Micah Coffey

Classroom

Upon successful completion of the Spring 2018 semester, Micah Coffey will graduate in four years with a degree in human resource development with a minor in leadership. Over the course of his career, he has finished every semester with at least a 3.59 GPA, and his cumulative GPA has never fallen below a 3.714. His current cumulative GPA is a 3.841. He has landed on the University of Minnesota’s Dean’s List on five different occasions, is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree (2016 and 2017), and following the conclusion of the 2017 season he received the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award. Through his commitment to his education and his organization skills, he has been able to excel not only in the classroom but also on the field. The team’s academic counselor, Ky Burgess, said of Coffey: “Micah is a focused student and very intentional with the classes he has taken during his time at the University of Minnesota. In addition to his major and minor courses, he has taken a number of business courses to supplement his degree. His goal is to be very diverse with the knowledge he can offer to his future employer. He currently is pursuing opportunities in the Chicago area for jobs related to his field. He is mainly focusing on pursuing a job after this current season and will adjust his plans if he has the opportunity to play ball professionally.”

Character

Head Coach John Anderson described Coffey as representing all the things a team looks for in a leader on and off the field. “He has been able to inspire others in our program to take his lead and make a substantial commitment to the daily process here—to try to improve and grow, and impact others. I think since he came here, Micah has been very interested in paying attention to areas where he can help somebody else, either with their self-awareness and how they might need to change or modify a behavior, or somebody who’s struggling who needs some help, who needs somebody to talk to or a hug to help them through a difficult life situation. He embodies leadership, and for me, the definition of leadership is when your actions are observable by others. In a position of leadership as a team captain, that’s when you really have to walk the talk because you can stand up and say things but can you really back it up with your daily actions? He has been phenomenally consistent in his daily actions and his commitment to being the best. He embodies everything we are looking for here in our baseball program to create a winning culture where people can come every day and feel like they’re being supported. He’s been the center point of that for the last four years.”

Community

Coffey dedicates his time to serving the community and has been involved in many events targeted to help children with life-threatening diseases. The “Hope Day Festival” is just one of these events that serves as a day dedicated to children from the Children’s Hospital at the University of Minnesota. He also volunteers his time to help with major events occurring within the athletics department, including being a member of Athletes in Action on campus, which is a Christian ministry for athletes. Another one of Coffey’s events is “Pro Day,” which is held annually for all student-athletes to prepare for life after graduation.

As a team, Coffey and the Gophers have participated in the following events, organizations and causes: volunteered with Team IMPACT; collected donations for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at tailgate parties before Gopher Football game in 2015; visited Northport Elementary School to speak to students about bullying in 2016; and visited the St. Paul Children’s Hospital Child Life Zone to visit children taking residence in the hospital, including an appearance by Coffey joining a TV program shown to the residents.

Coffey serves as the team’s advocate on the Student Athletic Advisory Committee. In 2016, he participated in an event supporting the Highland Friendship Club, a program that “provides social activities, skills development and community connections for teens and adults with disabilities.” He has twice participated in the Golden Gopher Thank-a-Thon, in which student-athletes call the donors to the university’s athletics department to thank them for the contributions to Golden Gopher athletics.

Competition

Coffey has been an everyday player for the Gophers since playing in 32 games during his freshman campaign in 2015 and then playing in 50 or more games for Minnesota each of the last two seasons, including 105 starts in that time frame. He earned second-team All-Big Ten honors in both 2016 and 2017, and last year was honored as a Player of the Week both by the league and nationally by Perfect Game in early May. Prior to this season, the career .322 hitter was named to Preseason All-Big Ten teams by both Perfect Game and College Baseball Daily.