Jim Toman’s death at 64 closes the book on a coaching career that mattered far beyond one school or one season. He was the kind of college baseball figure whose value showed up in the long arc: the players he coached, the programs he shaped and the standard he helped set at Liberty University in Virginia.
Toman died of brain cancer on Tuesday, and the loss lands especially hard because his best-known work came in sustained stretches rather than one isolated breakthrough. At Liberty from 2008 to 2016, he guided the Flames through the most successful era in program history, including six of his nine seasons with 35 games or more and a Big South tournament title in 2013. Later, he coached Middle Tennessee State University from 2018 to 2022, extending a career that also connected him with University of South Carolina and NC State.
A career built across major programs
Before he became a head coach, Toman’s baseball roots were already tied to western Pennsylvania and to a competitive edge that never really left him. He graduated from Gateway High School in Monroeville in 1980, where he was a captain for both the baseball and football teams, then played baseball at North Carolina State University from 1981 to 1984. That path matters because it helps explain the way he was remembered: as someone who understood both leadership and accountability long before he was giving out lineup cards.
Liberty was where that background became most visible. The Flames did not just have a good run under Toman; they built one of their defining eras. Winning the Big South tournament title in 2013 was the clearest marker, but the fuller picture is even more telling. Sustained success, not one flash of it, is usually the best sign that a coach’s influence is real.
Remembered as a coach and a person
Those who worked with Toman are already describing him in personal terms that go beyond the record book. Ray Tanner said, “We are all indebted to you for the impact you made on our lives—players, coaches, staff, and fans alike,” and added that although health struggles over the past year took away his ability to pursue baseball and life as he once did, “those of us who truly knew you know where your heart always was and always will be.” Nick Pierce called him “one of one,” said, “I’ll never forget my days of working with him as HC of @LibertyBaseball,” and offered prayers for Caroline, Tucker, Charlie Mac and the rest of the family.
NC State said a private burial is set for Good Shepherd Cemetery in Monroeville, and memorial contributions can be made to the National Brain Tumor Society instead of flowers. CBS News updated the report on August 5, 2026.
For a coach whose career stretched across Liberty University and Middle Tennessee State, and whose influence also reached South Carolina and NC State, the legacy is now clear. Toman leaves behind more than a résumé. He leaves a standard of steadiness, success and connection that those around him clearly did not forget.
