Without fail, the college coaching carousel churns every summer as teams jockey for position amid the annual hirings, firings and personnel movement following the conclusion of the season. Coaching candidates emerge each year following successful runs both on the field and the recruiting trail. Often, these candidates are first identified as prominent assistants at notable programs.
As we begin to gear up for another season, we’re examining 10 of the hottest assistant coaching names in college baseball entering 2024. All 10 coaches have made significant marks on their current programs and figure to be in consideration for future head coaching jobs quite soon. We sought to create a list that blended established, high-profile assistants with younger up-and-coming candidates who are lauded for their development skills.
The names below are in no particular order. None of the coaches have previous Division I head coaching experience. Baseball America’s Teddy Cahill annually compiles a more extensive list of coaching candidates at the end of each season. You can see the 2023 installment here.
Blankmeyer is the son of the legendary coach Ed Blankmeyer, who won over 800 games and was named the Big East Coach of the Year eight times across his 24 years as the head coach of St. John’s. Ty played collegiately at St. John’s and was an eventual 36th-round draft choice by the Cincinnati Reds in 2016.
Blankmeyer played one year professionally before spending over four years as the Brewers’ northeast area scout. Most notably, Blankmeyer was the signing scout for current big leaguer Sal Frelick, who was drafted 15th overall in 2021. Ty went on to spend one year at Wake Forest on its coaching staff before being named an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Duke in the summer of 2022.
An outstanding recruiter, Blankmeyer has played an integral part in some of the Blue Devils’ most notable signees. He brings an infectious energy to the ballpark and is particularly knowledgeable when it comes to infield defense. Blankmeyer is on track to eventually be a high-level head coach.
Corey Muscara, Wake Forest
Pitching Coach
Muscara has established himself as one of the premier assistant coaches in all of college baseball. After playing collegiately, he began his coaching career in 2010 at Division II powerhouse Southern New Hampshire. After a brief, one-year stint at Binghamton, Muscara returned to Southern New Hampshire and was a key reason as to why its pitching staff led the nation with a 2.41 team ERA in 2012.
Muscara proceeded to enjoy an excellent, five-year tenure at St. John’s in which he coached and developed three Big East Pitcher of the Year winners. After spending 2018-2021 as Maryland’s pitching coach, Muscara made his way to Winston-Salem. Although he has been the Demon Deacons’ pitching coach for just two seasons, Muscara has made a significant and permanent mark on the program.
He is huge reason why Wake Forest is viewed nationally as a pitching factory and nearly every recent arm has made significant progress. Most notably in 2023, Rhett Lowder (15-0, 1.87 ERA) posted a program record and nation-leading 15 wins and his 143 strikeouts were also a new program record. Lowder was drafted seventh overall, while Sean Sullivan (second round), Seth Keener (third round), and Camden Minacci (sixth round) also were drafted.
Looking ahead to 2024, Wake Forest once again potentially has the best rotation in the country with Chase Burns (5-3, 4.25 ERA), Josh Hartle (11-2, 2.81 ERA), and Michael Massey (3-1, 2.59 ERA). Muscara seems like a slam dunk to land a high-profile head coaching job.
Derek Simmons, Indiana
Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator
Simmons has enjoyed a lengthy, 13-year coaching career that has included past stops at Central Michigan, Kennesaw State, Alabama and Kent State. He made an impact at each program, but none have been greater than what he has done during his time with the Hoosiers.
Simmons was named an assistant coach in 2020 before being named the program’s recruiting coordinator prior to the 2022 season. He focuses especially on the hitting side and is a huge reason as to why the Hoosiers have turned into one of the most prolific offenses in the Big 10.
After junior outfielder Carter Mathison broke the program’s freshman home run record in 2022 with 19 long balls, sophomore outfielder Devin Taylor in 2023 posted the second-highest freshman home run total with 16. He set the program’s freshman record in RBIs with 59 and was just the third Hoosier to be named the Big 10 Freshman of the Year.
Simmons is an ace recruiter who not only signed a fantastic 2023 class but has also notched big time signees in both the 2024 and 2025 classes. Indiana is consistently one of the best teams in the Big 10, but expect Simmons to be on numerous programs’ radars for a potential future head coaching job.
Sean McGrath, Iowa
Pitching Coach
McGrath has had a fascinating coaching path. After spending brief tenures as pitching coach at Iona College and UMass-Lowell, McGrath had an excellent two-year stint at Elon and most notably played an integral part in George Kirby’s development. When Kirby was drafted by the Seattle Mariners 20th overall in 2019, McGrath also made the jump to professional baseball and joined Seattle as a Minor League pitching coach.
McGrath’s time with Seattle was headlined by an impressive 2022 season in which he was the pitching coach for Double-A Arkansas. The Travelers that season finished second in the Texas League with a team ERA of 4.27, while leading the league in shutouts (11), WHIP (1.30), and opponent’s batting average (.229).
While he is entering just his second season as the Hawkeyes’ pitching coach, McGrath’s knowledge and skill set has made a massive difference. Not only did the Hawkeyes win a program-best 44 games, but they also made their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017.
McGrath has one of the most prolific pitching staffs in college baseball entering 2024 headlined by a premier starting rotations in all of college baseball. It features three potential top 100 overall draft choices in Brody Brecht (5-2, 3.74 ERA), Marcus Morgan (5-2, 3.72 ERA), and Cade Obermueller (2-0, 2.12 ERA) as well as a number of other potential draft picks. McGrath is one of the best pitching coaches in the country and figures to be heavily sought after by several programs.
