This year's College Baseball Coaching Carousel wasn't very crazy, thank God, but there was a big time chain of events. We get to that and more of the most impactful head coaching hires of the 2025 offseason.
SAN DIEGO STATE SWIPES KEVIN VANCE FROM ARIZONA
There were some bigger dominoes that fell during this year’s Coaching Carousel, but the most impactful hire of the 2025 cycle was Coach Kevin Vance taking the San Diego State head coaching job.
The Aztecs have a proud baseball program, one that has sent numerous players into professional baseball, and has only had 7 total head coaches in their program’s history that spans all the way back to 1936. And now in 2027 they will join the PAC 12.
Figuratively speaking, Coach Vance, a first-time head coach, will get one warm up year in the 6-team Mountain West. After all, he had a late start on the Transfer Portal and trying to keep the SDSU roster in-tact since he signed his contract once Arizona was done with their Omaha run. But then after 2026 it’s go-time in what will be one of college baseball’s best conferences in the country.
Coach Vance is a San Diego native, he said that his mom, an Aztec grad, worked in the local news and commonly covered San Diego State baseball. He grew up going to SDSU games, Coach Vance played in the CIF Championship game on campus. San Diego State was where he wanted to play college baseball and then it became a dream job of his to be the head coach.
San Diego State conducted a national search where Stephen Strasburg, Bud Black, and Tony Gwynn Jr all had conversations with Coach Vance prior to the public announcement.
Coach Vance has had numerous college baseball positions in the Northeast and also the minor leagues. Most notably Coach Vance spearheaded an entire philosophical change in Arizona’s pitching department.
In his first year with the Wildcats Coach Vance orchestrated a huge turnaround on the mound. In 2023, prior to Coach Vance, Arizona had a 5.97 Team ERA, in 2024 UofA finished with a 4.46. Arizona had one of the best weekend rotations in the country. In two seasons 8 players were selected in the MLB Draft and counting.
We will see how well this hiring pans out, but there’s no doubt in my mind that this was the most impactful hire of this cycle.
MISSISSIPPI STATE FIRED CHRIS LEMONIS MIDSEASON, BRIAN O’CONNOR COMES IN FROM VIRGINIA
The Mississippi State athletic department was going to walk out with the crown jewel at all costs. It didn’t matter if they had to personally throw road block signs in front of their own team in NCAA Tournament Regionals. Hail State was going to have a new Baseball regime on June 2nd, 2025 (the day the Transfer Portal opened).
Brian O’Connor is a hell of a coach and has one of, if not the best current resume in the game. O’Connor has won over 70% of his games coached. He has coached in the College World Series seven times. Oak has helped develop 93 players to get selected into the MLB Draft.
The transfer portal and NIL era in college athletics doesn’t intimidate the 54-year-old Omaha native and almost his entire staff that he brought over from Virginia. Coach O’Connor will certainly continue his strong recruiting and development skills while leading the Maroon and White back to his hometown a few times in the next decade.
VIRGINIA HIRES CHRIS POLLARD AWAY FROM DUKE
Duke Baseball hasn’t been to the College World Series since 1961. Chris Pollard snapped a 55-year NCAA Tournament drought and had Duke on the doorstep of Omaha four times in a seven year span but couldn’t knock the door down.
One of those Super Regional appearances was on the road at the Dish in Charlottesville. Coach Pollard also came up short with App State in a Super at Virginia.
Now the Hoos have a guy that is hungry and doesn’t start from scratch because Coach Pollard is bringing most of his staff and seven players with him from Duke.
In 13 seasons with the Blue Devils in the ACC Pollard owned a 420-296 record. The 420 coaching wins are the most in Duke’s program history.
Coach Pollard went to school in the Lynchburg area and considers this job a “homecoming”. I think Coach Pollard is a guy that might be at UVA for the long haul. It’s a home run hire for the Cavaliers.
COREY MUSCARA FILLS DUKE’S OPENING
Duke dipped back into the Pitching Coach pool to fill in their head coach opening. After four seasons as an assistant that worked directly with the pitching staff at Wake Forest, Coach Corey Muscara lands in Durham.
At Wake Forest Tom Walter’s record before Coach Muscara on staff was 323-308 (51.2%). With Coach Muscara on staff the Demon Deacons were 172-75 (69.6%).
