Ted Silva

Ted Silva was hired as Nebraska’s pitching coach and recruiting coordinator on June 17, 2011. Silva was promoted to associate head coach in August of 2014.

During his eight seasons on staff, the Huskers made four trips to the NCAA Tournament and qualified for the Big Ten Tournament seven times. In addition, he helped Nebraska capture the 2017 Big Ten regular-season crown.

Silva helped produce multiple recruiting classes that ranked among the best in the nation and in the Big Ten, including NU’s crop of newcomers for 2019. In the fall of 2018, D1 Baseball tabbed NU’s recruiting class 16th in the nation, while Baseball America awarded the class a top-35 ranking.

The 2019 squad ended the season with a 32-24 mark and took runner-up honors at the Big Ten Tournament before qualifying for NCAA Regionals. Senior right-hander Matt Waldron led a senior rotation that included Nate Fisher and Reece Eddins. Waldron ranked second nationally with a 13.29 strikeout-to-walk ratio, compiling 93 strikeouts and only seven walks in 2019. He finished his career in the top 10 of several Nebraska career records lists, including career strikeouts, innings pitched, wins and games started.

Silva also tutored freshman Colby Gomes, who served as Nebraska's closer in 2019. Gomes compiled a team-high 13 saves en route to Freshman All-America accolades from the NCBWA. 

In 2018, senior Jake Hohensee earned second-team All-America honors as Nebraska’s closer after spending 2017 as a starter. Hohensee relished the new role, recording a team-high 13 saves and allowed only 12 hits and three runs in 25.2 innings, while tallying 28 strikeouts. Despite numerous injuries to the pitching staff before and during the 2018 season, NU’s bullpen went 22-0 when leading after eight innings and 21-0 when leading after seven innings.

Luis Alvarado, who elected to return to Nebraska for his senior season in 2018 after being drafted, transitioned into a starter role and led the Husker pitching staff in innings pitched (70.0) and strikeouts (65), while ranking second in ERA (4.89) behind Matt Waldron (4.26). Alvarado was drafted in the 17th round by the Los Angeles Angels following the season.

In 2017, the Huskers saw pitchers Hohensee (14 starts), Derek Burkamper (15 starts) and Jake Meyers (14 starts) each pitch over 70.0 innings, as NU went 35-22-1. Meyers earned All-America honors in addition to first-team All-Big Ten accolades as a utility player. Meyers, who served as the Sunday starter for the Huskers as a junior, helped NU post a 10-0-1 on Sundays in 2017. Hohensee, who garnered third-team All-Big Ten honors, went 7-3 with a 4.39 ERA in 80.0 innings during the 2017 campaign.

Nebraska’s bullpen also played a crucial role in the Huskers capturing the Big Ten crown. The Huskers went 32-0 when holding a lead after six innings in 2017, thanks in large part to relievers Chad Luensmann and Alvarado. Alvarado, who didn’t step foot on the mound during his first two years at Nebraska, earned 10 saves and posted a 1.72 ERA in 16 appearances as a junior. Luensmann earned eight saves as a sophomore. After the season, Meyers and Alvarado were each drafted in the 13th round. Meyers signed with the Houston Astros, while Alvarado elected to return for his senior season.

Waldron, Jake McSteen, Robbie Palkert and Nate Fisher each made double-digit relief appearances for the Huskers in 2017. Waldron, who made six starts and 16 appearances altogether, earned 43 strikeouts in 55.0 innings. McSteen went a perfect 4-0 with a 2.04 ERA in 22 showings, striking out 28 batters in 39.2 innings. Palkert came out of the bullpen 24 times, earning two saves and a 2.61 ERA, striking out 39 batters in 41.1 innings. Fisher threw 27.2 innings, earning 23 strikeouts in 15 relief appearances.

Silva had a busy offseason during the summer of 2016, as he was a member of the Team USA Collegiate National Team coaching staff that traveled to Taiwan, Japan and Cuba. The team ended the summer with a 3-2 series win in Cuba, the first time the team has achieved that after dropping series to the Cubans in 2012 and 2014.

Silva has led Nebraska’s efforts to bring young talent to Lincoln. In the fall of 2013, Baseball America ranked Nebraska’s recruiting class No. 11 in the nation, the highest ranking for the Huskers in school history. It was the first full recruiting class under Head Coach Darin Erstad, then-Associate Head Coach Will Bolt and Silva.

That class went on to produce three juniors that were drafted in 2016, including two who signed professional contracts. A 22nd-round pick out of high school, Ryan Boldt was taken in the second round and signed with the Tampa Bay Rays, becoming the highest drafted Husker since 2006 when Joba Chamberlain was a first-round pick by the New York Yankees.

Junior left-handed pitcher Max Knutson was undrafted out of high school, but under Silva he turned into a 12th-round pick in 2016 and he signed with the Baltimore Orioles. Ben Miller was drafted for the first time in his career when he was taken by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 32nd round, but Miller turned down professional baseball to instead return for his senior season.

