The Sacramento State baseball team has a new assistant coach this season. Reggie Christiansen, a native of California, returned this summer to pursue a job opportunity offered by Head Coach John Smith.

Christiansen’s main responsibility as assistant coach is to coach batting and that his main concern is to help Smith turn the team around. “I’m here to help him get back to the glory days again,” Christiansen said.

The two discussed their plans and visions during their summer meeting and they agreed that they were on the same page. “He’s a very outstanding young baseball coach,” Smith said. “He’s got a jump start on what needs to be done.”

In addition to coaching, Christiansen is also the team’s recruiting coordinator. His job is to find young talent and make sure they’re qualified.

He said his duties involve calling for references, checking transcripts, and above all, looking for integrity.

Christiansen said it’s been a little difficult adjusting to being an assistant coach again. “As a head coach, you’re used to being the one talking all the time,” he said. He said he’s more patient now, and has learned to be a better listener.

Christiansen is originally from Fortuna, Calif., and is a graduate of Forndale High School. While there, Christiansen was a shortstop for the Forndale baseball team.

After high school, Christiansen spent two years at the College of the Redwoods in Eureka, Calif., before transferring to Menlo College in Atherton, Calif., to finish up his bachelor’s degree. Because Menlo College is considered to be one of the top business schools in Silicon Valley, Christiansen decided to take advantage of the program.

While there, his main focus was always baseball. “It was just a great opportunity for me to play,” he said.

He played on the team for two years and served the team as a student assistant coach his last year. A year after his graduation, he returned to Forndale as the head coach.

In 2001, Christiansen returned to Menlo once more to accept a job offer as head coach. He was only there for one year when an assistant coaching position at the University of Kansas became available.

After that, Christiansen went to South Dakota State in 2004. “An opportunity to become a Division I head coach at 28 is something you can’t pass up,” he said.

He said the job was a great fit, but Christiansen and his wife began to think of the things their children could potentially be missing because of their location.

“We felt we were cheating them out of opportunities they might have missed in a small town in the mid-west,” Christiansen said.

Christiansen began to think of the talk he had with John Smith in 2005 about a possible job opportunity at Sacramento State.

Now, he was ready to return to California to unite his children with their relatives and provide them with all that a big city has to offer.

“It was really a no brainer,” Christiansen said. “Coaching jobs in California are hard to come by.”

Smith called Christiansen in July 2008. Christiansen flew to Sacramento to meet him and Athletic Director Terry Wanless. Within a month, the Sacramento State baseball team had a brand new assistant coach.

“I’m not looking for another position,” Christiansen said. “We want to be here in Sacramento. We’re happy here.”