MILWAUKEE – After nearly 30 years and close to 800 total victories with the program, Scott Doffek is announcing his retirement from his position as the head coach of the Milwaukee baseball team.
 
"This position has been most of my entire adult life," Doffek said. "I got out of professional baseball as a player and just sort of happened into this and then made a life out of it. I just feel a lot of gratitude for everyone that has come along the way with me."
 
"It is nearly impossible to put into words what Scott Doffek has meant to our baseball program," Director of Athletics Amanda Braun said. "He has been a part of the program since the beginning and has built it to where we are today. He has attracted incredible student-athletes and staff because of the way he approaches everything he does – with class, grit, perseverance and genuine care and concern for the growth and development of student-athletes. He has been a wonderful colleague, is truly one-of-a-kind, and will be tremendously missed by our program, our department, and our university. We are so grateful for the 29 years Scott has spent as our coach and he will always be a Panther."
 
Doffek, the 2013 Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association College Coach of the Year and two-time Horizon League Coach of the Year, has done it all in building the Milwaukee Panthers into the success they are in his nearly three decades with the university.
 
"Just in reflection, all of the things that the program has accomplished and the visionary steps that we have taken, I feel like we have put the program in a good position to move forward," he said. "I can promise you we didn't win as many games as I would have wanted, but I feel comfortable at this point in saying we are leaving it better than we found it. We treated student-athletes fairly and the right way. We recruited quality human beings first and made it a program that played with respect for the game, played hard, and tried to turn every roster into a family.  Ultimately, we sent nearly every athlete off with a meaningful degree and life lessons that they can pass on for generations."

Doffek just wrapped up his 17^th season as the head coach of the Panthers in 2023, following a 12-year stretch as the assistant head coach.
 
"Just gratitude across the board for the people," Doffek said about looking back on his time. "I have worked for several athletic directors over the years and I want to thank them. It has been great to see the vision Amanda Braun has had for our program and the steps she has helped us take to reach it. I have had numerous coaches work with and under me. Just amazing amounts of appreciation for all of their work. Most importantly, it's the student-athletes who show up every day to work for you and go to war for the Black & Gold. It's been the honor of a lifetime."

In that timespan, Doffek has led Milwaukee to 785 victories, including a school-record 438 as the MKE head coach. His leadership has guided the Panthers to the NCAA Tournament on four occasions, while also claiming three regular-season conference championships.
 
"To start the way I did in college athletics was a little bit odd," he recalled. "To get to this point, I can't even tell you how we ended up here. It is just a blessing! Bud Haidet gave Augie (Jerry Augustine) and myself a chance to start this thing from the ground up and it been a labor of love ever since. I owe Augie everything for the opportunity and I was so fortunate to be able to add (assistant) Cory Bigler 20-plus years ago now. We worked hand-in-hand for two decades and he deserves much of the credit for any of the successes. His tireless work, commitment, loyalty and friendship is so special. Over the years I have had many coaches work for me. Those guys, to a man, showed up every day to help us win the fight and I will be forever thankful. Together we embraced the opportunity and slowly worked through obstacles and grew the program into what it is today and beyond. I am so excited to see what the future holds."
 
Most recently, Milwaukee has played in two of the last three Horizon League Tournament Championships and, after tireless work from Doffek behind the scenes, now calls Franklin Field home – a 4,000 seat stadium located in Franklin, Wis., that was opened in 2020 and includes a state-of-the-art press box, branded team clubhouse, full turf field, as well as top-notch amenities for fans.
 
In addition to the impressive victory tally, the player-development totals from Doffek's tenure are nothing short of monumental, starting with the national success at the highest level with almost 50 players moving on to professional baseball and 24 Panthers having been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft under his guidance.
 
"It means a lot," he said when asked about players taking the next step in their professional career. "It's the players trusting in you and waking up every day with a purpose to get better. They get and deserve all the credit, they have earned it. For this program to be successful, we have to do that. Finding student-athletes with priorities and goals and a willingness to work hard to achieve it – that's what this should be and has to be about."
 
Included in that special group of players is Daulton Varsho, selected with pick No. 68 overall in the 2017 MLB Draft. Varsho – who played for Doffek from 2015 to 2017 – went on to make his MLB debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks in July of 2020, marking the first Panther to play in Major League Baseball in program history.
  
When you dig deeper, the numbers are staggering with Doffek in the dugout, which dates back prior to the opening of the 1995 campaign:

-All-Americans selections: 4
-All-Region honorees: 12
-Conference Player of the Year: 5
-Conference Pitcher/Reliever of the Year: 8
-Conference Newcomer of the Year: 8
-First-Team All-Conference selections: 67
-Second-Team All-Conference selections: 74
-All-Newcomer/Freshman Team honorees: 49
 
The Panthers posted runner-up finishes at the Horizon League Tournament in 2021 and 2019, while also finishing second in the regular season standings in 2019 – finishing in the Top 25 in the NCAA in numerous categories, including batting average, hits, doubles, and runs-per-game. Two players – Jake Sommers (Round 10/St. Louis) and Trevor Schwecke (Round 13/Toronto) – were selected in the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft.
 
Those finishes give the Panthers a storied legacy all-time in Horizon League history. In total, the program has now claimed the tournament championship four times, while also making it to the Championship game and taking home the runner-up trophy on six different occasions in his tenure.
 
"Just the whole program," Doffek commented when asked how things have changed in his tenure. "From the investment that the school now makes in it to how the game has grown regionally and nationally.  We have seen the level of play in our league really step up, which is great to see. Obviously, facilities are a big one … staffing … the ability to recruit regionally and nationally and all the support programs here at UWM that are in place now. Everything is now done at such a higher level than it was. It's been a gradual process for sure, but the sky is the limit here on what can be accomplished. I feel like we have put the program in a good place and the next leader can pick up with their vision and make gains from where we are at now."
 
The highlights have been building on his resume for decades, as his teams have set and reset every program game, season, and career mark in the record book along the way, reaching a national level as early as 1999. That postseason, Milwaukee upset No. 1 Rice University during the program's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament, as Doffek was named the 1999 Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association (WBCA) Co-Coach of the Year.
 
"You have some really good victories over the years," Doffek recalled. "I'd say beating Rice University in 1999 – the No. 1 team in the country – and I think we had 30 Wisconsin kids on that roster at the time. That's going to be tough one to top. Any time you beat the No. 1 team in the country it's pretty awesome, let alone doing it in the NCAA Tournament in a regional in their home state. That was incredible. I don't know … it's hard to pin down certain memories. Just the people – Coach Cory Bigler, Todd Frohwirth, Jerry Augustine, and now Shaun Wegner, along with Mike Goetz and all the other coaches who have bled Black and Gold with us. Just awesome; just great memories that we made together. Where to begin when talking about the players.  Literally hundreds of guys who decided this was the place for them to come and grow as young men, students and ballplayers. For them to allow me to be a small part of their journey is simply an honor and I will be forever grateful."
 
A new head coach of the program will be announced shortly. In the time prior to that announcement, current Milwaukee associate head coach Shaun Wegner will serve as interim head coach for the team.