{"id":30449,"date":"2026-08-24T16:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T16:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/?p=30449"},"modified":"2026-08-24T16:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T16:52:09","slug":"dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/","title":{"rendered":"Dune Coast Names Tracy Woodson as Inaugural Manager"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former World Series Champion, Veteran College Coach to Lead QuillBacks<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

<\/i>August 24, 2026<\/p>\n

\"TracyThe Dune Coast QuillBacks have named <\/span>Tracy Woodson<\/i><\/b> as manager for its inaugural 2027 season.\u00a0 Woodson carved out a professional playing career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals before amassing 400 wins as a NCAA Division I head coach.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200b<\/span>\u201cBringing Tracy Woodson to the Dune Coast is a game changer for our franchise and our community. His ties to Valparaiso and Northwest Indiana give him a real understanding of this region – its people, its baseball culture, and the pride that runs up and down the shoreline. We wanted a manager who could build a winning culture and connect deeply with our fans, and Tracy checks every box. The QuillBacks are going to reflect his energy, his standards and his understanding of what baseball means here,\u201d said QuillBacks co-owner <\/span>Tom Rowland<\/i><\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Woodson was selected in the third round of the 1984 MLB Draft by the Dodgers following a stellar collegiate career at North Carolina State. He was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year in 1984 and a Second Team All-American. He made his Major League debut with the Dodgers in 1987 and was a corner infielder for the World Champion 1988 team led by legendary skipper Tommy Lasorda. After three seasons with the Dodgers, Woodson signed with the St. Louis Cardinals, where he batted .267 across the 1992 and 1993 campaigns.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200b<\/span>Woodson began his coaching career at the professional level in 1997 as hitting coach of the Carolina Mudcats before eventually serving as manager of the Albuquerque Isotopes, then-Florida Marlins\u2019 Triple-A affiliate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Woodson embarked on a successful collegiate coaching career in 2007 with Valparaiso University, where he flipped a 17-34 squad into a winning team just two seasons later. He delivered back-to-back Horizon League championships to Valpo in 2012 and 2013, erasing the school\u2019s 44-year NCAA Tournament drought. He was rewarded with Horizon League Coach of the Year honors in 2012. During his seven-year tenure with the Crusaders (now Beacons), Woodson posted 187 wins and saw five players selected in the MLB Draft.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Virginia native was named University of Richmond\u2019s head baseball coach before the 2014 season. Woodson led the Spiders to 213 victories over nine seasons in a highly competitive Atlantic 10 Conference. Eight Spiders went on to be drafted under Woodson\u2019s tutelage.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are ecstatic to hire someone with Tracy\u2019s background. As a major league player who played in and won a World Series, he has reached the heights every college and youth player wants to achieve. He has been a minor league manager and won over 400 games as a Division I head coach. He brings instant credibility to our dugout and has a joy and passion to teach the game,\u201d said QuillBacks co-owner <\/span>Brian Williams<\/i><\/b>.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bWoodson and his wife, Lisa, have two children: Erin, who is a senior guard on the women\u2019s basketball team at Abilene Christian University, and T.J., who is a redshirt freshman infielder at Baylor University. He also has a son, Michael, who is in his seventh year as head men\u2019s tennis coach at Baylor.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am so excited to be back in this part of the country. My family and I have so many great memories from our time at Valparaiso University, and I\u2019m looking forward to creating a few more here in New Buffalo. To everyone in the Dune Coast region, I believe you\u2019re going to enjoy the type of baseball we will bring to this community. I expect our team to play hard every night, compete the right way, and represent this community with pride. Most importantly, I want us to become a team that this community can be proud to call its own,\u201d remarked Woodson.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About Dune Coast Baseball<\/span><\/p>\n

The Dune Coast QuillBacks is an expansion franchise in the Northwoods League that will begin play in the summer of 2027. The franchise is located in New Buffalo, MI, but carries a regional name to recognize the wider area of dune-crested shoreline from Valparaiso and Chesterton in Northwest Indiana to St. Joseph and Benton Harbor in Southwest MI, including LaPorte, Michigan City, and the villages of Harbor Country. The team will consist of high-level college baseball players from all over the country, bringing competitive play and affordable family entertainment to residents and visitors alike. The QuillBacks name came out of a community-wide naming initiative and represents the porcupine, which at one time thrived along the shores of Southern Lake Michigan.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n

