John Corbin is in his fourth year with the Bradley Baseball staff, serving as the team's pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. He is in his 10th year overall working with Braves head coach Elvis Dominguez, having previously teamed together for six seasons at Eastern Kentucky.
In his first season with the Braves in 2009, Corbin helped improve the team ERA from 6.30 to 5.51 and had one pitcher selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft (RHP Rob Scahill, 8th Round, Colorado Rockies). After his second season at Bradley, pitcher Patrick Cooper was selected in the 14th round by the Detroit Tigers and during his third season the staff's ERA continued to lower to 4.68.
In addition to the two MLB Draft picks, current senior left-hander Joe Bircher was a second-team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection in 2011 and was a Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star this past summer. Meanwhile, senior right-hander Justin Ziegler tied the single-season school record saves last season.
Each of Corbin's first three Bradley recruiting classes have been ranked in the top-50 according to Collegiate Baseball newspaper.
Corbin served as both recruiting coordinator and pitching coach for the Colonels from 2003-08, overseeing the identification and evaluation of baseball prospects, managed the scholarship budget and maintained relationships with high school and junior college coaches, as well as professional scouts. He also managed the development of the Eastern Kentucky pitching staff, prepared opponent scouting reports, coordinated the placement of players in collegiate summer leagues and assisted the management of baseball camps.
Among the accomplishments of his players at Eastern Kentucky, Corbin helped recruit and develop nine All-Americans, including three pitchers, as well as seven eventual Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft selections. Of most recent note, All-American pitcher Christian Friedrich was the 25th overall selection in the 2008 draft by the Colorado Rockies.
During Corbin's six years with the Colonels, three EKU players were named Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year while 20 Colonels earned All-OVC honors. In his first season at Eastern Kentucky, Corbin inherited a pitching staff that produced an 8.37 earned run average in 2002. After six seasons, he had worked that number down to 4.73. Corbin's final EKU staff also limited the opposition to a .262 batting average and averaged 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings, both the best numbers during his six years with the Colonels, while the 4.73 staff ERA was the fourth-best in the history of Eastern Kentucky baseball.
A 2000 graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a bachelor's degree in business administration, Corbin was a four-year lettermen for the Fighting Irish. He set the school's single-season and career saves records while helping the Irish to Big East Conference regular-season championships in 1997 and 1999 and NCAA Regional appearances in 1999 and 2000. He ended his collegiate career with a 13-7 record, 4.64 ERA and 20 saves. The Hollywood, Fla., native led the Big East in saves and appearances during both the 1999 and 2000 seasons and his combined saves total in 1999 and 2000 ranked third nationally during the two-year period.
Following his college career, Corbin spent three years in the Chicago Cubs organization, advancing to the Double A level. He totaled an 8-1 record with six saves and a 4.08 ERA in his three pro seasons.
Corbin and his wife, Jill, reside in Peoria.