Brad Niethammer was appointed as the newest Athletic Director at Webber International University on April 30, 2021.
Previously, Niethammer was named Webber's Interim Director of Athletics beginning in July 2020, and had been Webber’s Associate Athletic Director since March 2020, overseeing the AD responsibilities for external operations and budgets. Before that, he served as the Assistant Athletic Director and was the Warriors’ Head Baseball Coach.
Following the 2019 baseball season, Niethammer stepped down from his role as the first head coach in the history of the Webber baseball program to focus on his responsibilities as an AD.
Niethammer, a native of Evansville, Indiana, began playing baseball at an early age. Niethammer was a versatile athlete at Evansville North High School where he played football, basketball and baseball. After high school, Niethammer played two years of junior college baseball at Olney Central College. In both years, Niethammer garnered all-conference honors and was selected to the all-tournament team in his first year. To round out his junior college accomplishments, Niethammer was selected to the Region XXIV All-Star team that was played at the prestigious Wrigley Field.
After graduating Olney Central College in 1988 with an A.S degree, Niethammer joined NCAA-I program, Appalachian State University on a baseball scholarship. At ASU, Niethammer was selected to the All-Southern Conference team in 1989 and the All-Southern Conference Tournament team in 1990. Records fell to Niethammer while at ASU in the single-season and career-fielding percentage categories as well as home runs in a single inning (two). Niethammer also tied the school record for home runs in a game (three). Niethammer graduated with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from ASU.
After graduating, Niethammer moved into the coaching ranks. He started his coaching career at Lake Wales High School as an assistant baseball coach in 1991 while still pursuing his playing career. He was involved in spring training with the Texas Rangers, and was part of the Houston Astros developmental squad. The following year, Niethammer continued as assistant coach at Lake Wales High School and became the head coach with American Legion Baseball. Niethammer’s next stop in the coaching ranks was assistant coach of Frostproof High School in 1993. In the summer of 1993, Niethammer was hired as the head baseball coach at then Webber College and had the opportunity to start the first ever baseball program in Webber’s history.
In 2009, coach Niethammer graduated from Webber International University with his Master’s Degree (MBA) in sport management.
Upon finishing up his 26th and final season as the Warriors' head baseball coach in 2019, Niethammer’s overall career record at WIU stood at 765-659, which at the time put him in the top 20 on the NAIA's list of winningest active coaches.
The Warriors had 16 30-plus win seasons under Niethammer, including seven straight concluding in 2019, and made 14 postseason appearances overall.
Coach Niethammer led Webber baseball to its first ever Sun Conference Tournament championship in 2018 and a Sun Conference Tournament runner-up finish in 2019.
Niethammer's Warriors also qualified for the NAIA National Championship Opening Round appearances in 2017, 2018 and 2019, earning the No. 2 seed each time and finishing as the Kingsport Bracket runners-up in 2019.
Before the era of the NAIA Opening Round, the Warriors best tournament run under Niethammer came in 1996 with a runner-up finish in the Florida Sun Conference Tournament. The Warriors posted their best finish in the regional format in 2004 with third place, earning them a third seed at the Region XIV Tournament.
The Warriors best overall record during any season under Nethammer was in 2017 with a 39-17 mark.
The Warriors were crowned USCAA National Champions in 2005 after posting an unblemished 6-0 record en route to the first baseball National Championship in the school's history.
Under Coach Niethammer, the hardballers hve also excelled in the classroom. The Warriors had 27 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes, and his teams have collected the prestigious honor of NAIA Baseball Scholar Team four times in (2004, '05, '06, and '07).
On the national stage, Niethammer has been a big part of the Avista-NAIA World Series. There, he served as both a volunteer for the American Baseball Coaches' Association (ABCA) and as a member of the tournament committee for the final five years of his coaching career. In 2019, the former skipper of the Warriors led the committee, stepping in for 2019 NAIA-ABCA President Kip McWilliams of Indiana Tech.
Niethammer has had 23 years of continuous membership in the ABCA (American Baseball Coaches Association), and has served on the NAIA-BCA executive committee during the past seven years (2013-2017). Niethammer also served as the past President of the NAIA-BCA in 2018. Niethammer previously served as The Sun Conference baseball chair, and still serves as The Sun Conference treasurer as well.
Niethammer currently lives in Babson Park, Florida, and has two daughters, Brenna and Tori.
