La Salle brings back David Miller to lead recently revived baseball program

Nearly two months after announcing the return of La Salle’s baseball team, the university brought back a familiar face to lead the program’s new era. David Miller, who spent four years as the La Salle baseball coach from 2018-21, is returning to the Explorers after one year at Penn State Abington and the last two at Manhattan College.

La Salle’s program will return during the 2025-26 academic year.

In the program’s most recent season three years ago, Miller was named the 2021 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year after leading the Explorers to a school-record 32 wins.

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“During the process, it became clear David was the right coach to lead our program,” Ashwin Puri, vice president for athletics and recreation at La Salle, said in a release for the program. “He knows La Salle, the Atlantic 10 and the Philadelphia baseball community. We share his vision for La Salle Baseball and are excited to have him rebuild our program and take it to new heights.”

In two seasons leading the Jaspers, Miller compiled a 44-64 record but led the program to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game in his first season. In his lone season at PSU Abington in 2022, he set their program record in wins (33) and coached the Division III National Player of the Year, Ryan McCarty, who later signed a contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Over his four seasons with the Explorers, the Philadelphia native compiled 76 wins, tying a program record in conference wins with 15 in 2021. La Salle played just 14 games in 2020 before the COVID pandemic canceled the remainder of the season.

“I am excited to come home,” Miller said in a statement. “We have unfinished business at La Salle and I’m excited to get back to work and build what we started to do in 2021. I would like to thank the University, President Dr. Daniel Allen, Ash Puri, and all of the people responsible for reinstating the program. I look forward to being an Explorer again.”

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Before joining La Salle, Miller was the Penn Charter baseball coach for four seasons, leading the school to a Inter-Ac title in 2014 and collecting 84 wins. A Chestnut Hill Academy standout in high school, Miller played his college ball at Clemson and spent eight years as an outfielder/first baseman in the minor leagues after being drafted 23rd overall in the 1995 draft by Cleveland.