Alec Crawford

Biography

Alec Crawford joined the Golden Gophers coaching staff in the fall of 2022 as the director of pitching development and was promoted to head pitching coach in June of 2024, under head coach Ty McDevitt. During his time with the 'U' pitching staff, four Gopher pitchers have been drafted to the MLB. George Klassen (RHP) was selected No. 193 in the sixth round of the 2023 draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. During his time at the 'U', Klassen was sidelined due to an elbow injury his freshman year but returned with the help of the staff to a 100 mph fastball and success as a Gopher. In 2024, the Gopher staff had two LHP's get drafted to the MLB. Connor Wietgrefe was drafted 204th to the Pittsburgh Pirates. As a junior he was second in the Big Ten with a 2.77 ERA. Tucker Novotny was drafted No. 526 to the Oakland Athletics. Novotny was ranked No. 5 in the Big Ten in K/9 (10.7) his junior season (2024). Seth Clausen was drafted 467th overall to the Colorado Rockies in the 2025 MLB draft. During his junior season (2024), Clausen was ranked as the No. 30 draft prospect throughout the Big Ten by DI Baseball. In his first year on staff, Crawford helped the 'U' pitching staff earn its best ERA since the 2019 season despite having a roster that ranked as the youngest in the Big Ten at just 19.9 years of age. He helped develop sophomore left-hander Tucker Novotny into a Third Team All-Big Ten selection, the Gophers first pitcher to earn all-league honors in the last four years. As a team,