IU Columbus athletics director Zach McClellan, left, and former baseball coach Scott Bickel talk about the 2024 season during media day Jan. 11, 2024 at IU Columbus.
For the first six months of his tenure as athletics director at IU Columbus, Zach McClellan also was the Crimson Pride’s baseball coach.
McClellan turned over the reins to then-assistant coach Scott Bickel prior to the program’s first season, and Bickel was the head coach for the first three seasons of IUC baseball. Bickel resigned as coach following the end of the 2025 season, and now, McClellan has taken the role as interim head coach.
“I don’t forsee this changing at least for a season due to budget constraints,” McClellan said. “Balancing the two jobs is going to be extremely difficult, but we’ll just have to see how it goes. Obviously, it’s not ideal for me to take on a head coaching responsibility. This is due to state and federal budget cuts. And it’s not really a cut. It’s just a more efficient way of approaching one sport.”
Those budget constraints also led IUC to lower its cheer and dance teams to club level sports. They still will perform at men’s and women’s basketball home games and a few other select sporting events, but likely won’t compete in national events.
“The budgets haven’t been finalized for the year, but I don’t foresee any sports teams having to be cut,” McClellan said. “This does save quite a bit of money. We have to be proficient in everything we do. We were evaluating the way we travel due to some issues we had with buses last year anyway. We’re looking at some other things where certain teams’ rosters don’t fill up and running at them at a club level for a year or so until they get back up. We’re evaluating things. We’re not a first-year program anymore, so we’re looking at the way we do things to make it as cost-efficient as possible.”
One of those things was moving McClellan, a former Indiana University and MLB Colorado Rockies pitcher, into the interim head coaching position.
“When coach Bickel decided that he felt like his time was up here, it’s a natural thing for a campus that’s looking at budget constraints say, ‘Do we have expertise that is here that can limit budget constraints?’” McClellan said “That was the best idea that we had so we could maintain all the varsity sports here.”
McClellan will have more time to devote to the baseball program than he did in 2022, when IUC was launching an athletics program.
“The initial plan was to run four sports teams, and at that time, we were not in the River States Conference,” McClellan said. “We were still trying to get into the River States Conference. The decision that me and Dr. (Reinhold) Hill made when we decided to add soccer and volleyball the following year, there were a lot of partnerships that hadn’t been set up yet, so when we expanded sports quickly, that increased the workload. We don’t have the question of, ‘Where are we going to play right now”’ It’s about, ‘How are we going to take this to the next level?”
The baseball team went 10-37 this season, but capped it with a 5-4 win against River States Conference champion Oakland City on senior day.
“With the win over nationally-ranked Oakland City to finish the baseball season, it’s evident the program is on the way up,” McClellan said. “Coach Bickel built a foundation, and my job is to vault that program off the foundation that he’s built. We have a good group of kids coming back, and I’m optimistic if we can put some things together, it should be an interesting season.”
McClellan also is excited about the recruiting class he has coming in this fall and potential recruits for the future.
“Right around the area, there’s a lot of really good baseball players,” McClellan said. “There’s a lot of really good players that are heading off to junior colleges that maybe want to come home later. But at the same time, we have to get players from other areas, as well. The goal is to make our baseball program competitive at each position.”
Partnership with city extended
Meanwhile, Columbus Parks and Recreation has extended its partnership with IU Columbus athletics for another three years.
The Crimson Pride played all of its home men’s and women’s basketball games and two volleyball games, along with the school’s graduation, at the Circle K Fieldhouse at NexusPark. That will continue the next three years, and the fieldhouse also will serve as a training facility for IUC’s baseball, softball and men’s and women’s soccer teams and hosts occasional scrimmages and training camps.
“We’re thrilled to solidify this partnership with IU Columbus Athletics,” Brady Buckley, Associate Director of Sports for the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department, said in a news release. “This agreement not only showcases our commitment to supporting collegiate athletics in Columbus, but also highlights the versatility and value of Circle K Fieldhouse as a premier destination for high-level competition and community engagement. We’re excited to continue growing alongside IU Columbus and look forward to the energy and pride their teams bring to our community.”
McClellan noted that all Crimson Pride student-athletes volunteer in the community.
“Our expanding collaboration with the City of Columbus is a true win-win,” McClellan said in the news release. “Our student-athletes benefit from excellent facilities and the support of the Columbus community cheering on their home team. At the same time, Crimson Pride athletic events bring in athletes, coaches and fans from across the region to experience what Columbus has to offer.”
And Columbus, McClellan says, is experiencing what IUC athletics has to offer.
“I think Columbus is getting more acclimated to having a college team here,” McClellan said. “Before we started a program, it wasn’t really talked about. So good, bad or indifferent, people are talking about it now. I think we’re starting to see the community have some feelings about our program. I think that’s a good sign that we’re becoming more of a college program. We’re going to face criticism. That comes with the job, but the benefit to all that is, we’re actually being talked about now. It’s a part of discussion, and that gives me a sense of pride that we have achieved something. I’m hopeful that more and more people will come to games and bring their kids to games and cheer on the Crimson Pride.”
