Joe Roberts spent 34 consecutive winning seasons as head baseball coach at Armstrong Atlantic State University before retiring in 2013. He retired as the winningest coach in NCAA Div. II history with a career record of 1,322-632-6 (.674).
Roberts began coaching at Armstrong in 1980 and directed the Pirates to two Big South Conference Division championships in 1985 and 1987, then five consecutive No. 1 seedings in the NCAA Div. II Baseball Championships from 1988-1992.
As an inaugural member of the Peach Belt Conference, Roberts and the Pirates captured PBC regular season titles in 1992 and 1993, adding league regular season titles in 2003 and 2012 while also capturing PBC Tournament titles in 2007 and 2012. In May of 2016, Roberts will be inducted into the inaugural class of the PBC Hall of Fame during their 25-year celebration.
Armstrong advanced to NCAA Championships play 14 times since 1988, has had 46 All-Americans over that same time frame and the Pirates finished nationally ranked in 19 of the last 25 final Collegiate Baseball DII Coaches Polls.
During his Armstrong career, the Pirates ranked third only to Florida Southern and Central Missouri in NCAA Division II baseball victories since his arrival at Armstrong in 1980. Armstrong was ranked in 110 straight national polls over seven seasons and made three trips to the NCAA Div. II World Series in 1988, 1989 and 1994. His 1990 squad was ranked No. 1 in the nation every week during the season.
On April 21, 2013, Roberts became the all-time winningest coach in NCAA Div. II history with a 13-8 victory at then-No. 10 UNC Pembroke. His NCAA-recognized 1,309th career coaching victory passed Tommy Thomas of Valdosta State for the all-time coaching lead.
Roberts earned nine Coach of the Year awards during his career, including Region Coach of the Year awards in 1988, 1989 and 1994. Armstrong had players sign professional contracts in a streak of 28 straight years from 1982-2009 and the Pirates have also graduated 163 of its players over the last 28 seasons.
In addition to being a member of the ABCA Hall of Fame, Roberts is a member of the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame (2010) and St. Andrews Athletic Hall of Fame (1995). He was also the recipient of the Georgia Dugout Club Lifetime Achievement Award (2014) and the Savannah Sports Council's John F. Hodges OASIS Award (2013).
Roberts is a past president of the ABCA (2010) and served on the ABCA's Board of Directors. He served on the All-American committee from 1988-91 and 2005-12 while also serving as the national Collegiate Baseball Poll chairman from 1989 through 2013. He also spent time on the NCAA Div. II Regional and National Championship committees and was the ABCA's Division II President from 2000-05.
