David Esquer '87 was named Stanford's Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball on June 16, 2017, becoming the 21st head coach in program history.
Esquer succeeded Mark Marquess, who retired after 41 years at the helm of the program. Esquer played under Marquess on Stanford's 1987 national championship team, and served as an assistant on The Farm from 1991-96. Prior to taking over the reins at Stanford, Esquer spent the previous 18 seasons as the head coach at California, where he was the 2011 National Coach of the Year and led the Bears to five NCAA Regionals and the 2011 College World Series.
The 2024 season will be Esquer’s seventh in charge of the program, having guided Stanford to the 2018, 2022 and 2023 Pac-12 Conference championships, the inaugural 2022 Pac-12 Conference Tournament championship, five NCAA Regional appearances, four NCAA Super Regional appearances, and three consecutive College World Series appearances in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
In six seasons at the helm of Stanford, Esquer has amassed a 226-92 (.711) overall record - the highest winning percentage of any coach in Stanford baseball history. Esquer owns a career record of 751-559-2 through 24 seasons as a collegiate head coach. Included in the overall ledger is a 323-299 record in Pac-12 play, including an 105-41 mark while at Stanford.
Esquer has been named Pac-12 Coach of the Year four times in his career, earning the honor in 2018, 2022 and 2023 with Stanford, and in 2001 at California. The 2022 and 2023 ABCA West Region Coach of the Year won his 100th game as Stanford's head coach on March 4, 2021 as the Cardinal walked off with a 7-6 victory over San Francisco in 10 innings. His 300th career Pac-12 win came against USC on May 21, 2022 to claim sole possession of 2022 Pac-12 title, while his 700th career win came in a 5-4 triumph vs. Arizona on May 28, 2022 at the Pac-12 Tournament. Esquer added his 100th Pac-12 win at Stanford on May 7, 2023 as the Cardinal defeated No. 20 Arizona State 9-4 to sweep a three-game road series. In total as a head coach, Esquer has guided his teams to 10 postseason appearances and four College World Series berths.
Stanford made its third consecutive appearance in the College World Series in 2023, including its 19th in program history, finishing the year with a 44-20 overall record and a 23-7 mark in the Pac-12 to win the conference regular season championship for the second consecutive season. The Cardinal entered the postseason ranked No. 6 in the nation according to D1Baseball and won a regional featuring No. 25 Texas A&M, Cal State Fullerton and San Jose State to advance and host a super regional. The Cardinal won three consecutive elimination games in the regional, including defeating No. 25 Texas A&M twice, before winning two more against Texas in the super regional to punch a ticket to Omaha. The Cardinal hit .316 as a team (first in Pac-12 and 10th nationally) and averaged 8.36 runs per game while also leading the conference in home runs (117) and finishing second in slugging percentage (.539). On the pitching side, Stanford hurlers paced the Pac-12 in strikeouts per game (10.47) while registering a program-record 671 strikeouts to lead the Pac-12 and rank sixth in the nation. For the second consecutive season, Stanford cleaned up in the Pac-12 yearly award voting, capturing four of the five major Pac-12 yearly awards in addition to the batting champion in Tommy Troy. Esquer was named Coach of the Year, Alberto Rios won Player of the Year, Quinn Mathews earned Pitcher of the Year and Malcolm Moore took home Freshman of the Year. In addition to the yearly award winners, 12 Cardinal players earned All-Pac-12 honors, with Ryan Bruno, Carter Graham, Mathews, Braden Montgomery, Rios and Troy earning a spot on the first team. Five different Cardinal players earned All-America honors, including Bruno, Rios, Montgomery, Mathews and Troy, while Owen Cobb, Carter Graham and Eddie Park were named College Sports Communicators Academic All-Americans. Capping the stellar season, Esquer saw nine of his players drafted - headlined by Troy going 12th overall in the first round to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Stanford went 47-18 overall and 21-9 in the Pac-12 to win both the Pac-12 regular season and inaugural Pac-12 Tournament championships en route to advancing to Omaha in 2022. The 47 wins were tied for eighth-most in program history. Stanford, which entered the College World Series