Steve McKee begins his 8th season and 10th overall in two stints at FGCU. His primary responsibility is working with the pitchers.
The 2026 season marked another outstanding year for FGCU’s pitching staff under McKee’s direction. Four Eagles were selected in the MLB Draft, led by Evan Dempsey, a second-round selection of the Detroit Tigers. Hunter Possehl was selected in the eighth round by the Kansas City Royals, Chris Diaz went in the 14th round to the Seattle Mariners, and Ashton Pocol was chosen in the 16th round by the Chicago Cubs.
Dempsey earned unanimous First Team All-America honors while being named ASUN Pitcher of the Year and First Team All-ASUN. Possehl and Diaz received Second Team All-ASUN recognition, while Pocol earned Third Team honors. Collectively, the Eagles led the ASUN in ERA, strikeouts, fewest walks allowed and opponents’ batting average. The staff finished the season with a program-record 575 strikeouts, establishing a new FGCU single-season standard.
In the sixth season back, FGCU’s pitching staff helped secure the ASUN Conference Championship. The pitching staff set the standard across the conference, leading ASUN in strikeouts and finishing second in team ERA, underscoring both elite swing-and-miss ability and dependable run prevention throughout the season. Individually, Evan Dempsey produced one of the most distinguished seasons in program history. He earned First-Team Consensus All-American honors and captured the John Olerud Award, presented annually to the nation’s top two-way player. The program’s development pipeline was further validated at the professional level as Justin Henschel was selected in the 7th round of the MLB Draft by the Cincinnati Reds, marking another significant accomplishment. Justin becomes the Eagle’s 5th pitcher in 2023 to sign a professional contract and 3rd pitcher selected in the 7th round or higher in that time.
In his fifth season back with the FGCU pitching staff McKee helped guide the staff to the ASUN Regular Season Conference title. The pitching came together to lead the ASUN in team ERA in conference play. Individually, Davian Garcia led the staff as a 6th round pick (Washington Nationals) and 1st Team ASUN All-Conference Selection. Garcia also came in 7th for a season and 5th all time for most strike outs per 9 innings, 10th all-time for batting average against in the Eagle record book.
In his fourth season back with the FGCU pitching staff McKee helped guide the staff to the second most wins (42) in program history. Three pitchers moved on the professional ranks, Jason Woodward (4th round Milwaukee Brewers), Mason Miller (14th round Kansas City Royals), and L.J. McDonough (Free Agent Atlanta Braves). The staff also stuck out the most hitters since 2017 and second most in program history. L.J. McDonough had the third most strikeouts per 9 innings at (11.60) in a single season.
In his third season, McKee helped guide the staff to the most wins (35) since the 2017 season. The staff also stuck out the most hitters since 2017, walked the fewest since 2018, while tossing the most shutouts since 2014. Individually, Jason Woodward (15) made the second most starts in a season in school history. Tyler Shuck tossed the first complete game shutout since 2018. Najer Victor had the third lowest batting average against (.198), and the ninth-best strikeouts per 9 innings (10.61) in a single season.
In his second season back with the FGCU pitching staff, McKee worked closely with Second Team ASUN Conference pitcher Mason Studstill who led the Eagles in wins (seven), strikeouts (73), and ERA (3.02). He also helped to develop rookie pitcher Jason Woodward, who earned his way to becoming one of the Eagles' go-to arms down the stretch of the 2021 season. Woodward led all freshmen with 39 punchouts, a 3.65 ERA and 3-2 record with one save as well as increasing his velocity immensely in his first season of collegiate baseball.
In his first season back with the FGCU pitching staff, he helped to develop rookie pitcher Ronaldo Gallo, who earned his way to becoming one of the Eagles' top arms during the 2020 season. Gallo led all freshmen with 16 punchouts. Under McKee's guidance, the Green and Blue staff posted a 3.55 ERA and racked up 144 strikeouts in just 16 games before the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
McKee has almost three decades of coaching experience and has worked with baseball players at all levels of the sport. Throughout his coaching career, McKee has had 39 players drafted, including six first-round picks. He has also had seven players sign as undrafted free agents. McKee has coached 11 players to "The Show", including major-leaguers Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Billy Butler, Homer Bailey and Shane Robinson.
Prior to FGCU, McKee was the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for Florida Southwestern State College (2016-19). During McKee’s time, the Buccaneers captured the Suncoast Conference Championship (2019) and had two players drafted, as well as one player sign as an undrafted free agent. McKee also helped 26 players sign to D-I schools, six committed to D-II schools and two with NAIA programs.
McKee began his coaching career as an assistant at his alma mater, Boca Ciega High School, in 1995. After working with the Pirates for three years, McKee accepted a head coaching position at Clearwater High School. While McKee was at the helm, the Tornadoes had five players drafted and advanced to the state final four in (2001) and regional semi-finals in (2002).
A 1992 graduate from Florida State University, McKee earned a Bachelor of Science in marketing from the college of business. Prior to FSU, McKee was an infielder at Andrew College (1987-89) and led his team to a regional playoff appearance in 1989.
The St. Petersburg, Florida native and his wife, Lisa, have two sons, Zach (27) and Jake (25).
