Honored as WAC Coach of the Year in 1997, 2000, 2008 & 2009, he has been associated with 31 winning and two .500 seasons while suffering just four losing campaigns in 37 total years as a collegiate head coach. He has produced seven All-Americans, six Freshman All-Americans, 80 all-conference selections, including 46 All-WAC picks, and 56 academic.

With an emphasis defense, Piraro’s teams consistently rank among the best in the WAC and the nation. From the 2000 season through 2011, the Spartans have finished the year ranked No. 1 in the conference eight times, were second three times and once finished fourth. In that same time frame, San Jose State reached the top-five defensively four times including a No. 2 national rank in both 2005 and 2006. Over the past 10 years his teams have averaged a top-20 national ranking on defense.

A Winning Tradition
Piraro has averaged 33 wins per season at San Jose State and is the only Spartan baseball coach to record seven consecutive winning seasons. His teams have five 40-win seasons, including a school-record 45 victories in 2002. That team was ranked as high as 18th nationally and qualified for the NCAA Championship for the second time in three years.

Sixteen of Piraro's San Jose State teams have reached the 30-win mark, including six in a row from 1997 through 2002. His 1989 and 1990 Spartans are the only teams to post back-to-back 40-win seasons.

In 2000, Piraro directed one of the most celebrated seasons in Spartan athletic history. San Jose State won a share of the WAC crown and earned the program's first NCAA Championship berth since 1971. SJSU won the Waco (Texas) Regional by defeating nationally-ranked Florida, and the Houston Super Regional over fifth-ranked host Houston, to advance to the College World Series for the first time. Piraro was honored as the Rawlings Coach of the Year, ABCA West Region Coach of the Year and WAC Coach of the Year.

Named the San Jose State head coach in the summer of 1986, Piraro reached the 200-win mark in 1992, accomplishing the feat in fewer games than any other SJSU baseball coach. His 300th Spartan coaching victory came in 1996, his 400th in 1999, 500th in 2002, 600th in 2005 and 700th in 2009.

Piraro's teams have appeared in the national rankings a total of 49 times, including seven in the 2002 campaign, 10 weeks in 2000 and 11 weeks in 1989 reaching a high of No. 11. In 1990, the Spartans received their first preseason ranking and remained there for 14 weeks, peaking at No. 4.

Guiding Young Men's Careers
Piraro has profoundly influenced the careers of his student-athletes. Nearly 80 of his players have gone on to sign professional baseball contracts and has sent 36 players onto the next level via draft selection since 1997. Over 50 of Piraro's former players and assistants have moved into the high school and collegiate baseball coaching ranks. First-year assistant coach Mark O'Brien (1991-92) spent the last 10 seasons as head coach at Santa Clara University. Scott Hertler, a former Piraro assistant at Mission College and San Jose State, has been the head coach at De Anza College since 1999. Shane Carley (1993-94), a former assistant at Mission is now the head coach there.

The Spartan coach also places a premium on academic performance. Infielder Karson Klauer, pitcher Donnie Rea and catcher Kevin Tannahill have all been honored as Academic All-Americans under Piraro. The program has set new highs in Academic All-WAC honorees the last six years with 46 honorees including 10 in 2009. In that same time frame, 72 Spartans earned San Jose State University Scholar-Athlete recognition and four times a baseball player posted the highest grade-point average among male SJSU student-athletes.

Corey Cabral, a pitcher who graduated in May of 2007, became the first Spartan male to be presented the WAC Stan Bates Award as the top male scholar-athlete in the conference based on academic record, athletic performance, character, sportsmanship, leadership and community service.

From 1992-99, Piraro served as an assistant athletic director in addition to his duties as head coach. His fundraising efforts through the years have r aised over $1,000,000 for his program and the athletics department.

Rooted in San Jose
Piraro was an infielder on the 1971 and 1972 Spartan teams. He received both his bachelor's degree, in physical education in 1975, and master's degree in 1982, from San Jose State University.

The San Jose native is in his 38th season as a college baseball coach, and has amassed more than 1,000 victories during his three head-coaching appointments. He began his career in 1974 as a graduate assistant and junior varsity coach at San Jose State and in his first year as the junior varsity coach produced a 22-5 record and a league championship. Piraro compiled a 74-43 mark with the junior varsity squad in three seasons and was the Spartans' top varsity assistant under Gene Menges from 1977 through 1979.

In 1980, Piraro became the first baseball coach at Mission College in Santa Clara, Calif. In seven seasons, he compiled a 190-70 record, won five Coast Conference championships and two state titles (1981 and 1983). Following each of the state crowns, Piraro was named California Community College Coach of the Year. In 1996, Piraro became the second-youngest coach to be inducted into the California Community  College Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Santa Clara County chapter of the Italian-American Heritage Association recognized Piraro in 2000 as its Sportsperson of the Year. He has served as an NCAA regional advisor and a voting member of the Collegiate Baseball rankings panel, and was selected to represent the West Region on the NCAA Championship Selection Committee prior to the 2006 season. He has co-authored a book with fellow coaches, titled Gold Glove Defense, through the American Baseball Coaches Association.

Piraro and his wife, JoAnn, live in San Jose with their two children, Jason (29) and Jenna (24).