ranked No. 1 in the nation according to Collegiate Baseball, finished the year ranked No. 5 in the D1Baseball poll. Stanford hosted a regional and won its bracket to advance to the super regionals where it defeated Connecticut - winning five elimination games during the regional and super regional rounds to advance to Omaha. Putting together one of the best runs of baseball in program history, Stanford posted a 17-game win streak from May 3 to June 3 - the longest unbeaten streak since beginning the 1998 season 16-0-1, and the longest win streak since winning a program-best 18 straight from April 16 - May 24, 1996. Just as it did in 2021, Stanford led all teams in postseason home runs, connecting for 23 of its program-record 118 long balls during the 10-game postseason run. The Cardinal ranked second in the Pac-12 in average (.309) and led the Conference in slugging (.536) and home runs (118) while hitting 71 in the last 27 games overall. On the pitching side, Stanford also led the Pac-12 in shutouts (9) - fifth-most in program history - and ranked third in ERA (4.23). Including Esquer's Pac-12 Coach of the Year selection, the Cardinal cleaned up in the Pac-12 postseason awards process, placing eight on All-Pac-12 teams and securing four of the five major Pac-12 yearly awards - with Alex Williams winning Pitcher of the Year, Adam Crampton winning Defensive Player of the Year and Braden Montgomery taking home Freshman of the Year. Williams was named a semifinalist for the 2022 College Baseball Hall of Fame National Pitcher of the Year Award and earned unanimous All-America honors, while Carter Graham and Brock Jones also earned All-America selections. Montgomery was a semifinalist for the 2022 John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year and earned Freshman All-America honors after connecting for a Stanford freshman record 18 home runs. Standouts on the field and in the classroom, Williams and Jones were named CoSIDA Academic All-Americans. Williams was also named the 2022 Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was selected as Stanford's 2021-22 Pac-12 Tom Hansen Conference Medal recipient. The Cardinal saw six players drafted in the 2022 MLB Draft – headlined by Jones being selected 65th overall in the second round by the Rays.
Stanford finished the historic 2021 season ranked No. 5 nationally according to Collegiate Baseball and in the NCBWA poll, No. 7 according to Baseball America and the USA Today Coaches poll, and No. 8 according to D1Baseball after going 39-17 and 17-10 in Pac-12 play to claim third place in the conference standings. Esquer's Cardinal dropped back-to-back games just once in 2021 and finished the year 12-1 in weekend series. Stanford won the Stanford Regional and swept a Super Regional at Texas Tech to earn the berth in Omaha. Brendan Beck was a unanimous All-American and was named 2021 Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, while Brock Jones and Zach Grech also earned All-America honors. Eight Cardinal players claimed All-Conference recognition, while Grech also earned Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year. The Cardinal's 85 home runs, including an NCAA-high 22 in the postseason, were the eighth-most in Stanford history, while the .979 fielding percentage was the third-best in program history. Three Cardinal were drafted following the 2021 season, headlined by Beck being selected 55th overall in the second round by the New York Yankees.
Stanford posted a 45-14 record in 2019 before registering a 5-11 mark in a 2020 season cut short by the COVID-19 global pandemic. The Cardinal’s .763 win percentage in 2019 tied for the fifth-best in program history, while its 14 losses matched the third-fewest. Stanford finished 22-7 in Pac-12 play, claiming second place before earning its 11th Super Regional berth overall, and the first since 2014. Nine Cardinal were drafted following the 2019 season, and Maverick Handley was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year.
In 2018, his first season in charge of the program, Esquer guided Stanford to its first Pac-12 Conference title since 2004, matching a program record for fewest losses with 12 (minimum 50 games played) while picking up Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors. Stanford’s 46 wins equaled the 10th-most in program history to that point, while the Cardinal's .793 winning percentage ranked second. Nine Cardinal were named All-Pac-12, and Stanford hosted an NCAA Regional for the 17th time.
