Roger Ingles capped off a 32-year career at Ohio Wesleyan University with induction into the 61st class of the Battling Bishops Hall of Fame. Ingles served Ohio Wesleyan as a very successful head baseball coach for 22 years and athletic director for 12 years. Ingles also helped lead the Ohio Wesleyan football and women’s basketball teams to their first ever North Coast Athletic Conference championship as an assistant coach in each sport.
As a head baseball coach, Ingles finished with a career record of 645-322-8 while annually playing one of the toughest schedules in all of division III. His baseball teams from 1990-2004 won the second most games in all of Division III. Big wins came over several Division I programs including Ohio State University 10-7 and Ohio University 8-0. The baseball program won eight North Coast titles, appeared in 15 NCAA national tournaments and Ingles was named the NCAC Coach of the Year 8 times and the Mideast Region Coach of the Year. He coached more than 185 all-conference selections, 22 All-Americans, four Academic All-Americans, one National Player of the Year and had 24 players sign professional contracts to continue their playing careers. Several of his former players have followed in his coaching footsteps and are now highly successful college baseball coaches. The most notable are Tim Corbin at Vanderbilt University, Scott Googins at the University of Cincinnati and George Powell at Otterbein University.
Ingles served in various administrative roles at Ohio Wesleyan from Intramural Director, Facility Director, Assistant Athletic Director, Associate Athletic Director and Athletic Director. He was named a Sports Ethics Fellow by the Institute for International Sport which recognizes the great strides and ethical initiatives being undertaken at the NCAA Division III level. He served as chair of the North Coast Athletic Directors for seven years. Ingles taught courses on coaching in the Physical Education department.
Ingles generated much of the financial support for Ohio Wesleyan Athletics through his fundraising experience. As athletics director, Ingles spearheaded fundraising efforts that raised over $40 million for athletic and recreational enhancement over his time as athletic director. He also collaborated with the OWU advancement department to raise more than $500,000 annually for operational and special projects leading to increased budgets and staffing.
Among several of Ingles’ accomplishments at Ohio Wesleyan was the increased number of full-time staff positions within the athletics department increased from 16 to 43, enhancement of the student-athlete experience, and facility improvements. These were significant contributions toward the growth of the overall program and increased success in the NCAC where Ohio Wesleyan won more NCAC titles than any other school. In 2010, women’s golf was added under Ingles as its 23rd varsity sport. Ohio Wesleyan announced the addition of women’s rowing and men’s wrestling during Ingles last year as athletic director.
While Ingles was the athletics director at Ohio Wesleyan, student-athletes maintained higher grade-point averages, retention, and graduation rates than non-student-athletes. The percentage of student- athletes in the overall student body increased steadily to over 30%. Ingles was integral in establishing the annual Dale J. Bruce scholar-athlete recognition banquet to celebrate the academic, service and athletic successes, which was applauded by participants and admired and copied by many in the region. He helped develop diversity coaching programs, leadership training for coaches and community based volunteer organizations. He worked closely with the local community and government organizations to build a better sense of community with the campus.
Ingles protected the preservation of historic athletic venues, such as famed Branch Rickey Arena, Littick Field, Selby Stadium, George Gauthier Track and the Jay Martin Soccer Complex, and oversaw and directed the construction of additional facilities such as the Meek Aquatic Center, and Luttinger Family Tennis Center. Advancements in the quality of OWU facilities included lighting and turf surfaces and renovations to most facilities where student-athletes competed. Many of those improvements led to Ohio Wesleyan being selected to host national championship events including two NCAA Division III track and field championships (2011, 2014) and the 2005 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships, in addition to a host of other NCAA regional championship events.
Ingles started at Ohio Wesleyan in March of 1984. He previously served as a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater, The Ohio State University, where in 1982 where he was an assistant baseball coach while he completed his master’s degree. Eight of his players went on to be drafted into Major League Baseball (MLB), and as pitching coach he helped several of his pupils earn All-Big Ten accolades.
Ingles spent six years as the Commissioner/President of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate Baseball League (1999-2005) where he led the league to expand from six teams to twelve and from a one state footprint to four. The Great Lakes produced the second highest number of professional draft picks during his tenure behind the Cape Cod League. He also was selected VP of summer collegiate baseball during this period.
Ingles holds a Bachelor of Arts in comprehensive social studies education from Ohio State in addition to his master’s degree in athletic administration and coaching. Ingles currently serves as Executive Director/Senior Partner at Executive Management Partners which he founded in 2018. EMP is athletics consulting firm and they specialize in searches, assessment and leadership training.
His wife, Jo, is an award winning journalist employed by Ohio Public Radio and Television, and teaches a podcasting course at Ohio Wesleyan. He has two children, both of whom are OWU graduates. His daughter, Sarah, is a labor attorney in Columbus, Ohio and his son, Brad, is membership services director for the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Denver, Colorado.