In 2023 Wake Forest played in the College World Series for the first time since 1955. That was Coach Muscara’s second season in Winston Salem. He was awarded Assistant Coach of the Year because the Demon Deacons led the country in ERA and strikeouts per nine innings.
LEGENDS HANGING IT UP
MATT SENK RETIRES AFTER 35 YEARS AT STONY BROOK: Jim Martin has served as the Associate Head Coach since 2017. Martin specializes in offense and player development. In 2025, the Seawolves recorded their highest batting average and on-base percentage since joining the CAA.
BOB WHALEN RETIRES AFTER 35 YEARS AT DARTMOUTH: Blake McFadden has been named the interim head coach after working closely with the pitchers wearing the Green Olde English D since 2016.
ED SERVAIS RETIRES AFTER 22 SEASONS WITH CREIGHTON: Former South Carolina head coach Mark Kingston served as the Associate Head Coach this past year where the Blue Jays won the Big East Tournament and got Coach Servais back to the NCAA Tournament one final time. Kingston has been to the Big Dance as the head coach of every place he’s been at, we’ll see what he does now as he returns back to the midwest for the first time since 2014 when he was with Illinois State.
DANNY HALL CALLS IT A CAREER AFTER 32 YEARS WITH GEORGIA TECH: James Ramsey was named as the Associate Head Coach in 2021. Ramsey has been at the forefront of Georgia Tech’s prolific offenses and stellar recruiting since his arrival seven seasons ago.
Here is a mindblowing excerpt from the introductory article on Georgia Tech Baseball’s website:
"In seven seasons since Ramsey’s arrival on The Flats as hitting coach in 2019, Georgia Tech leads the ACC in batting average (.308), hits (3,961), doubles (796), on-base percentage (.408), OPS (.918) and sacrifice flies (208), and ranks second in runs (2,937), triples (84), home runs (547), RBI (2,709) and slugging percentage (.510).
Since he took over as the Yellow Jackets’ recruiting coordinator following the 2019 season, Tech has landed four top-5 and five top-10 signing classes, and all six have ranked among the top 20 nationally."
This year's College Baseball Coaching Carousel wasn't very crazy, thank God, but there was a big time chain of events. We get to that and more of the most impactful head coaching hires of the 2025 offseason.
SAN DIEGO STATE SWIPES KEVIN VANCE FROM ARIZONA
There were some bigger dominoes that fell during this year’s Coaching Carousel, but the most impactful hire of the 2025 cycle was Coach Kevin Vance taking the San Diego State head coaching job.
The Aztecs have a proud baseball program, one that has sent numerous players into professional baseball, and has only had 7 total head coaches in their program’s history that spans all the way back to 1936. And now in 2027 they will join the PAC 12.
Figuratively speaking, Coach Vance, a first-time head coach, will get one warm up year in the 6-team Mountain West. After all, he had a late start on the Transfer Portal and trying to keep the SDSU roster in-tact since he signed his contract once Arizona was done with their Omaha run. But then after 2026 it’s go-time in what will be one of college baseball’s best conferences in the country.
Coach Vance is a San Diego native, he said that his mom, an Aztec grad, worked in the local news and commonly covered San Diego State baseball. He grew up going to SDSU games, Coach Vance played in the CIF Championship game on campus. San Diego State was where he wanted to play college baseball and then it became a dream job of his to be the head coach.
San Diego State conducted a national search where Stephen Strasburg, Bud Black, and Tony Gwynn Jr all had conversations with Coach Vance prior to the public announcement.
Coach Vance has had numerous college baseball positions in the Northeast and also the minor leagues. Most notably Coach Vance spearheaded an entire philosophical change in Arizona’s pitching department.
In his first year with the Wildcats Coach Vance orchestrated a huge turnaround on the mound. In 2023, prior to Coach Vance, Arizona had a 5.97 Team ERA, in 2024 UofA finished with a 4.46. Arizona had one of the best weekend rotations in the country. In two seasons 8 players were selected in the MLB Draft and counting.
We will see how well this hiring pans out, but there’s no doubt in my mind that this was the most impactful hire of this cycle.