Through 18 seasons at Cal, Esquer compiled a 525-467-2 (.529) overall record and mentored five MLB first-round selections. Conor Jackson was the first of the five first-round picks, selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2003 before Brandon Morrow was selected fifth overall by the Seattle Mariners in 2006. David Cooper (Toronto Blue Jays, 2008) and Brett Jackson (Chicago Cubs, 2009) followed before right-hander Daulton Jefferies was drafted in 2016 by the Oakland A's.
During his time at the helm of the Cardinal program, Esquer has seen three more players selected in the first round of an MLB draft, running the total to eight in his career. Nico Hoerner was drafted 24th overall by the Chicago Cubs in 2018, while Kris Bubic was selected 40th overall by the Kansas City Royals in that same draft. Most recently, Tommy Troy was selected 12th overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 MLB draft.
Through 24 seasons as a collegiate head coach in the Pac-12, Esquer has seen 19 of his players garner All-America honors, 22 named All-Region, three claim Conference Player, Pitcher, and Freshman of the Year, and two more earn Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
A shortstop at Stanford from 1984-87, Esquer was a starter on the Cardinal's 1987 College World Series championship team. He earned all-tournament honors after hitting .350 with six RBIs in Omaha. He also earned All-Pac-10 Southern Division honors as a senior, batting .318 with 41 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. Esquer went on to play professional baseball for four seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, California Angels and Milwaukee Brewers.
Following his playing career, Esquer spent six seasons as an assistant under Coach Marquess. His time as an assistant with the Cardinal included five NCAA Regional appearances and a fifth-place finish at the 1995 College World Series. In three seasons as the top assistant at Pepperdine from 1997-99, Esquer was the program's chief recruiting coordinator as well as hitting instructor, infield coach and handler of the third base coaching duties.
Esquer was a three-sport star and class valedictorian at Palma High School in Salinas, Calif. He was tabbed the "Athlete of the Year" at Palma High School after being named team captain and MVP in baseball, football and basketball. Esquer earned a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's degree in sociology from Stanford in 1987. He and his wife, Lynn, have a daughter, Gabrielle, and son, Xavier.
Esquer succeeded Mark Marquess, who retired after 41 years at the helm of the program. Esquer played under Marquess on Stanford's 1987 national championship team, and served as an assistant on The Farm from 1991-96. Prior to taking over the reins at Stanford, Esquer spent the previous 18 seasons as the head coach at California, where he was the 2011 National Coach of the Year and led the Bears to five NCAA Regionals and the 2011 College World Series.
The 2024 season will be Esquer’s seventh in charge of the program, having guided Stanford to the 2018, 2022 and 2023 Pac-12 Conference championships, the inaugural 2022 Pac-12 Conference Tournament championship, five NCAA Regional appearances, four NCAA Super Regional appearances, and three consecutive College World Series appearances in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
In six seasons at the helm of Stanford, Esquer has amassed a 226-92 (.711) overall record - the highest winning percentage of any coach in Stanford baseball history. Esquer owns a career record of 751-559-2 through 24 seasons as a collegiate head coach. Included in the overall ledger is a 323-299 record in Pac-12 play, including an 105-41 mark while at Stanford.
Esquer has been named Pac-12 Coach of the Year four times in his career, earning the honor in 2018, 2022 and 2023 with Stanford, and in 2001 at California. The 2022 and 2023 ABCA West Region Coach of the Year won his 100th game as Stanford's head coach on March 4, 2021 as the Cardinal walked off with a 7-6 victory over San Francisco in 10 innings. His 300th career Pac-12 win came against USC on May 21, 2022 to claim sole possession of 2022 Pac-12 title, while his 700th career win came in a 5-4 triumph vs. Arizona on May 28, 2022 at the Pac-12 Tournament. Esquer added his 100th Pac-12 win at Stanford on May 7, 2023 as the Cardinal defeated No. 20 Arizona State 9-4 to sweep a three-game road series. In total as a head coach, Esquer has guided his teams to 10 postseason appearances and four College World Series berths.
