSU will serve as the Falcons new pitching coach and recruiting coordinator.

"I'm extremely excited to be back and to be given this great opportunity," said Blanc. "It's not everyday you get to come back to your alma mater and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to work with coach [Danny] Schmitz and his players. I enjoyed my time playing for him and it'll be just a tremendous opportunity for me to work with him on a more professional level now. There's great history and tradition here and it feels good to be apart of it again."

Blanc, who played for the Falcons during the 1997 and 1998 seasons, spent the past four seasons as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Longwood University. While in his time at Longwood, he helped the Lancer pitching staff go from a team earned run average of 5.36 in 2004 to a 3.60 team ERA this past season.

Prior to coaching at Longwood, Blanc served as pitching coach for the Chillicothe Paints of the Independent Frontier League where he played from 1998-2002. He was the IFL Pitcher of the Year in 2001 after posting a 13-1 record, and was a two-time IFL All-Star (2001, 2002).

Blanc earned team Most Valuable Player honors in both 2001 and 2002, as he finished his five-year Paints career with a 28-14 record with a 3.80 ERA and 12 saves.

Other coaching experiences for Blanc include coaching stints at Adrian [Mich.] College (2001-02) and Sylvania Southview High School (1998-2003) in Sylvania, Ohio.

During his Falcon career, Blanc helped lead the Falcons to the Mid-American Conference title in 1998 and a trip to the Atlantic I Regionals, hosted by the University of Miami.

"We're really excited that Rick [Blanc] is coming back," said Schmitz. "He was a great starting pitcher for us and he'll bring a wealth experience to our staff with his experience not just as a pitching coach, but as a professional player as well. He's just a tremendous guy and everyone from our administrators to our players have enjoyed getting to work with him in his already short time here."

A native of Sylvania, Ohio, Blanc earned his bachelor's of science degree in technology from BGSU in 1998.