MISSISSIPPI STATE FIRED CHRIS LEMONIS MIDSEASON, BRIAN O’CONNOR COMES IN FROM VIRGINIA
The Mississippi State athletic department was going to walk out with the crown jewel at all costs. It didn’t matter if they had to personally throw road block signs in front of their own team in NCAA Tournament Regionals. Hail State was going to have a new Baseball regime on June 2nd, 2025 (the day the Transfer Portal opened).
Brian O’Connor is a hell of a coach and has one of, if not the best current resume in the game. O’Connor has won over 70% of his games coached. He has coached in the College World Series seven times. Oak has helped develop 93 players to get selected into the MLB Draft.
The transfer portal and NIL era in college athletics doesn’t intimidate the 54-year-old Omaha native and almost his entire staff that he brought over from Virginia. Coach O’Connor will certainly continue his strong recruiting and development skills while leading the Maroon and White back to his hometown a few times in the next decade.
VIRGINIA HIRES CHRIS POLLARD AWAY FROM DUKE
Duke Baseball hasn’t been to the College World Series since 1961. Chris Pollard snapped a 55-year NCAA Tournament drought and had Duke on the doorstep of Omaha four times in a seven year span but couldn’t knock the door down.
One of those Super Regional appearances was on the road at the Dish in Charlottesville. Coach Pollard also came up short with App State in a Super at Virginia.
Now the Hoos have a guy that is hungry and doesn’t start from scratch because Coach Pollard is bringing most of his staff and seven players with him from Duke.
In 13 seasons with the Blue Devils in the ACC Pollard owned a 420-296 record. The 420 coaching wins are the most in Duke’s program history.
Coach Pollard went to school in the Lynchburg area and considers this job a “homecoming”. I think Coach Pollard is a guy that might be at UVA for the long haul. It’s a home run hire for the Cavaliers.
COREY MUSCARA FILLS DUKE’S OPENING
Duke dipped back into the Pitching Coach pool to fill in their head coach opening. After four seasons as an assistant that worked directly with the pitching staff at Wake Forest, Coach Corey Muscara lands in Durham.
At Wake Forest Tom Walter’s record before Coach Muscara on staff was 323-308 (51.2%). With Coach Muscara on staff the Demon Deacons were 172-75 (69.6%).
In 2023 Wake Forest played in the College World Series for the first time since 1955. That was Coach Muscara’s second season in Winston Salem. He was awarded Assistant Coach of the Year because the Demon Deacons led the country in ERA and strikeouts per nine innings.
LEGENDS HANGING IT UP
MATT SENK RETIRES AFTER 35 YEARS AT STONY BROOK: Jim Martin has served as the Associate Head Coach since 2017. Martin specializes in offense and player development. In 2025, the Seawolves recorded their highest batting average and on-base percentage since joining the CAA.
BOB WHALEN RETIRES AFTER 35 YEARS AT DARTMOUTH: Blake McFadden has been named the interim head coach after working closely with the pitchers wearing the Green Olde English D since 2016.
ED SERVAIS RETIRES AFTER 22 SEASONS WITH CREIGHTON: Former South Carolina head coach Mark Kingston served as the Associate Head Coach this past year where the Blue Jays won the Big East Tournament and got Coach Servais back to the NCAA Tournament one final time. Kingston has been to the Big Dance as the head coach of every place he’s been at, we’ll see what he does now as he returns back to the midwest for the first time since 2014 when he was with Illinois State.
DANNY HALL CALLS IT A CAREER AFTER 32 YEARS WITH GEORGIA TECH: James Ramsey was named as the Associate Head Coach in 2021. Ramsey has been at the forefront of Georgia Tech’s prolific offenses and stellar recruiting since his arrival seven seasons ago.
Here is a mindblowing excerpt from the introductory article on Georgia Tech Baseball’s website:
"In seven seasons since Ramsey’s arrival on The Flats as hitting coach in 2019, Georgia Tech leads the ACC in batting average (.308), hits (3,961), doubles (796), on-base percentage (.408), OPS (.918) and sacrifice flies (208), and ranks second in runs (2,937), triples (84), home runs (547), RBI (2,709) and slugging percentage (.510).
Since he took over as the Yellow Jackets’ recruiting coordinator following the 2019 season, Tech has landed four top-5 and five top-10 signing classes, and all six have ranked among the top 20 nationally."