Stanford made its third consecutive appearance in the College World Series in 2023, including its 19th in program history, finishing the year with a 44-20 overall record and a 23-7 mark in the Pac-12 to win the conference regular season championship for the second consecutive season. The Cardinal entered the postseason ranked No. 6 in the nation according to D1Baseball and won a regional featuring No. 25 Texas A&M, Cal State Fullerton and San Jose State to advance and host a super regional. The Cardinal won three consecutive elimination games in the regional, including defeating No. 25 Texas A&M twice, before winning two more against Texas in the super regional to punch a ticket to Omaha. The Cardinal hit .316 as a team (first in Pac-12 and 10th nationally) and averaged 8.36 runs per game while also leading the conference in home runs (117) and finishing second in slugging percentage (.539). On the pitching side, Stanford hurlers paced the Pac-12 in strikeouts per game (10.47) while registering a program-record 671 strikeouts to lead the Pac-12 and rank sixth in the nation. For the second consecutive season, Stanford cleaned up in the Pac-12 yearly award voting, capturing four of the five major Pac-12 yearly awards in addition to the batting champion in Tommy Troy. Esquer was named Coach of the Year, Alberto Rios won Player of the Year, Quinn Mathews earned Pitcher of the Year and Malcolm Moore took home Freshman of the Year. In addition to the yearly award winners, 12 Cardinal players earned All-Pac-12 honors, with Ryan Bruno, Carter Graham, Mathews, Braden Montgomery, Rios and Troy earning a spot on the first team. Five different Cardinal players earned All-America honors, including Bruno, Rios, Montgomery, Mathews and Troy, while Owen Cobb, Carter Graham and Eddie Park were named College Sports Communicators Academic All-Americans. Capping the stellar season, Esquer saw nine of his players drafted - headlined by Troy going 12th overall in the first round to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Stanford went 47-18 overall and 21-9 in the Pac-12 to win both the Pac-12 regular season and inaugural Pac-12 Tournament championships en route to advancing to Omaha in 2022. The 47 wins were tied for eighth-most in program history. Stanford, which entered the College World Series ranked No. 1 in the nation according to Collegiate Baseball, finished the year ranked No. 5 in the D1Baseball poll. Stanford hosted a regional and won its bracket to advance to the super regionals where it defeated Connecticut - winning five elimination games during the regional and super regional rounds to advance to Omaha. Putting together one of the best runs of baseball in program history, Stanford posted a 17-game win streak from May 3 to June 3 - the longest unbeaten streak since beginning the 1998 season 16-0-1, and the longest win streak since winning a program-best 18 straight from April 16 - May 24, 1996. Just as it did in 2021, Stanford led all teams in postseason home runs, connecting for 23 of its program-record 118 long balls during the 10-game postseason run. The Cardinal ranked second in the Pac-12 in average (.309) and led the Conference in slugging (.536) and home runs (118) while hitting 71 in the last 27 games overall. On the pitching side, Stanford also led the Pac-12 in shutouts (9) - fifth-most in program history - and ranked third in ERA (4.23). Including Esquer's Pac-12 Coach of the Year selection, the Cardinal cleaned up in the Pac-12 postseason awards process, placing eight on All-Pac-12 teams and securing four of the five major Pac-12 yearly awards - with Alex Williams winning Pitcher of the Year, Adam Crampton winning Defensive Player of the Year and Braden Montgomery taking home Freshman of the Year. Williams was named a semifinalist for the 2022 College Baseball Hall of Fame National Pitcher of the Year Award and earned unanimous All-America honors, while Carter Graham and Brock Jones also earned All-America selections. Montgomery was a semifinalist for the 2022 John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year and earned Freshman All-America honors after connecting for a Stanford freshman record 18 home runs. Standouts on the field and in the classroom, Williams and Jones were named CoSIDA Academic All-Americans. Williams was also named the 2022 Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was selected as Stanford's 2021-22 Pac-12 Tom Hansen Conference Medal recipient. The Cardinal saw six players drafted in the 2022 MLB Draft – headlined by Jones being selected 65th overall in the second round by the Rays.