Silva had to rework a weekend rotation in 2016, breaking in true freshman Matt Waldron and sophomore Jake Meyers. Nebraska’s weekend starters threw a total of 256.2 innings in 2015, with seniors Kyle Kubat and Chance Sinclair combining for 185.2 innings, or roughly 73 percent of the weekend innings pitched. Waldron earned a unanimous spot on the All-Big Ten Freshman Team after leading the Huskers in wins (7), innings pitched (75.1) and strikeouts (56). His seven victories were the most by a Husker freshman since 2005 when Johnny Dorn won 12 games. Meyers was a two-way player for the Huskers and joined the rotation midway through the year. In nine starts the sophomore went 6-1 and posted a 1.42 ERA in 50.2 innings, the second-lowest single-season ERA in school history by a pitcher who threw at least 40 innings.

Silva tutored Big Ten Freshman of the Year Luensmann, who saved 13 games in 14 chances for the Huskers in 2016. Luensmann ended the year tied for third with Brett Jensen (2006) on NU’s single-season saves list and was three saves shy of Jensen’s single-season record of 16 saves set in 2005. Nine of Luensmann’s 13 saves came during Big Ten play, which led the league. In 38.0 innings over 28 appearances on the year, Luensmann posted a 1.18 ERA, which led NU’s bullpen. He allowed just three extra-base hits all season and held opposing batters to a .171 batting average.

The strength of the 2015 Huskers was their pitching staff, which produced a team ERA of 3.12, the lowest by a NU staff since the 2005 College World Series team produced a 2.69 ERA. The Huskers allowed just 144 walks on the year, the lowest total since 1998 when NU gave up 160 walks. Nebraska’s 2.52 walks per game allowed tied the 2003 staff for the second-lowest average in school history, as the 2000 staff set the record with 2.46 walks per game.

Led by Sinclair and Kubat, along with senior closer Josh Roeder, the Huskers produced a 2.61-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The last time a Husker pitching staff produced a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2-to-1 or better was 2008, when NU finished the year with 491 strikeouts to 192 walks for a ratio of 2.56-to-1. Roeder finished his three-year Husker career as NU’s all-time saves leader with 33, topping Brett Jensen’s previous mark of 31. Roeder saved a career-best 15 games in 2015, one shy of Jensen’s single-season record of 16.

After the season, Roeder was taken in the 21st round by the New York Yankees, junior Colton Howell was selected in the 27th round by the San Diego Padres, but chose to return to Nebraska, while Kubat signed a free agent contract with the Kansas City Royals.

The 2015 team built on the success it started in 2014, as NU posted a 3.50 ERA, the lowest since 2006 when the Huskers notched a 3.40 ERA. It was also just the second time since 2006 that the Huskers had an ERA under 4.00.

Nebraska’s rotation of Christian DeLeon, Sinclair and Aaron Bummer were at the top of their games in early April when the Ohio State Buckeyes paid a visit to Hawks Field. The trio each tossed a complete game in the sweep of the Buckeyes, marking the only time in Division I baseball in 2014 that a team had three players each toss a 9.0 complete game in the same weekend series.

Individually, Sinclair thrived under Silva, as the junior college transfer from Spring Hill, Kan., was tabbed as a third-team All-American and a unanimous All-Big Ten pick after posting a 9-1 record with a 2.15 ERA. DeLeon was selected as a second-team all-conference pick, and Bummer was picked in the 19th round by the Chicago White Sox after being picked in the 31st round by the New York Yankees in 2011. On July 27, 2017, Bummer became the 36th Husker to reach the Majors when he was called up by the White Sox. Bummer made his MLB debut that night in a relief appearance against the Chicago Cubs.

In the bullpen, senior and third-team All-Big Ten pick Zach Hirsch was Nebraska’s top left-handed reliever and his 1.72 ERA in 2014 ranked second in school history, trailing Bill McGuire’s school-record 1.29 ERA in 1984. The one-time starter posted 50 strikeouts in 52.1 innings of work and was drafted in the 19th round by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Silva continued to rework Nebraska’s pitching staff during his second season in 2013. With Kubat missing the first 33 games of the year with shoulder soreness, the Huskers leaned on DeLeon, a junior college transfer, as their Friday night starter.

DeLeon produced a 7-4 record and a 3.21 ERA. The junior righty led the Huskers in inning pitched (92.2) and strikeouts (46).

Kubat made a dramatic return against No. 10 Arkansas on April 16, as the sophomore threw the first 5.0 innings of a combined no-hitter, with Tyler Niederklein and Dylan Vogt finishing off the historic day. It was the fourth combined no-hitter in school history and the first no-hitter since four Huskers no-hit Peru State on March 6, 1993. It was also the first no-hitter against a Division I program since April 5, 1981, when Anthony Kelley no-hit the Oklahoma Sooners in seven innings.

Kubat ended 2013 with a 5-0 record and a 1.81 ERA in eight starts. He became the 12th pitcher in school history to post a perfect record on the year with a minimum of five wins and the first to achieve the feat since 2006 when Jensen also went 5-0.

