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UK announces new additions to baseball staff

Jeff Drummond

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July 24, 2019


LEXINGTON, Ky. – Dan Roszel, who has nearly two decades of impressive coaching credentials, and Will Coggin, a former player and coach in the Southeastern Conference, have been added to Kentucky’s baseball staff as assistant coaches, it was announced Wednesday.

Roszel comes to UK from East Carolina, where he has mentored one of the most consistent pitching staffs in the country during his nine years with the Pirates. Chris Sale, a six-time finisher in the top five of the American League Cy Young Award race, headlines a list of 11 major leaguers he has groomed.

Coggin will join the Wildcats’ staff as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, reuniting with UK coach Nick Mingione after the two previously worked together at Mississippi State. He has been a part of five conference championships in his nine years of coaching.

“I’m thrilled to welcome Dan and Will to Kentucky,” Mingione said. “They bring a wealth of experience and success to our program. They are winners who can connect with young men and develop them as students, people and players. I’m excited for them to get started.”


Roszel Carries Reputation of MLB Pitcher Development

Roszel comes to Lexington after 19 years of high-level success at four programs, including the past nine seasons at East Carolina where the Pirates finished in the nation’s top 50 in earned run average seven times. East Carolina advanced to six NCAA Regionals during his nine years on staff.

Upon joining ECU in 2010, Roszel has mentored 14 Major League Baseball draft picks, nine All-Americans and 19 all-conference selections while the program piled up 342 victories, six NCAA Regional appearances and two Super Regional runs. Since 2013, seven of Roszel’s pupils have made their MLB debuts, including Seth Maness and Heath Hembree (2013), Mike Wright and Shawn Armstrong (2015), Jeff Hoffman, Richard Bleirer and Jharel Cotton (2016).

“Dan is exactly what we were looking for,” Mingione said. “He has a track record of winning, he’s committed to helping student-athletes win all areas of their lives, and he’s a proven developer of Major League Baseball pitchers. He’ll be an invaluable resource for our program.”

In 2019, Roszel disciple Jake Agnos was named to six All-America squads and set the American Athletic Conference’s single-season strikeout record with 145 in 102.0 innings on his way to being named the 2019 AAC Pitcher of the Year. He was selected by the New York Yankees in the fourth round of this summer’s draft.

In his 19 seasons as a coach, Roszel has seen 30 of his pitchers sign professional contracts, headlined by MLB all-star Chris Sale, who he coached while at Florida Gulf Coast. Sale, who has finished in the top five of the American Cy Young Award vote six times, was selected 13th overall by the Chicago White Sox in the 2010 draft. In 2014, Hoffman became Roszel’s highest draft pick when taken ninth overall by the Toronto Blue Jays.

After completing his playing career at the University of North Florida, Roszel broke into the coaching ranks and within three seasons had joined Gardner-Webb University, where he saw two first-day draftees in four years. From there, Roszel went to Florida Gulf Coast for two seasons, helping the Eagles win an Atlantic Sun Conference title in its first season at the Division I-A level, the only team in NCAA history to accomplish that feat. Before settling at East Carolina, he spent two seasons at College of Charleston, where three of his pitchers were selected in the 2010 MLB Draft as the Cougars came within one win of a Super Regional appearance.

“My family and I are extremely excited to join the UK family,” Roszel said. “Nick Mingione’s vision for the program of developing young men as students, people and players, his leadership style and the Lexington community were all important factors in our decision. This is a dream come true. We can’t wait to get to work, invest in the community and start building lasting relationships.”

Roszel, a 2000 graduate of North Florida, and his wife Melissa have three children, Madyson, Makenna and Clayton. Roszel received his degree in criminal justice with a minor in political science.


Coggin Known as a Winner

Coggin will reunite with Mingione after the duo had a successful tenure together at Mississippi State. The former Bulldogs infielder and assistant coach has proven his salt as a recruiter and hitting guru who has helped develop multiple big leaguers.

“I’m ecstatic to welcome Will to Kentucky,” Mingione said. “I watched his transition from player to coach first hand and then his evolution into one of the elite recruiting coordinators in the country.

“He’s a winner. He’s won at every step of his career: he’s been to Omaha as a player, he won multiple conference championships while coaching at St. Johns River State College and the SEC title at Mississippi State. He was an integral part of the success we enjoyed in Starkville and will be an indispensable piece of reaching our goal at Kentucky of reaching Omaha.”

“I’m excited for and appreciate the opportunity to reunite with Coach Mingione,” Coggin said. “The University of Kentucky is a special place and I can’t wait to get started.”

Coggin was a staff member on the 2016 club that won the SEC championship, was a national seed in the NCAA Tournament and saw 11 players selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. It was his second stint in Starkville, having played for the Bulldogs from 2007-08 and served on former UK and Mississippi State coach John Cohen’s staff from 2009-12. He spent three seasons at St. Johns River State College in Palatka, Florida before returning to State before the 2016 season.

During that 2016 season, the Bulldogs showed drastic offensive improvement, as their team batting average improved by 42 points (.271 to .313), on-base percentage jumped from .372 to .407 and slugging percentage exploded by 91 points. The club hit 30 more home runs, 60 more extra-base hits and scored 90 more runs on the way to 20 more wins.

Coggin had a hand in the development of all-time SEC hits leader Jake Mangum and 2017 SEC Player of the Year and First-Team All-American Brent Rooker, two of the most accomplished players in Mississippi State’s history.

Following the 2016 campaign, Coggin, a native of Booneville, Mississippi, was promoted to the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator role Mingione held before accepting the Kentucky job. The two worked hand-in-hand at State for five seasons, during which time the program went to two Super Regionals and won both a SEC regular season title and conference tournament title (in different seasons).

In between his two stints at Mississippi State, Coggin helped St. Johns River State College post 122 victories in three seasons, including a 57-14 mark in the Mid-Florida Conference. The 122 wins from 2013-15 were the most by a Florida junior college and the program spent time in the top five nationally in 2014 before being ranked No. 1 for much of the 2015 campaign. The Vikings won a school-record 47 games in 2015, won three straight league titles for the first time since 1966-68 and won their first Florida State Tournament game in 38 years.

While at SJRSC, Coggin’s calling card was player development, where 25 players went on to sign with Division I-A programs and 45 with four-year schools. Current big-leaguer Nate Lowe earned NJCAA First-Team All-American honors in 2015 after hitting .372 with 59 runs, 53 RBI and 17 home runs in 56 games before signing with Mississippi State.

Before getting into coaching, Coggin was a middle infielder on Mississippi State’s 2007 and 2008 teams after two seasons at Northeast Mississippi Community College. He earned his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 2010 from Mississippi State before adding a master’s degree in sports administration in 2012.
 
^ What are you thoughts on the hires Jeff and what each brings to the table that the previous assistants did not?

I’ll hang up and listen.
 
I was told all 35 Vandy players are on full scholarship through a “Opportunity Vanderbilt” program. $65,000/ year tuition. UK has 11 scholarships to use for all their players. Is the OV program ok because they are private? Now Duke and Stanford are starting it. Has anybody else heard this and is it is true? Tough to compete with it if true and it doesn’t seem equitable




















 
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I was told all 35 Vandy players are on full scholarship through a “Opportunity Vanderbilt” program. $65,000/ year tuition. UK has 11 scholarships to use for all their players. Is the OV program ok because they are private? Now Duke and Stanford are starting it. Has anybody else heard this and is it is true? Tough to compete with it if true and it doesn’t seem equitable


















Have heard this... dosen't seen fair, but life is not always fair. The schools you mentioned have huge endowments and can afford it.
 
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