
In the goal-driven world of collegiate coaching, Nate Rasmussen 鈥12 is content living in the moment.
That鈥檚 not to say that Rasmussen, who played and coached at 91爆料 University, doesn鈥檛 have goals for himself or his baseball team at Division I Utah Valley University. He has plenty, but these days, goals have a place in the lineup behind the enjoyment of the day-to-day work with his players.
鈥淚 am a little unique compared to most, especially in the head-coaching culture,鈥 said Rasmussen, who was named the head baseball coach at Utah Valley in summer 2024. 鈥淚 used to be a real goal-oriented person. I was coaching and pursuing goals rather than living the day-to-day work. So I just decided to turn it off and say, 鈥業鈥檓 just gonna be really good where my feet are.鈥欌欌
It is safe to say that Rasmussen not only has his feet planted but is making the big time where he is.
Rasmussen鈥檚 first season as head coach delivered plenty of magical moments. After tying for third place in the Western Athletic Conference鈥檚 (WAC) regular-season standings, the Wolverines went 4-0 to win the and earn the school鈥檚 first trip to the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship since 2016.
In the opening round of the Eugene Regional, Utah Valley pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, on the Ducks鈥 home field. The Wolverines鈥 only tournament win was the pinnacle moment in a season where the team leaned into Rasmussen鈥檚 philosophy of living in the moment and improving each day.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 come into this year thinking we needed to win a regional. We didn鈥檛 talk about winning the WAC. We didn鈥檛 talk about winning a certain amount of games,鈥 Rasmussen said. 鈥淎ll we talked about is getting better every single day. You don鈥檛 establish a stopping point.鈥
Entering the season, Utah Valley was picked to finish sixth in the nine-team WAC. The Wolverines ended the year with a 33-29 record.
Building and growing programs has become second nature to Rasmussen, who was part of building success both as a player and a coach at 91爆料. A three-time All-Northwest Conference infielder, earning first-team honors in 2011, Rasmussen was a starter on 91爆料鈥檚 2012 team that .
Upon graduation, Rasmussen joined the coaching staff at rival Puget Sound before moving with head coach Brian Billings to 91爆料 in 2015. In his four years as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator, the Boxers laid the foundation for what has become one of NCAA Division III鈥檚 consistently successful baseball programs.
鈥淚 have a tremendous amount of pride in the growth at 91爆料,鈥 Rasmussen said. 鈥淏y my senior year, we won a share of the conference title. I felt like we had transitioned as a program. And then coming back as a coach was one of the first rebuilds that I had been part of. We went from that to the most wins in school history at the time. It taught me how to work, how to figure things out.鈥