Matt Myers (born November 15, 1974) is an American baseball coach and former pitcher who is the current pitching coach for the Greensboro Grasshoppers, the High-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He served as the head coach of UNC Asheville Bulldogs (2001–2004) and Western Kentucky (2012–2015).[1][2][3][4][5] He also served as pitching coach at UNC Wilmington,[6] with his most recent collegiate coaching job being the pitching coach at Lipscomb.
| Matt Myers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitching coach | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born: November 15, 1974 Carmichael, California, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bats: Left Throws: Left | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As player:
As coach:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing career
editMyers played one season each at Sacramento State and Sacramento City before completing his college career at Tennessee. His 13–4 record gives him one of the top 10 winning percentages in Volunteer history.[1]
Coaching career
editAfter completing his degree in 1998, Myers served as a graduate assistant at Tennessee for the 1999 season. He also completed a master's degree in that year. He then earned a position as a full-time assistant coach at UNC Asheville for the 2000 season, and was elevated to head coach the following year. He helped rebuild a struggling program, leading the Bulldogs to the top half of the Big South Conference as one of the youngest coaches in Division I. He earned Big South Conference Coach of the Year honors in 2003 and a 4th-place finish. He then moved to Auburn as an assistant for three seasons. His pitching staff ranked among the program's best in his three years in ERA and also recorded strong results in saves and walks. In June 2007, Myers moved to WKU, and added associate head coach duties two years later. He was named head coach prior to the 2012 season. In four seasons, Myers's teams failed to reach the 30-win mark or finish better than 16-14 in conference play, and he was fired at the end of the 2015 season.[1] After a three-season stint as head coach at Bowling Green High School in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Myers was hired as an assistant at UNC Wilmington following the 2018 season.[6] In January 2022, Lipscomb University announced the hiring of Myers as their pitching coach.[7] In January 2024, it was announced that Myers was hired as the pitching coach for the Greensboro Grasshoppers, the High-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.[8]
Head coaching record
editThe following table shows Myers' record as a head coach.[9]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNC Asheville Bulldogs (Big South Conference) (2001–2004) | |||||||||
| 2001 | UNC Asheville | 15–39 | 8–12 | 5th (7) | Big South Tournament[a] | ||||
| 2002 | UNC Asheville | 21–30 | 7–14 | 7th (8) | Big South Tournament[b] | ||||
| 2003 | UNC Asheville | 27–28 | 12–9 | 4th (8) | Big South Tournament[c] | ||||
| 2004 | UNC Asheville | 26–31 | 13–11 | 5th (9) | Big South Tournament[d] | ||||
| UNC Asheville: | 89–128 (.410) | 40–46 (.465) | |||||||
| Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (Sun Belt Conference) (2012–2014) | |||||||||
| 2012 | Western Kentucky | 25–33 | 13–17 | 8th | Sun Belt Tournament[e] | ||||
| 2013 | Western Kentucky | 28–29 | 16–14 | 5th | Sun Belt Tournament | ||||
| 2014 | Western Kentucky | 29–28 | 15–15 | 5th | Sun Belt Tournament | ||||
| Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (Conference USA) (2015) | |||||||||
| 2015 | Western Kentucky | 24–28 | 10–19 | 11th | |||||
| Western Kentucky: | 106–118 (.473) | 54–65 (.454) | |||||||
| Total: | 195–246 (.442) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
- ^ The top six finishers of the Big South's seven teams qualified for the tournament in 2001.
- ^ All of the Big South's eight eligible teams qualified for the tournament in 2002.
- ^ The top six finishers of the Big South's eight eligible teams qualified for the tournament in 2003.
- ^ The top six finishers of the Big South's nine teams qualified for the tournament in 2004.
- ^ The top 8 finishers of the Sun Belt's 10 teams qualified for the tournament in 2012
References
edit- ^ a b c "Matt Myers bio". WKU Hilltoppers. Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
- ^ Aaron Fitt (July 11, 2011). "Western Kentucky Hires Matt Myers As Head Coach". Baseball America. Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
- ^ "Matt Myers bio". Auburn Tigers. Archived from the original on December 18, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
- ^ "Matt Myers named new Western Kentucky baseball coach". KAIT 8. July 11, 2011. Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
- ^ Lara-Cinisomo, Vince (June 4, 2015). "Pawlowski Lands at Western Kentucky". BaseballAmerica.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
- ^ a b Alex Riley (July 11, 2018). "Myers tabbed as new UNCW pitching coach". Star-News. Wilmington, North Carolina. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
- ^ "Baseball Welcomes Matt Myers as Pitching Coach". LipscombSports.com. 7 January 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
- ^ "Pirates Tab Greensboro Native To Manage The Grasshoppers In 2024". MiLB.com. January 23, 2024. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
- ^ "2011 Big South Baseball Record Book" (PDF). BigSouthSports.com. p. 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 2, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.