Chad Herren has been at the helm of Rock Valley College baseball since the fall of 2016. Coach Herren also serves as Assistant Athletic Director to the RVC athletic department. Coach Herren has sent 100% of guys that have chosen to go play at a 4 year institution. Over 90 student-athletes have gone onto play at the 4 year level under his guidance along with sending players to over 20 different states. Coach Herren's overall record at Rock Valley College is 203-188-1
The Golden Eagles has another solid year in 2025. RVC Baseball went 42-17 overall in their campaign! The biggest of the season came when Ethan Storm RHP was drafted in the 13th round of the MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays! He was originally committed to the University of Oklahoma. The Golden Eagles again set offensive and defensive numbers across the board nationally! Eight sophomores committed to the Division I level along with all 20 sophomores finding a home after Rock Valley College! Coach Herren really can't thank Coach Jack Howard enough for what he does with the offense along with Coach Tyler Ingram continuing to set pitching records year in and year out.
Coming off a 42 win season in 2024. The Golden Eagles under Coach Herren excelled to new heights. Rock Valley College finished #19 in the NJCAA National Rankings. RVC baseball also had 2 All-Americans in Griffin Smith RHP and Jackson Lindquist 2B. Again, for another year the Sophomores landed at some great 4 year schools to continue their baseball and academic careers. Every playing moving on went either Division 1 or Division 2. The Golden Eagles finish 2 games away to heading to the NJCAA World Series. Griffin Smith (Washington State Commit) went 11-0 on the year on the mound. On the National level RVC finished 9th as a team on the mound with a 3.81 ERA. The pitching staff finished 11th in the country with K/9 innings. Offensively, the offense took another jump behind Coach Jack Howard running the offense. The Golden Eagles finished 10th in the NJCAA with 65 home runs. The offense continues to be at the top of the stolen base category with 151, finished 3rd in 3B, and finished with 110 doubles. Under Coach Herren the Golden Eagles thrived in the classroom by becoming and NJCAA All-American Team as well. The Golden Eagles finished off their stellar season 42-15.
In 2023, The Golden Eagles won 32 games and got to the Championship game of the Sectional Region IV Tournament. Coach Herren sent 6 guys playing in the Northwoods Collegiate Summer League. This is one of the most talented summer collegiate leagues in the country. Eleven players again were sent off to respective 4 year institutions spanning across 7 different states.
Since coming onto Rock Valley College, over 80 players have moved onto various four year levels including Division I, Division II, Division III and the NAIA levels.
In 2020, The Golden Eagles were prepared to make a run at the National Title in Greenville, TN., but the season was cut short due to Covid-19. RVC finished their baseball spring break trip to find that their season was over due to the pandemic. "This was the toughest conversation I have ever had to tell my team", Coach Herren mentioned.
In 2021, Eleven players moved onto four year schools leading the pack was Tyler Ingram as he heads off to the University of Illinois Chicago. Earning Region IV/DIII Gold Gloves were Jimmy Fairley and Evan Tocmo. N4C Conference winners were Logan Burbach, AJ Christoffer, and Evan Tocmo. Evan Tocmo earned his 3rd award of the season has he received All-Region IV 2nd Team OF.
Golden Eagle Ball again set the bar in 2019. The Golden Eagles went on to set a new school record with 38 Wins and earned the one seed going into the post season tournament. RVC Baseball was ranked as high as fifth in the country. Zac Cummins was Region IV Division III 1st Team Pitcher, Region IV Division III Player of the Year, Gold Glove, NJCAA First Team All-American Pitcher, ABCA/Rawlings NJCAA First Team All-American. Ten sophomores are going onto four year institutions to continue their academic and baseball career. Three players: Carlos Arteaga, Zac Cummins, Drew Behling earned 1st team All-Region IV team. Brock Glavey was awarded 2nd team All-Region IV. Four players earned Gold Glove for their work defensively: Bryce Burton, Zac Cummins, Carlos Arteaga, and Collin Meinert. Two Players Carlos Arteaga, Drew Behling earn 1st Team N4CV All-Conference, with Bryce Burton earning 2nd Team N4C All-Conference.
Offensively the Golden Eagles put up strong numbers once again finishing 3rd in the country with 28 triples, 4th in the country with 144 stolen bases (33 more than 2018). Team batting average .336 which rose two points from 2018. The pitching staff held their own too striking out 354 batters. RVC’s staff lowered their ERA by one whole point as well. A huge reason in getting the team to 38 wins.
In 2018, in Coach Herren's second year, RVC Baseball rose to new heights. The Golden Eagles won 34 games (the most in program's history). Chad Herren garnered 2018 N4C Conference Coach of the Year. Keegan Mickey earned a spot on the NJCAA DIII ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove Team as a Catcher. Carlos Arteaga earned NJCAA DIII National Player of the Week, along with Erik Durand earning NJCAA DIII National Pitcher of the Week during the regular season. Three of his players received All-Conference accolades, three young men earned the right to be on the All-Region IV Team, and four earned a spot on the Region IV/DIII Gold Glove Team. Again, seven Golden Eagles went onto four year institutions including Anthony Leedle going to Division I Chicago State University and Aaron Cusimano to Division II University of Wisconsin Parkside to name a few. Coach Herren and his staff were able to coach in the sophomore unsigned showcase.
The 2018 Golden Eagles on the diamond made great gains again from year one to year two. The offense exploded with 23 home runs compared to 9 the previous year, finished 7th in the NJCAA DIII rankings with 114 doubles , finished 4th in the country with 111 stolen bases and finished the year with a .334 batting average. On the defensive side of the ball, the pitching staff finished the year with 322 strikeouts.
Under Coach Herren, several guys have went on and played in summer collegiate leagues around the country. Some include the Northwood’s League, Metro. Collegiate League, Mid-Plains Leagues, M.I.N.K, Mid-Plains League, Jayhawk League, Ohio Valley League to name a few.
Herren made his way to Rockford from Washburn University (NCAA D2) in Topeka, KS, where he spent the 2 years as an assistant.In his first season, Washburn went 33-20 and finished in the final three at the 2015 MIAA Tournament. The Ichabods won more than 30 games for the first time since 2000, and eight players selected to the All-MIAA team. Washburn University started the season 14-0, climbing to as high as No. 19 in the American Baseball Coaches Association national poll (weeks four and five) and No. 6 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association rankings (week four). Herren's pitching staff recorded a 4.97 team ERA (fifth in the MIAA). Within the two years at Washburn University; Herren was involved in all aspects of the program, including recruiting, offensive and defensive strategies, and coaching pitchers, catchers, and corner infielders. He was also responsible running high school showcases and high school fall leagues. Herren was also instrumental in the development in starting catcher, David Gauntt, who was selected in the MLB Draft.
Herren has also traveled overseas coaching teams in the Dominican Republic, Germany, and Italy consisting of high school talent and players entering their freshman year in college.
Prior to his time at Washburn, Herren, a Lincoln, Nebraska native, was head coach at Lyndon High School (KS) from 2006 to 2008 and then was coach at Rock Creek High School (KS) from 2009 to 2014. He led his team to a 3A state runner-up finish in 2014 at Falley Field as Washburn University hosted that tournament. He also led his team to state in 2012 and was named the Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches Coach of the Year that season. Additionally, Herren coached 3 players of the year in a 4-year span at Rock Creek HS. Coach Herren including High School and College as a head coach as amassed over 350 wins.
Herren earned a bachelor of education degree from Washburn University in 2003 and a master's degree in education from Baker University in 2007. He is married to the former Keri Tanner and the couple has two daughters, Boey and Kai.
