Eric Podbelski begins his 16th season at the helm of the Wheaton College baseball program in 2012. Podbelski has built Wheaton's baseball program from the ground up, accumulating one of the highest winning percentages among active NCAA Division III coaches at .721 (434-167-4) through Wheaton's first 14 years of varsity play. He and the program earned their 400th win on May 7, 2010 at Roger Williams University.

The 2011 Lyons captured their 12th New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season championship and 11th league tournament title in the 13-year history of the NEWMAC. As a result, Wheaton earned its 10th NCAA Tournament berth in 12 seasons. Podbelski’s squad recorded the program’s seventh-straight 30-win season, finishing with a record of 32-12, and he saw four of his student-athletes receive First Team All-NEWMAC honors. The Lyons – who also received the NEWMAC Sportsmanship Award in 2011 – were ranked 22th in the final D3baseball.com after going 3-2 in the NCAA New England Regional Tournament.

In addition to winning 11 NEWMAC Tournament titles since 1999, the Lyons also hosted the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament in 1999 and qualified for their first ECAC Tournament in 1998 – the team's first year of varsity competition. Eight years later, the 2006 squad made the school’s first national championship game appearance while going 42–10 and recording the highest win total in team history.

Podbelski was awarded New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) Division III Coach-of-the-Year honors in 2001, 2002, 2006 and 2007, which earned him a coaching position at the NEIBA All-Star Game at Boston's Fenway Park. He has also been named NEWMAC Coach of the Year nine times.

In the past 10 seasons, Podbelski has produced nine All-America selections and six professional players, including two Major League Baseball (MLB) signees. Wheaton's lone MLB draftee, Chris Denorfia '02, was taken by the Cincinnati Reds in the 19th round in June 2002. Denorfia has swiftly made his way up the professional ranks, most notably his 2005 jump from Double-A Chattanooga to the big leagues. Recalled to Cincinnati in 2006 from Triple-A Louisville and traded to Oakland in 2007, Denorfia signed with San Diego in 2010. He batted .271 with 15 doubles, nine home runs and 36 RBI in 99 games with the Padres last season and opened the 2011 season on the team’s 40-man roster.

In addition to his baseball coaching duties, Podbelski has also served on the NCAA and ECAC Tournament selection committees.

A 1991 graduate of Brandeis University, Podbelski finished his career as one of the school's all-time winningest pitchers with 23 victories. After a junior year in which he was named to three postseason all-star teams, he was invited to play for the Falmouth Commodores in the prestigious Cape Cod League.

Podbelski went on to serve as an assistant coach at Brandeis for five years. Under his direction, Podbelski's pitching staff was among the national leaders in team earned run average four times, including in 1994, when it led Division III in ERA at 2.33.

In high school, Podbelski was a standout baseball player at Plymouth-Carver Regional. Named to numerous all-star and all-scholastic teams, he capped his high school career by being selected as a Golden Spikes Award finalist and playing in the 1987 United States Olympic Festival as a member of the USA East team.

Podbelski and his wife, Amy, reside in Norton with twin girls Erin and Shea.