Blake Dean is entering his ninth season on the Lakefront. In 2023, he led the Privateers to 36 wins which was their most since 2008. He also picked up his 200th career win after New Orleans beat Mississippi Valley St. 

Through 2023, Dean has coached 36 All-Southland players, 11 All-Louisiana selections, six All-Region picks, and 10 Southland All-Tournament selections. 

After ‘23, Dean has coached back-to-back Southland Hitters of the Year. Tristan Moore earned the honor last year. The Privateers hit 90 home runs as a team, which was tied for second-most in a single season in program history.

2022 saw six all-conference selections and one ABCA All-Region selections. Amani Larry was Newcomer of the Year and Pearce Howard earned Hitter of the Year. 

In 2021, Dean’s crew had six all-conference members in the postseason, tied for the most since 2008. Pearce Howard also earned All-LSWA honors and New Orleans had their highest seed in the Soutlhand Tournament (#2).

The Privateers started getting hot in 2020, winning 11 of 14 games before the season was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. New Orleans swept Arkansas State in that span, won series against UConn and Nicholls, and defeated Tulane in the first game of the Pelican Cup.

That did not stop the streak Dean has been on in helping to produce draft picks. Eric Orze was selected in the fifth round of the 2020 Draft by the New York Mets. That marked the fourth consecutive year a Privateer has been drafted.

In 2019, Reeves Martin had an All-American season under Dean and was named as such in three publications (Collegiate Baseball Foundation, NCBWA, Collegiate Baseball). Martin continued the trend of pitchers getting drafted after being selected in the 21st round by Seattle.

The Privateers won the Pelican Cup from Tulane for a second consecutive year in ‘19 and swept the Green Wave in the three-game series. It was only the second time in school history New Orleans swept a season series of at least three games against Tulane.

2019 also saw the Privateers produce a Rawlings/ABCA Gold Glove winner in Salo Iza. The Privateers had two other all-conference mentions: Gaige Howard (third team) and Collin Morrill (honorable mention).
 
In 2018, the Privateers advanced to the championship game of the 2018 Southland Tournament as the No. 8 seed, defeating No. 1 Sam Houston State University and No. 4 Houston Baptist University (twice) to get there. The pitching staff, anchored by junior Bryan Warzek, finished 21stin the nation with 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings. Warzek was drafted in the sixth round of the 2018 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers after earning Southland Conference First Team, ABCA and All-LSWA honors. The inaugural revised Pelican Cup went to the Privateers after New Orleans took the season series over Tulane University 2-1.
 
Following that season, Dean received a two-year contract extension to remain on the Lakefront.
 
Dean was named the University of New Orleans’ seventh head coach in its 45 year history during the summer of 2015 following a brief stint as the school’s interim head coach following the retirement of Ron Maestri. In his first season at the helm, UNO saw a 17-game turnaround, the eighth-best in Division I in 2016, while the team was one of 17 to increase their winning percentage by .200, boasting the fourth-highest improvement at .285.
 
The Privateers’ 31-26 record marked the first winning record for the baseball program since 2008 and qualified for the Southland Conference for the first time since joining the league prior to the 2013-14 academic year. The Privateers set eight-year highs in batting average (.300), total hits (600), doubles (77), on base percentage (.368) and fielding percentage (.966) saves (15), strikeouts (400) and the lowest opponent batting average in the span (.286).
 
Nationally, UNO finished eighth in triples per game with a 0.44 average and 10th in total triples with 25 while Dakota Dean cracked the top 25 individually with six on the season, the 22nd-most.
 
UNO’s resurrected offense led the Southland Conference in triples, while finishing second in in hits, batting average, third in RBI, fewest batters struck out (328) and fourth in slugging percentage (.416).
 
Under Dean’s guidance, five Privateers were named to All-Southland Conference Teams with Hezekiah Randolph, a first team honoree after finishing in the top 10 of the conference in runs scored (49), runs batted in (45), doubles (16) hits (71) and slugging percentage (.502), garnered America Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings South Central Region second team distinction. Kyle Bracey (first team), Dakota Dean(second team), Aaron Palmer(second team) and Daniel Martinez(honorable mention) all gained recognition from the league.
 
 
Following two years working under the legendary Ron Maestri, Dean was initially tabbed the interim head coach before officially becoming the Privateers’ seventh head coach on June 30, 2015. Prior to assuming his current position, Dean worked his way up the ladder starting as a volunteer assistant in 2014 before being promoted to a full-time position the following year.
 
During his time on the Lakefront, Dean was instrumental in Samuel Capielanoand Randolph claiming Freshman All-America status in 2014 while helping several Privateer hitters improve their production at the plate.
 
As the team’s hitting coach in 2015,  the Privateers saw their average rise 20 points from the 2014 campaign and three of the five returning position players saw significant increases in their respective batting averages.
 
Highlights on the diamond, however, are nothing new for Dean as the native of Crestview, Florida, has experienced success at every stop of his baseball career to date.
 
As a prep star at Crestview High, Dean was a four-year all-state honoree and was a member of the USA Baseball Youth National Team. Following his senior season, he claimed Louisville Slugger All-America recognition and was named to Baseball America’s Top 300 High School Players of 2006.
 
From there, he packed his bags for Baton Rouge where he helped LSU post a combined 175 wins, three trips to the NCAA Super Regionals and a pair of berths in the College World Series – including a National Championship in 2009.
 
As they had done during his high school career, honors came in by the handful for Dean in college. As a rookie, he was named Freshman All-SEC, Louisiana Freshman of the Year and Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American.
 
One year later, Dean was tabbed first-team All-American by Baseball America, second-team All-South Region by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Louisiana Hitter of the Year by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. He also claimed SEC Tournament MVP and Baton Rouge Regional Most Outstanding Player recognition during the Tigers’ march to Omaha.
 
Dean claimed first-team all-state honors in each of his final three collegiate seasons, was tabbed first-team All-SEC as a junior and was a candidate for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in 2010.
 
Along the way, he finished second in school history in hits (332), RBI (260) and total bases (575), fourth in home runs (56) and fifth in runs scored (223).
 
Dean was drafted twice during his time at LSU, going in the 10th round to the Minnesota Twins in 2009 and in the eighth round by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2010.
 
He played two seasons professionally in the Dodgers’ organization, suiting up in Rookie League for the Ogden Raptors in 2010 and the Class A Great Lakes Loons in 2011 before returning to LSU to finish his degree.
 
Dean completed his bachelor’s degree in sports administration from LSU in 2013.

After his two years of pro ball, the Crestview, Fla. native spent one season as a volunteer assistant coach at his alma mater where he earned his degree in sports administration before joining the Privateer coaching staff in 2014.