Nate Thompson, Arkansas
Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator
Throughout his almost 20-year coaching career, Thompson has gained experience at almost every level while leaving each program better than he found it. Prior to his time at Arkansas, Thompson had strong stints at Missouri State, Nebraska, Hutchinson Community College and Dallas Baptist. He oversaw the development of numerous future draft picks and all-Americans, while also signing outstanding recruiting classes.
Since joining the Arkansas staff, Thompson has cemented himself as maybe the best assistant coach in college baseball. During his time in Fayetteville, the Razorbacks have won 244 games, have made multiple College World Series appearances, and have become one of the most decorated and recognizable programs in the country.
On top of the team’s success, Arkansas and Thompson consistently sign top-10 recruiting classes. They have done a marvelous job developing players beyond just high-end draft prospects. Perhaps no player is more notable than current big leaguer Heston Kjerstad, who in 2020 was drafted No. 2 overall after a standout career at Arkansas.
Thompson specifically focuses on hitters and Arkansas has a nation’s-best 20 position players drafted since 2018. It seems inevitable he’ll eventually be a head coach at a major program if he wants it.
Scott Brown, Vanderbilt
Associate Head Coach
Over the course of his 11-year tenure with the Commodores, Brown has established himself as one of the most highly regarded coaches at the college level. During his time at Vanderbilt, over 30 pitchers have been drafted including 12 in the top three rounds. Brown has helped guide Vanderbilt to four College World Series appearances and two national championships.
On top of his success in Nashville, Brown was also the pitching coach in 2022 for Team USA’s Collegiate National Team. Across seven games, Brown’s pitchers worked a 0.70 ERA and hurled three shutouts.
Brown has developed a plethora of high-profile arms, but perhaps none have been more dominant than the duo of Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker. In 2021, Leiter and Rocker topped the strikeout leaderboard with 179. Leiter and Rocker were each selected second and third overall by the Texas Rangers in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Brown has coached six big leaguers, including two-time all-star Walker Buehler. So long as he is in Nashville, the Vanderbilt pitching staff will always be one of the best in all of college baseball.
Nate Yeskie, Louisiana State
Pitching Coach
Yeskie has long been known as one of the best pitching coaches in all of college baseball. During his 18-year coaching career, he served as the pitching coach for UNLV, Oregon State, Arizona, Texas A&M and now LSU. Yeskie has a lengthy track record of both development and winning. He helped to guide Oregon State, Arizona, and most recently Texas A&M to College World Series appearances and won a national championship with the Beavers in 2018.
Yeskie’s 11-year tenure with Oregon State was especially memorable, as the Beavers pitching staff set a program-record for lowest ERA three different times. Most notably, the 2017 pitching staff posted a nation’s-best 1.93 ERA en route to an appearance in the College World Series.
Yeskie should get the most out of LSU’s stacked pitching staff that includes the likes of Thatcher Hurd (8-2, 5.68 ERA), Luke Holman (7-4, 3.67 ERA), and Gage Jump. No matter how long his time in Baton Rouge is, Yeskie figures to be in the mix for any high-level head coaching job in the future.
Max Weiner, Texas A&M
Assistant Coach
While he’s only 29 years old and 2023 is just his first-year coaching collegiately, Weiner belongs on this list. After graduating from Florida International in 2017, Weiner spent one year as the minor league pitching coordinator for the Guardians. He then made the jump to the majors and served as the Mariners pitching coordinator from 2019-2023.
During his time with Seattle, Weiner played a key role in developing several of the Mariners high-profile pitching prospects. Despite his age, Weiner’s knowledge and philosophies will go a long way in helping Texas A&M’s pitching staff both this year and beyond. Weiner is on track to be in play for a future head coaching position.
Noah Jackson, California
Associate Head Coach
When it comes to hitting coaches, Jackson is one of the best. He has spent seven years as the hitting coach at his alma mater, and 2024 will be his second as associate head coach. During his time at Berkeley, Jackson helped develop several hitters into high-level prospects. He played a key role in the development of current big leaguer and 2018 Golden Spikes winner Andrew Vaughn.
In addition to Vaughn, Jackson also helped develop former first-round picks Korey Lee (Astros, 2019) and Dylan Beavers (Orioles, 2022), and former fifth-round pick Nathan Martorella (Padres, 2022). All three were some of the most prominent hitters in the country during their respective college careers.
Jackson has two high-profile hitters again this spring in Caleb Lomavita and Rodney Green Jr. Both have shown year-over-year improvement during their time at Berkeley and could become the second-ever Cal duo to be selected in the first round of the draft.
Jackson projects as a prime candidate to eventually take the reins of a program. On top of his hitting expertise, he is a strong recruiter who is highly respected within the game.
Jack Marder, Oregon
Assistant Coach
A former Duck and eventual 16th-round draft pick by the Seattle Mariners, Marder returned to Oregon in 2020. Over the course of his four-year coaching career at Oregon, Marder has completely revamped the Ducks offense and has set new program records in batting average (.310), hits (670), home runs (75), doubles (122), and total bases (1,041).
Oregon has made the NCAA Tournament in three of Marder’s four years, and this past June it was one win away from its first trip to the College World Series since 1954. Between his two-year stint at Stanford and time at Oregon, Marder has coached a number of eventual draft picks including former second-round pick and first team All-American Aaron Zavala.
Marder has also made his mark on the recruiting trail, and in 2022 he signed the No. 5 recruiting class in the country. Oregon in 2024 will again be a competitive club hopes to return to Omaha for the first time in 70 years. At just 33 years of age, Marder projects to have a lengthy coaching career and is on track to be a head coach sooner rather than later.
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