Tidwell joined the New Mexico State baseball staff in July of 2006, and was named pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for the Aggies.
Tidwell brings plenty of baseball experience having played and coached University of Arkansas, and at Northeast Texas Community College. He became the interim head coach in 1998, before being hired full-time as the head coach for NTCC.
During the 1999, season Tidwell was the youngest head coach in college baseball, and led his team to its sixth straight regional appearance. Tidwell posted a 222-124 record while he was the head coach for the Eagles. He was named 2003 Region XIV Coach of the Year. That year he posted a 42-13 record with NTCC.
Tidwell began his coaching career as a student assistant under head coach Norm DeBriyn. DeBriyn is considered a legend at Arkansas and coached there for 33 years with over 1,000 wins and led the team to five World Series appearances.
Tidwell also has administrative experience to offer the Aggie baseball staff, as he served as the Athletic Director at Northeast Texas for four years.
Tidwell began his college career at McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas, where he played for two years as a pitcher and compiled a 19-5 record there. He was also selected to the all-conference team in 1993 and 1994 and voted to the Texas-New Mexico All-Star team in 1994.
Tidwell then moved on to play at Arkansas for his final two years of eligibility. While with the Razorbacks he threw his way to a 13-2 record and was named to the Southeastern Conference All-Academic Team during his senior year. Tidwell was also awarded the George Dickey Award his senior year. That award is given to two seniors that represent the leadership, talent and commitment exemplified by the Dickey’s during their career.
He attended Belton High School in Belton, Texas where he was raised. In high school, he was a four-year letterman in baseball and football. He was a memner of the all-district teams in both sports for three years. When he graduated from Belton High School in 1992, he was awarded a pitching scholarship to McLennan Community College.
Just as any other college level coach, Tidwell has set goals to help the team get back to the regional tournament as well as attaining the ultimate goal of reaching the College World Series.
Tidwell is married to Shannon (formerly Shannon Sanders) of Bentonville, Ark. And they have two sons, Maddox, four-years-old and Crew, one-year-old.
Tidwell can be reached at ctidwell@nmsu.edu
