NORFOLK, Va. – Tony Guzzo, legendary former VCU head baseball coach, passed away Thursday at the age of 75.
 
Guzzo was the fourth head coach in VCU baseball's Division I history from 1983 through 1994, and worked to lay the groundwork for the program's decades of success at a national level that would follow.
 
Current VCU baseball head coach and former Rams pitcher Sean Thompson shared words of appreciation for Guzzo's lasting impact.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of Coach Guzzo," Thompson said. "He was in one of the most influential people in VCU baseball history. He set the mark and standard of what it means to play baseball at VCU."
 
Among the first coaches to instill the program's longstanding championship culture in its early years in Division I, Guzzo's impact on the growth of VCU baseball into a nationally recognized program remains historical.
 
"His contribution to both our program and college baseball history will be missed greatly. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time," Thompson continued.
 
Over his 12-year tenure at the helm of VCU, Guzzo compiled a legendary resume, leading the program to a laundry list of 'firsts;' including its first conference championship, NCAA regional appearances, NCAA postseason victories, and MLB Draft picks, among many other historical moments.
 
In 1988, Guzzo's squad achieved the program's first 45-win season en route to VCU's first appearance in an NCAA Regional. The team's 45 victories remain the second-most in a single season in program history. Then, in 1992, the Rams tore through the NCAA Central Regional, picking up a program-high four NCAA postseason victories, including one against host Texas.
 
More than a decade of success on VCU's diamond and well beyond it defined Guzzo's contributions to the VCU baseball program.
 
He coached 16 MLB draft picks, among them the first and highest selection in program history in Bill Smith, who was selected 21^st overall in the first round by the New York Yankees in 1984. Guzzo coached five Rams who would go on to play Major League Baseball, including VCU's 1992 draft class of three big-leaguers.

   
 
Prior to his arrival to VCU, Guzzo was the head coach of North Carolina Wesleyan from 1979-82, at which he compiled a 102-66 records and led the program to back-to-back Division III World Series in 1981 and 1982.
 
Guzzo compiled a 329-300-1 record in his first Division I head coaching job at VCU.
 
Following his time with the Rams, Guzzo served as a head coach at Old Dominion from 1995 through 2004. From there he made a few stops before returning to ODU in 2017.
 
Local to Virginia, Guzzo hailed from Norfolk, Va., and he graduated from East Carolina University, where he played baseball and football from 1968-71.
 
VCU baseball honors Tony Guzzo's legacy and the ever-lasting impact of his contributions to the program.