Another young lefty entered the starting rotation late in the 2013, as Bummer moved out of the bullpen. Bummer started in his final seven appearances of the season, and went 5.0 or more innings in six of the seven starts, including 7.0 innings in each of his final three starts. He carried a 3.86 ERA over his first nine appearances of the year, but ended the season with a 2.50 ERA after entering the weekend rotation.

Silva took over a young pitching staff in 2012 that returned no seniors and needed to replace its closer, after Casey Hauptman was picked in the 26th round of the 2011 MLB Draft by the New York Mets.

Under Silva’s guidance in 2012, Kubat, then a true freshman, emerged as one of the most consistent starters in NU’s rotation during the end of the season. Kubat, who won his final three starts during Big Ten play, was named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball, a third-team All-Big Ten performer and was selected to the Big Ten All-Freshman team.

In the bullpen, Vogt developed into the Huskers’ most dangerous arm late in games. The Omaha native posted a 1.84 ERA over 53.2 innings of work, while striking out 34 and giving up just five extra-base hits all year, including no home runs.

Silva also continued the development of Travis Huber, who led the 2012 team in saves with seven. After previously being picked twice in the MLB Draft in the 47th (2010) and 39th (2011) rounds, Huber was selected in the 23rd round of the 2012 MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins and signed with the organization.

Silva, a native of Redondo Beach, Calif., and a 1995 All-America pitcher at Cal State Fullerton, helped lead UC Irvine to national prominence from 2008 to 2010, when the Anteaters qualified for three straight NCAA Regionals and won the 2009 Big West Conference title. He moved on to Loyola Marymount under longtime friend and former Titan teammate Jason Gill for the 2011 season.

In Silva’s first season as pitching coach at UC Irvine, the Anteaters won the 2008 Lincoln Regional, including a 3-2 win over host Nebraska. The Anteaters nearly advanced to the College World Series, but fell one inning short of sweeping No. 2 LSU before the Tigers came back to win the Super Regional. While at UCI, Silva’s pitching staff produced a 3.89 ERA and helped the program to its first Big West Conference championship. The Anteaters qualified for the NCAA Tournament all three years and were eliminated in 2010 by eventual national runner-up UCLA.

Silva took an assistant coaching position at Loyola Marymount under Gill for the 2011 season. The two were teammates on the 1994 Cal State Fullerton squad that finished 47-16 and reached the College World Series. In his only season with the Lions, Silva’s pitchers posted a 3.25 ERA to rank 30th nationally, cutting the team’s ERA nearly in half from 2010 (7.21). A trio of LMU pitchers were selected in the 2011 MLB Draft, including a pair of top-15 round selections in Jason Wheeler (8th round) and Alex Gillingham (11th round).

Silva and Gill were on staff at their alma mater in 2005 and 2006, when Silva served as a volunteer assistant coach. The Titans won the Big West Conference championship both years and reached the College World Series in 2006 when CSF produced an NCAA-best 2.73 ERA. Silva helped coach All-Americans and future first-round selections Ricky Romero (2005) and Wes Roemer (2006) to Big West Pitcher-of-the-Year honors. After a year at Fresno State, Silva accepted the UC Irvine pitching coach position and led four Anteater hurlers to a combined 19 All-America awards.

During his three seasons at UCI, the Anteaters posted some of the best marks in school history, including the nation’s third-best ERA in 2008 at 3.27, the program’s best since 1974. The same season, UCI struck out a school-record 503 hitters. The following year, UCI tied the school record with 20 saves, while the 2010 season saw the Anteaters achieve the league’s second-best totals in ERA (3.98) and strikeouts (483).

Silva spent the 2007 season at Fresno State and helped the Bulldogs to an NCAA Regional appearance. As a team, Fresno State finished with the second-best ERA in the WAC at 4.54, while three Bulldog hurlers ranked in the top 10 individually.

Prior to his coaching days, Silva was a standout pitcher at Cal State Fullerton from 1993 to 1995. A two-time first-team all-conference selection, Silva was 26-7 over his career with a 2.92 ERA and 26 saves, the fourth-most in school history. Silva, who earned 1995 first-team All-America honors, played a key role in the Titans’ run to the national title, including earning the win in the championship game against USC. The 1995 Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year, Silva finished the season as the national leader in victories with a single-season school-record 18 wins (18-1) to go along with six saves. He produced a 2.83 ERA with 142 strikeouts.

As a sophomore, Silva was named a second-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball after he went 4-4 with a 2.29 ERA and 13 saves, the third-most in Titan history. He earned a spot on Team USA following the season.

Silva was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 21st round of the 1995 MLB Draft, the same year Nebraska’s Darin Erstad was the No. 1 overall pick by the California Angels. Silva spent five seasons in the Rangers organization, spent one year pitching overseas in Taiwan and also played in the independent Atlantic League.

Silva, who also served as an assistant coach at Villa Park High School in 2004, attended Redondo Union High School in Redondo Beach, Calif., and graduated in 1992.

Ted and his wife, Tiffany, have one son, Andrew.