About the Northwoods League<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200b<\/span>The Northwoods League is the largest and most successful collegiate summer league in the country with 28 teams scheduled to play in the 2027 championship season. Established in 1994, the league is a proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Nearly 2,400 NWL alumni have been drafted, and more than 420 have advanced to the Major Leagues, including Nico Hoerner, Curtis Granderson, Ben Zobrist, and Cy Young Award winners Max Scherzer and Chris Sale. The 2026 season just finished with a total of 1,235,600 fans attending regular season games across Northwoods League stadiums.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every league game is broadcast live and streamed on <\/span>FloSports.tv<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Media Contact<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Dune Coast Baseball<\/span><\/p>\n

269.326.4364<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

playball@dunecoastbaseball.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former World Series Champion, Veteran College Coach to Lead QuillBacks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161,"featured_media":30453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-team-news","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDune Coast Names Tracy Woodson as Inaugural Manager - Dune Coast QuillBacks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dune Coast Names Tracy Woodson as Inaugural Manager\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former World Series Champion, Veteran College Coach to Lead QuillBacks [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dune Coast QuillBacks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-24T16:52:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.northwoodsleague.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/08\/woodson-announcement-1024x538.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"538\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"dune-coast-baseball\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"dune-coast-baseball\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/\",\"name\":\"Dune Coast Names Tracy Woodson as Inaugural Manager - Dune Coast QuillBacks\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.northwoodsleague.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/08\/woodson-announcement.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-24T16:52:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/#\/schema\/person\/37168e536d8f8a749b232411d0e9346f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/assets.northwoodsleague.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/08\/woodson-announcement.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.northwoodsleague.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/08\/woodson-announcement.png\",\"width\":2400,\"height\":1260},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dune Coast Names Tracy Woodson as Inaugural Manager\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/\",\"name\":\"Dune Coast QuillBacks\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/#\/schema\/person\/37168e536d8f8a749b232411d0e9346f\",\"name\":\"dune-coast-baseball\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dd286234218511fbb624fad9cb344819e4262bcd7fd868b722b5926cf2aaf7d5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dd286234218511fbb624fad9cb344819e4262bcd7fd868b722b5926cf2aaf7d5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"dune-coast-baseball\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/author\/dune-coast-baseball\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dune Coast Names Tracy Woodson as Inaugural Manager - Dune Coast QuillBacks","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dune Coast Names Tracy Woodson as Inaugural Manager","og_description":"Former World Series Champion, Veteran College Coach to Lead QuillBacks [...]","og_url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/","og_site_name":"Dune Coast QuillBacks","article_published_time":"2026-08-24T16:52:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":538,"url":"https:\/\/assets.northwoodsleague.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/08\/woodson-announcement-1024x538.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"dune-coast-baseball","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"dune-coast-baseball","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/","url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/","name":"Dune Coast Names Tracy Woodson as Inaugural Manager - Dune Coast QuillBacks","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.northwoodsleague.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/08\/woodson-announcement.png","datePublished":"2026-08-24T16:52:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/#\/schema\/person\/37168e536d8f8a749b232411d0e9346f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/assets.northwoodsleague.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/08\/woodson-announcement.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/assets.northwoodsleague.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/08\/woodson-announcement.png","width":2400,"height":1260},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/2026\/08\/24\/dune-coast-names-tracy-woodson-as-inaugural-manager\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dune Coast Names Tracy Woodson as Inaugural Manager"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/#website","url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/","name":"Dune Coast QuillBacks","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/#\/schema\/person\/37168e536d8f8a749b232411d0e9346f","name":"dune-coast-baseball","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dd286234218511fbb624fad9cb344819e4262bcd7fd868b722b5926cf2aaf7d5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dd286234218511fbb624fad9cb344819e4262bcd7fd868b722b5926cf2aaf7d5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"dune-coast-baseball"},"url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/author\/dune-coast-baseball\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30449"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30452,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30449\/revisions\/30452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/dune-coast-quillbacks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}