Millard Dawson

Dawson enters his eighth season with the Redhawks and will continue overseeing the hitters, coaching the outfielders, and controlling the running game while manning the third-base coaches’ box on game days. He is also entering his 3rd year serving as the recruiting coordinator, a role he has seen success in during his career.

During his 7 years in Seattle, the program has seen 10 players sign professional baseball contracts, made the conference tournament each season, and won a program and WAC record 7 consecutive conference series in a row in 2023. The 2023 season also saw the RedHawks finish tied for their 2nd highest WAC conference ranking (4th of 13) since finishing 4th in 2018 and winning the conference in 2016 with a 21-6 record.

Since taking over the hitters in the 2022 season, a role which has seen him help develop the offense into one that ranks in the top 5 in Redhawk history, they have finished with the 4th and 3rd highest team batting averages in program history, respectively, in route to setting a program record for home runs in the 2023 season (46).

In 2023, Matt Boissoneault appeared in 50 games, with 49 starts, while batting .321 with a team high 47 RBI. This was following a season where Boissoneault’s hot bat led to him batting .352 and leading the team in hits (64). Boissoneault set the single-season program record with home runs (13), broke the all-time program record for career home runs (24), and finished 1st in career slugging percentage (.520). His strong 2023 season resulted in finishing in the top 25 for overall OPS in D1 baseball (No. 18, .958) and being selected Second Team All-WAC.

Dawson also played an integral part in the development of two-time Buster Posey Catcher of the Year Watch List recipient (2020,2021) and Preseason All-WAC Selection (2019), Justin Mazzone during his time in Seattle. A career in which he recorded the sixth-best single season batting average in program history (.339) in his freshman campaign followed up by a sophomore season in which he started the season reaching base safely in his first 15 at-bats of the season.

Dawson made an immediate impact in Seattle assisting in the tutelage of an offense that saw freshman All-American, Austin Lively, and senior Dalton Hurd lead the WAC in multiple offensive categories. Hurd was selected in the 25th round of the 2019 MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers and finished his career with Seattle U’s record for hits (237), games started (214), at-bats (816), runs scored (152), doubles (48), home runs (20), RBI’s (122), total bases (353), and stolen bases (65).

The Montgomery, AL native is also part of the USA Baseball NTIS Development Program which includes stints with the Northwest NTIS 16U team in 2019 which brought home Gold.

Dawson moved to Atlanta, Ga. in 2013 to coach baseball with East Cobb and was also named Paideia School's (Atlanta) Head Baseball Coach in August 2013. During his first 3 seasons, he led the Pythons to an overall 42-35 record as head coach.

During this time, Dawson joined Head Coach Mike Twardoski's staff at Emory University prior to the start of the 2017 season, helping the Eagles to a 27-14 record and a berth into the NCAA Tournament. As a member of Twardoski's staff, he assisted with the offense and running game, as well as overseeing the outfield.

Dawson played college football and baseball for the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB). He played centerfield for the Blazer's baseball team and was a WR/QB on the football team from 2001-2003 before transferring to play baseball at the University of Montevallo. Dawson helped lead the Falcons to a 43-18 record in his senior season, ending the season ranked third nationally by USA Today in the final season polls. This coming after a loss in the Division II College World Series to the University of Tampa. Dawson hit .361 with 32 stolen bases during his final season with the Falcons.

After the College World Series, Dawson signed with the Kansas City T-Bones of the Northern Independent League as an OF. He also split time with the Anderson Joes and Charlotte County Redfish before making the switch back to football to play quarterback in the Indoor Football League in FL.

Dawson received his bachelor's degree in Kinesiology/Health Promotion from the University of Montevallo in 2006 and completed his master's in Sport Management from Troy University. Dawson resides in Seattle with his fiancé, Luz, and their two sons, EJ and Esaias.