Mike Strickland: Marist School

Strickland was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame in 2020.

Bio updated 8/30/2024

Mike Strickland has a photo of himself attending a youth baseball camp when he was nine years old. The three coaches with him in the picture were Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame coaches Hugh Buchanan, Julian Mock and Harry Lloyd.

“Maybe I knew at nine years old what I was going to do,” said Strickland, who described himself as an average baseball player while playing high school at Roswell High School in the late 1980s.

The Roswell native, who has been head baseball coach at South Forsyth and Marist, was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame in 2020.

“It really doesn’t seem real,” said Strickland, who has a career coaching record of 568-269-10 entering the 2025 season. “It’s one of those things where I’m honored and humbled at the same time. I’m honored because I know the caliber of men in the Hall of Fame. I’m humbled because I know there are some who deserve to go in before me who aren’t in there.”

After graduating from Roswell, Strickland attended the Citadel where he did not play baseball. He returned during the summers and coached Roswell High summer league teams before graduating from college.

“When I knew I was not going to be able to play anymore, I was going to coach,” Strickland said.

His first job was in his hometown at Independence High School, an alternative school, and he was as an assistant at Roswell High under longtime coach John Coen (also a GDC Hall of Famer) until Coen retired in 1997. When he wasn’t offered the head job, he concluded a busy summer by landing at South Forsyth. Strickland stayed there until 2005. He guided the War Eagles to three region titles, a semifinal appearance in 2003 and a quarterfinal trip in 2004. He left with a career coaching record of 111-93-9.

Strickland took over at Marist in 2005 and has been there since, leading the War Eagles to state titles in 2010, ’11, ’17 and '21 as well as runner-up finishes in 2006 and ’13. He has led Marist to nine region titles, two trips to the state semifinals (2007, '09) and a quarterfinal appearance in 2012 and 2023.

He has also spent time coaching USA Baseball. He coached in the 2014 15U trials and was an assistant on the 2015 15U National Team that won the WBSC gold medal. He was head coach of the 2016 15U National Team that captured a bronze medal.

Known as a player’s coach who builds relationships beyond the game, Strickland credits a good part of his success to The Citadel.

" The Citadel and my close knit family had the greatest impacts on my coaching career," Strickland said. "From my family, I learned about faith in God and unconditional love and from The Citadel, when you experience that kind of leadership laboratory environment, it gives you an understanding of what makes a team work and how leadership impacts the development of your relationships that are the foundation of your program.”