Featured Testimonial About Creighton University
I'm so happy that this year happens to be one of the best group of guys.
By Jon Nyatawa
Ed Servais’ drive home from Creighton’s campus is about 30 minutes long. So, there have been moments in the past couple of weeks when he’s allowed himself to set aside his ruminations over practice plans, position battles and scouting reports, and instead reflect a bit on the 28 years he’s spent with Bluejay baseball program.
He’s the all-time winningest coach. He’s watched underrated recruits transform themselves into professional ballplayers. He’s mentored so many others (he’s coached more than 400 student-athletes during his tenure). He’s worked with incredible coaching colleagues and staff members. He’s won big games, championships and awards.
It’s been an incredible career. And he’s grateful for it.
So, yes, Servais does allow himself to rest in that gratitude — but only for a moment.
Then it’s back to work.
“Do we have everything in? Are we prepared? What else do we need to work on? As a coach, you are always thinking about making sure your team is ready to play and ready to face every situation that they may see in that first weekend,” Servais said. “You’re so busy at this time of year. But it does cross my mind just a little bit.”
Servais will coach his final season with the Bluejays in 2025.
Servais is retiring soon. McCormick Endowed Athletic Director Marcus Blossom announced last summer that Mark Kingston will serve as an associate coach and a coach-in-waiting in 2025 and take over the baseball program as head coach at the end of the season. Kingston was previously South Carolina’s coach.
What it means for Servais is that his finish line has been established. Many times in this profession, you don’t know you’re at the end until reality’s getting ready to knock you on your backside — like a chin-level fastball zooming your way.
Still, though, Servais is doing his best not to approach the season any differently.
He’s working with a team that’s full of potential — BIG EAST coaches picked them to finish fourth, but Servais thinks they may be under the radar. Plus, it’s a really fun group to be around, Servais said. The Jays open the 2025 season on Friday, Feb. 14, at UNC Greensboro.
“I'm so happy that this year happens to be one of the best group of guys,” Servais said. “I know it’s going to go fast, but I'm just going to do my darnedest to keep them healthy and put them in a position to be successful. It's a pretty talented team, too.”
Servais has definitely had some good ones. A quick rundown of his coaching accomplishments:
- Servais has led Creighton to five conference regular season championships and four league tourney titles. They’ve reached five NCAA Regionals.
- He’s had 40 Creighton players selected in the MLB draft. One of Servais’ points of pride came just before COVID, when he noticed that 28 former Bluejays were playing across different levels of professional baseball — and only one had been drafted out of high school. Creighton’s always been built on player development and improvement, and it takes a program-wide commitment to execute that blueprint, he said.
- The Jays have led the nation in fielding percentage in three different seasons. Their commitment to playing sound defense has been a hallmark of Servais’ tenure.
- Servais enters the 2025 season with 678 career wins with the Jays. That’s the most all-time at Creighton. He’s also earned six conference coach of the year awards.
There are so many games he’ll never forget, certainly.
He can still picture the frenzied scene in Lincoln at a 2005 NCAA Regional when Creighton took batting practice while thousands of rowdy Husker fans watched from the stands. There were so many moments with the 2019 team, which won the BIG EAST regular season and tournament titles before coming tantalizingly close to winning an NCAA Regional (they lost to eventual national runner-up Michigan).
But the relationships and the interactions with student-athletes, parents, colleagues and fans — that’s what has always been most meaningful to Servais. He’s always considered himself a teacher, not just a coach. His first job was at a middle school.
From the start, Servais felt like he fit in at Creighton, where there’s a commitment to shaping student-athletes both on and off the field. This is a special place, Servais said, and he’s fortunate he could live out a dream for nearly three decades.
“I've been lucky. I found something that I was passionate about,” Servais said. “And that passion never left me. Still, I’m passionate about this. And I'll be passionate about it next year, even though I won't be in this role any longer. But to me, that’s why I feel lucky. I just found something that I just couldn't get enough of.”
* * *
‘That will never leave me’
If you’re asking Servais to reflect on his career, he won’t do so without thinking of Chris Gradoville, BSBA’07.
In 2021, Gradoville was back helping the Creighton program as a director of operations when he was killed in Omaha.
“How our players responded, how the alumni responded — I can't describe that,” Servais said. “That will never leave me. I was impressed with how all these young people handled that awful experience.”
Last summer, Creighton hosted the third-annual “Grad-itude” baseball camp. The Bluejays honor Gradoville’s legacy during a home game each year.
