Mitch Schmidt enters his 18th season with Bellevue at the start of the 2023-24 school year. The 2019 ABCA NAIA Assistant Coach of the Year brings an extensive playing and coaching background to the Bruin baseball program. He has been involved in all aspects of coaching on-and-off the field during his current and past appointments.

2023 Billings American Legion Post #4 Ed Bayne Hall of Fame inductee
2019 ABCA/Baseball America Assistant Coach of the Year, NAIA Division

Schmidt's off-field responsibilities include assisting in the organization of practices and games, scheduling conference and nonconference games, travel coordination, operational budget, student-athlete academic progress, recruitment of quality student-athletes, fundraising and player housing coordination.

Schmidt's on-field duties include assisting in the implementation and supervision of offensive and defensive strategies to the hitters and outfielders. The assembly and execution of the "Bruins Hitters Manual" and the production of game day charts have been used to produce positive offensive strategies with the Bruins hitters.  The 2010 team season batting average of .371 ranked No. 1 in the nation for all NAIA baseball programs. The 2019 squad finished with a team season batting average of .343 that slotted in at No. 3 in the nation for all NAIA baseball programs and the 2009 team season batting average of .368 ranked No. 5 in the NAIA. The execution and direction of the "In the Play Outfield System" has been used with the Bruins outfielders as a defensive base.

The Billings, Mont. native started his full-time coaching career in 1995 after serving as an assistant coach before being promoted to head coach at Montana State University-Billings and Minot State University. While at Minot State, the 1997 team season batting average of .402 ranked No. 2 in the NAIA. During the summers, while coaching at Montana State-Billings and Minot State, Schmidt coached American Legion Baseball for the nationally-renowned Billings Post #4 and Minot Post #26 programs.

In 2000, he took the assistant coaching position at Midland University. A year later, in 2001, became the head coach at Valley High School.  After helping eleven student-athletes from VHS move on to play baseball at the college level while qualifying for three-consecutive Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA) district tournaments in three years at VHS, Schmidt made the move back to the collegiate level as an assistant coach at Dana College from 2004-06. He helped the Vikings qualify for three-consecutive Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournaments, while the 2004 Vikings team captured the Great Plains Athletic Conference title and a berth in the NAIA National Tournament. Additionally, the 2006 Dana team was an NAIA Baseball Scholar Team finalist with a 3.05 Team GPA.

To date throughout Schmidt’s coaching career, he has had the honor to coach over 150 players that have signed professional contracts, 68 of them are former Bruins. Numerous individual Athletic and Academic awards from the National and Conference levels have been awarded to players he has had the honor to coach also: (28) NAIA All-American Awards, (8) NAIA National Gold Glove Awards, (46) Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete Awards, (155) All-Conference Awards, (55) Conference Gold Glove Awards, (164) Conference Scholar Athlete Awards and (3) Conference Baseball Scholar-Athletes of the Year Awards have been earned.

Schmidt has promoted Bellevue University and the Bruins Baseball Program on the national level as a coach, clinician and support staff at regional and national tournaments, camps, clinics, showcases and tryouts for the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau, USA Baseball and American Baseball Coaches Association.

In addition to his coaching duties at Bellevue, Mitch works in the Bellevue University Financial Aid Department.

Schmidt took over as the Manager of the Okotoks Dawgs of the Western Canadian Baseball League before the 2018 season. In his first year at the helm of the Dawgs he guided the team to a second place finish in the WCBL’s Western Division (35-12), closing the year on an 11-game win streak to earn a playoff appearance.  In his second season during the 2019 campaign he guided the Dawgs to a record 46 wins to claim the WCBL Western Division Regular Season and Playoff Titles before sweeping the Regina Red Sox in the WCBL Championship Series. After a two-year hiatus from coaching in Okotoks, Schmidt returned to manage the Dawgs in 2022 and led them to a 49-14 record - setting a WCBL record for winning percentage at .778 - and the organization's sixth WCBL Championship.

Schmidt earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2002. In May of 2010, he completed a Master's Degree in Leadership at Bellevue University.  Schmidt and his wife, Jennifer, reside in Omaha, Neb. They have two children, Lauren (16), Abigail (14), a cat, Stella, and a dog, Lincoln.

Updated July 17, 2023