De La Salle baseball coach Jeans steps down after title-filled 16-year run

CONCORD — De La Salle baseball coach David Jeans, who presided over the program for 16 years, won numerous championships at the highest level and had dozens of players move on to college ball, is resigning, he told the Bay Area News Group.

Jeans, 59, had a wildly successful run at the Concord private school after taking the job in 2011. Under his leadership, De La Salle won three NorCal Division I championships since the CIF added the tournament in 2022, including last season’s title.

The Spartans also captured 10 North Coast Section Division I championships, including six straight from 2016-2023 (there were no NCS playoffs in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic).

“I am proud of what we accomplished on the baseball field and the program that we developed,” Jeans wrote in a Facebook post announcing the move. “It was always about the players and their families.”

The announcement came a day after the Spartans lost to Valley Christian in a NorCal Division I semifinal, ending their season.

Jeans was named state coach of the year by Cal-Hi Sports in 2023 and his 2019 team – which featured pitching ace Kyle Harrison, now with the Milwaukee Brewers – was honored as the state team of the year by the publication.

The coach finished with an overall record of 327-79.

Jeans added that he is also retiring from teaching at De La Salle, where he taught AP Physics, and plans to step down from his role as a club baseball coach, mentioning a desire to travel and have time to himself.

Before he took over the De La Salle baseball program, which had three coaches in the five years prior to his hiring, Jeans was the school’s JV football coach. He taught at De La Salle for a quarter century.

Jeans’ time as baseball coach wasn’t entirely smooth in recent years. In 2024, De La Salle was accused of sign-stealing by Dougherty Valley in a complaint submitted to the NCS office.

The East Bay Athletic League could not substantiate the allegations, citing insufficient evidence, and De La Salle was cleared of any wrongdoing.

This season, De La Salle self-imposed a five-game suspension on the baseball team to start the year due to violations of school policy, team rules and code of conduct, three games of which resulted in forfeits.

De La Salle lost only two games on the field this season, to Foothill during the regular season and Thursday at home to Valley Christian.