Mike Roberts led the University of North Carolina to nine NCAA Tournaments and two College World Series appearances over 21 seasons in Chapel Hill. The longtime Cape Cod Baseball League coach finished his 17th season as leader of the Cotuit Kettleers in 2020 and has led the team to CCBL championships in 2013 and 2019.
Roberts coached at UNC from 1978-98, leading the team to a 780-428-3 (.645) record. In addition to the postseason accolades, the Tar Heels won five ACC regular-season titles and four ACC tournament championships.
In his first season leading the Tar Heels, Roberts led the team to its third ever College World Series appearance. Eleven seasons later, Roberts was named the ACC Coach of the Year as UNC returned to Omaha. Roberts remains the winningest coach in UNC baseball history.
Eight of Roberts' former players were selected in the first round of the MLB Draft, including B.J. Surhoff, who was selected first overall in 1985. Additionally, 16 of his Tar Heels, including Surhoff, made it to the Major Leagues.
Five of Roberts's former players are collegiate head coaches and several are assistants. Walt Weiss, who was an All-ACC performer under Roberts at UNC from 1983-85 and was American League Rookie of the year in 1988, is now the manager of the Colorado Rockies.
In addition, Roberts's son, Brian Roberts, is a two-time Major League All-Star second baseman. He played for the New York Yankees during the 2014 season and just recently announced his retirement. The younger Roberts spent 14 years in the majors after playing for his father for two seasons at UNC, including his sophomore season in which he was named ACC Player of the Year and was a first-team All-America selection.
Roberts followed his tenure at UNC by coaching at UNC Asheville in 2000. Roberts led the Bulldogs to 26 wins, which was good for second most in school history at the time. Roberts picked up his 800th career victory in his lone season at UNC Asheville and finished with a collegiate coaching record of 806-460-3 (.636).
Roberts has continued his illustrious career through coaching in the distinguished Cape Cod Baseball League. The Kettleers brought home the Arnold Mycock league championship trophy to Cotuit in 2010 and 2013. In 2012, the team won the President's Trophy for the league's best regular season record at 30-14. Previously in the Cape League, Roberts led Wareham to Western Division titles in his only two seasons, 1984 and 2000, with the Gatemen.
In addition to his coaching accolades, Roberts has also produced several videos and has written two books on base stealing. His first book, titled You Can't Steal Second Base and Keep Your Foot on First! was published in December 2008 followed by Baserunning, which was published in December 2013.
Currently, Roberts serves as a consultant and a clinician on the same topics on which he produced his videos and books. He has worked with the Chicago Cubs as a base running and base stealing instructor during spring training and for several sports performance institutions.
