Full Name
Jeff Willis
Company/Organization
Louisiana State University Eunice
Job Title
Athletic Director
Speaking At
Speaker Bio
Jeff Willis begins his 20th season as head coach of the Bengal baseball team and 18th year as Athletic Director at LSU Eunice.
The Bengals have established themselves as one of the most dominant junior college programs in the nation under Willis, holding a 902-196 record (.821 winning percentage) since his arrival in 2003 and have never finished ranked lower than 7th in the country. In the Willis era, LSUE’s winning percentage is the second best in college baseball history, regardless of classification.
In 2021, Willis guided LSU Eunice to the NJCAA National Championship with a 51-7 record, securing eight wins in the postseason over Top 15 ranked teams. Willis captured his 900th victory in the World Series semifinal, making him one of the fastest and youngest coaches to hit that milestone.
LSU Eunice has won seven NJCAA National Championships, made ten World Series appearances, captured 11 Regional Championships and won ten District Championships. The seven NJCAA National Championships are tied for the most in the sport in NJCAA history from one school.
The JUCO Baseball Blog (The JBB) named LSU Eunice the "Team Of the Decade" for 2010-2019, encompassing all junior college programs in the nation.
Coach Willis has been the recipient of eleven ABCA Diamond Regional Coach of the Year Awards, eleven NJCAA Region 23 Coach of the Year Awards, ten NJCAA District Coach of the Year Awards, a Louisville Slugger Coach of the Year Award, and seven NJCAA National Coach of the Year Awards.
After guiding his Bengals to their sixth National Championship in 2018, Willis was awarded the Skip Bertman National Coach of the Year award by the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. The honor, given to the nation's top coach regardless of association or classification, has also been awarded to LSU's Paul Mainieri and Florida's Kevin O'Sullivan.
Coach Willis has sent 200 student-athletes to four-year institutions in his time in Eunice. The Bengals have also had 57 players and/or signees that have been drafted by Major League Baseball. During the same period, he has coached 59 all-region players, 25 All-Americans, three National Defensive Players of the Year, and two National Players of the Year.
LSUE's first two players to get the call-up to Major League Baseball, Stuart Turner and Ben Braymer, were coached by Jeff Willis.
In addition to coaching LSUE, Willis has been honored to serve as the head coach of the 2010 NJCAA National Team, finishing fourth in the 25th Anniversary of the Honkbal Tournament in Haarlem, Netherlands. Willis served as an assistant on the NJCAA National Team in 2008 which included games against the Chinese Taipei National Team.
As an administrator, Willis serves as the Assistant Regional Director for NJCAA Region XXIII, the chairman of the NJCAA All-American Committee, on the Executive Committee for the NJCAA Coaches Association and a member of the NJCAA Division II Baseball and NJCAA Division I Men's Soccer committees.
Willis played two years as an infielder for the Division I, UALR Trojans after playing junior college baseball. During his two years at UALR, the Trojans qualified for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament both years and saw the team set a school record for victories in a season.
Willis states, “I set high standards for student athletes on and off the field and expect them to do their best in their academics and in their citizenship as members of the campus and community. I expect our student athletes to have an attitude that they should win in everything that they do.”
Willis attended Dumas High School in Dumas, TX, where he was a Mizuno High School All-American baseball player, All-State Wrestler, and All-District Football player. The Bengal coach along with wife, Lindsey, and daughters Ali and Jaycie reside in Eunice.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences from the University of Arkansas-Little Rock and a master’s degree in Health and Kinesiology from Texas A&M University at Kingsville .
The Bengals have established themselves as one of the most dominant junior college programs in the nation under Willis, holding a 902-196 record (.821 winning percentage) since his arrival in 2003 and have never finished ranked lower than 7th in the country. In the Willis era, LSUE’s winning percentage is the second best in college baseball history, regardless of classification.
In 2021, Willis guided LSU Eunice to the NJCAA National Championship with a 51-7 record, securing eight wins in the postseason over Top 15 ranked teams. Willis captured his 900th victory in the World Series semifinal, making him one of the fastest and youngest coaches to hit that milestone.
LSU Eunice has won seven NJCAA National Championships, made ten World Series appearances, captured 11 Regional Championships and won ten District Championships. The seven NJCAA National Championships are tied for the most in the sport in NJCAA history from one school.
The JUCO Baseball Blog (The JBB) named LSU Eunice the "Team Of the Decade" for 2010-2019, encompassing all junior college programs in the nation.
Coach Willis has been the recipient of eleven ABCA Diamond Regional Coach of the Year Awards, eleven NJCAA Region 23 Coach of the Year Awards, ten NJCAA District Coach of the Year Awards, a Louisville Slugger Coach of the Year Award, and seven NJCAA National Coach of the Year Awards.
After guiding his Bengals to their sixth National Championship in 2018, Willis was awarded the Skip Bertman National Coach of the Year award by the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. The honor, given to the nation's top coach regardless of association or classification, has also been awarded to LSU's Paul Mainieri and Florida's Kevin O'Sullivan.
Coach Willis has sent 200 student-athletes to four-year institutions in his time in Eunice. The Bengals have also had 57 players and/or signees that have been drafted by Major League Baseball. During the same period, he has coached 59 all-region players, 25 All-Americans, three National Defensive Players of the Year, and two National Players of the Year.
LSUE's first two players to get the call-up to Major League Baseball, Stuart Turner and Ben Braymer, were coached by Jeff Willis.
In addition to coaching LSUE, Willis has been honored to serve as the head coach of the 2010 NJCAA National Team, finishing fourth in the 25th Anniversary of the Honkbal Tournament in Haarlem, Netherlands. Willis served as an assistant on the NJCAA National Team in 2008 which included games against the Chinese Taipei National Team.
As an administrator, Willis serves as the Assistant Regional Director for NJCAA Region XXIII, the chairman of the NJCAA All-American Committee, on the Executive Committee for the NJCAA Coaches Association and a member of the NJCAA Division II Baseball and NJCAA Division I Men's Soccer committees.
Willis played two years as an infielder for the Division I, UALR Trojans after playing junior college baseball. During his two years at UALR, the Trojans qualified for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament both years and saw the team set a school record for victories in a season.
Willis states, “I set high standards for student athletes on and off the field and expect them to do their best in their academics and in their citizenship as members of the campus and community. I expect our student athletes to have an attitude that they should win in everything that they do.”
Willis attended Dumas High School in Dumas, TX, where he was a Mizuno High School All-American baseball player, All-State Wrestler, and All-District Football player. The Bengal coach along with wife, Lindsey, and daughters Ali and Jaycie reside in Eunice.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences from the University of Arkansas-Little Rock and a master’s degree in Health and Kinesiology from Texas A&M University at Kingsville .