Stanford finished the historic 2021 season ranked No. 5 nationally according to Collegiate Baseball and in the NCBWA poll, No. 7 according to Baseball America and the USA Today Coaches poll, and No. 8 according to D1Baseball after going 39-17 and 17-10 in Pac-12 play to claim third place in the conference standings. Esquer's Cardinal dropped back-to-back games just once in 2021 and finished the year 12-1 in weekend series. Stanford won the Stanford Regional and swept a Super Regional at Texas Tech to earn the berth in Omaha. Brendan Beck was a unanimous All-American and was named 2021 Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, while Brock Jones and Zach Grech also earned All-America honors. Eight Cardinal players claimed All-Conference recognition, while Grech also earned Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year. The Cardinal's 85 home runs, including an NCAA-high 22 in the postseason, were the eighth-most in Stanford history, while the .979 fielding percentage was the third-best in program history. Three Cardinal were drafted following the 2021 season, headlined by Beck being selected 55th overall in the second round by the New York Yankees.
Stanford posted a 45-14 record in 2019 before registering a 5-11 mark in a 2020 season cut short by the COVID-19 global pandemic. The Cardinal’s .763 win percentage in 2019 tied for the fifth-best in program history, while its 14 losses matched the third-fewest. Stanford finished 22-7 in Pac-12 play, claiming second place before earning its 11th Super Regional berth overall, and the first since 2014. Nine Cardinal were drafted following the 2019 season, and Maverick Handley was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year.
In 2018, his first season in charge of the program, Esquer guided Stanford to its first Pac-12 Conference title since 2004, matching a program record for fewest losses with 12 (minimum 50 games played) while picking up Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors. Stanford’s 46 wins equaled the 10th-most in program history to that point, while the Cardinal's .793 winning percentage ranked second. Nine Cardinal were named All-Pac-12, and Stanford hosted an NCAA Regional for the 17th time.
Through 18 seasons at Cal, Esquer compiled a 525-467-2 (.529) overall record and mentored five MLB first-round selections. Conor Jackson was the first of the five first-round picks, selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2003 before Brandon Morrow was selected fifth overall by the Seattle Mariners in 2006. David Cooper (Toronto Blue Jays, 2008) and Brett Jackson (Chicago Cubs, 2009) followed before right-hander Daulton Jefferies was drafted in 2016 by the Oakland A's.
During his time at the helm of the Cardinal program, Esquer has seen three more players selected in the first round of an MLB draft, running the total to eight in his career. Nico Hoerner was drafted 24th overall by the Chicago Cubs in 2018, while Kris Bubic was selected 40th overall by the Kansas City Royals in that same draft. Most recently, Tommy Troy was selected 12th overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 MLB draft.
Through 24 seasons as a collegiate head coach in the Pac-12, Esquer has seen 19 of his players garner All-America honors, 22 named All-Region, three claim Conference Player, Pitcher, and Freshman of the Year, and two more earn Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
A shortstop at Stanford from 1984-87, Esquer was a starter on the Cardinal's 1987 College World Series championship team. He earned all-tournament honors after hitting .350 with six RBIs in Omaha. He also earned All-Pac-10 Southern Division honors as a senior, batting .318 with 41 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. Esquer went on to play professional baseball for four seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, California Angels and Milwaukee Brewers.
Following his playing career, Esquer spent six seasons as an assistant under Coach Marquess. His time as an assistant with the Cardinal included five NCAA Regional appearances and a fifth-place finish at the 1995 College World Series. In three seasons as the top assistant at Pepperdine from 1997-99, Esquer was the program's chief recruiting coordinator as well as hitting instructor, infield coach and handler of the third base coaching duties.
Esquer was a three-sport star and class valedictorian at Palma High School in Salinas, Calif. He was tabbed the "Athlete of the Year" at Palma High School after being named team captain and MVP in baseball, football and basketball. Esquer earned a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's degree in sociology from Stanford in 1987. He and his wife, Lynn, have a daughter, Gabrielle, and son, Xavier.