MATT HEATH ADDED TO UT MARTIN BASEBALL COACHING STAFF
7/18/2018 9:22:00 AM | Baseball
MARTIN, Tenn. – University of Tennessee at Martin head coach Ryan Jenkins has announced the hiring of Matt Heath as the program's pitching coach.
Heath was most recently the head coach at College of Charleston, where he spearheaded the program from 2016-17. He has also spent time in professional baseball scouting and in the Southeastern Conference, working with both pitchers and hitters over the years.
In his career, Heath has coached a National Freshman Pitcher of the Year, multiple All-Americans and Freshman All-Americans, a Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year, a Colonial Athletic Association Pitcher of the Year and numerous all-conference pitchers.
Jenkins is familiar with Heath's successful coaching pedigree, as Jenkins played under Heath at Auburn before coaching alongside Heath at College of Charleston.
"I am excited to have Matt join our staff," Jenkins said. "He is an outstanding baseball mind and has been around the coaching side of the game for some time now. I feel that Matt brings a tremendous amount of great experience to the table for our program."
Heath served as an assistant at College of Charleston a total of seven years (two as hitting coach and five as pitching coach), most previously under head coach Monte Lee from 2011-15. In his seven seasons, he helped guide the Cougars to a 275-143 record and a 132-56 mark in conference play (.702 winning percentage). He was a part of four conference championships, three NCAA Regional appearances and one NCAA Super Regional appearances (2006, 2014). Numerous school records are still in place including ERA and opponent batting average.
In 2009, Heath served as hitting coach at Auburn, helping the Tigers break into the national rankings in numerous categories and setting several school records. He oversaw an offense that belted a program-record 103 home runs and 218 extra-base hits, as Auburn's .516 slugging percentage was the third-highest mark in school history.
Heath has also scouted for the Houston Astros, covering the North Florida area before returning to College of Charleston to be a member of Lee's staff in 2011.
Heath broke into the coaching ranks as an assistant coach at Tallahassee Community College in Tallahassee, Fla., spending two seasons there prior to his first stint at College of Charleston.
A Fernandina Beach, Fla. native, Heath was a highly touted prep star as he was named the North Florida Player of the Year out of Fernandina Beach High School. He played at the University of Florida under Andy Lopez for two years before transferring to play for Skip Bertman at Louisiana State University.
Heath graduated from LSU in 2002 and later played in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization for two seasons. He and his wife have two children.
"I am very grateful to Coach Jenkins for the opportunity to join the UT Martin baseball program," Heath said. "We feel like we have a great chance to build a solid program here and look forward to the 2019 season."
UT Martin is coming off its first season under Jenkins, who coached an All-OVC first team outfielder (Jordan Stoner) and two All-Freshmen players (Blake Davis and Ethan Whitley). Whitley also was tabbed to the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Freshman All-American list in 2018.
Heath was most recently the head coach at College of Charleston, where he spearheaded the program from 2016-17. He has also spent time in professional baseball scouting and in the Southeastern Conference, working with both pitchers and hitters over the years.
In his career, Heath has coached a National Freshman Pitcher of the Year, multiple All-Americans and Freshman All-Americans, a Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year, a Colonial Athletic Association Pitcher of the Year and numerous all-conference pitchers.
Jenkins is familiar with Heath's successful coaching pedigree, as Jenkins played under Heath at Auburn before coaching alongside Heath at College of Charleston.
"I am excited to have Matt join our staff," Jenkins said. "He is an outstanding baseball mind and has been around the coaching side of the game for some time now. I feel that Matt brings a tremendous amount of great experience to the table for our program."
Heath served as an assistant at College of Charleston a total of seven years (two as hitting coach and five as pitching coach), most previously under head coach Monte Lee from 2011-15. In his seven seasons, he helped guide the Cougars to a 275-143 record and a 132-56 mark in conference play (.702 winning percentage). He was a part of four conference championships, three NCAA Regional appearances and one NCAA Super Regional appearances (2006, 2014). Numerous school records are still in place including ERA and opponent batting average.
In 2009, Heath served as hitting coach at Auburn, helping the Tigers break into the national rankings in numerous categories and setting several school records. He oversaw an offense that belted a program-record 103 home runs and 218 extra-base hits, as Auburn's .516 slugging percentage was the third-highest mark in school history.
Heath has also scouted for the Houston Astros, covering the North Florida area before returning to College of Charleston to be a member of Lee's staff in 2011.
Heath broke into the coaching ranks as an assistant coach at Tallahassee Community College in Tallahassee, Fla., spending two seasons there prior to his first stint at College of Charleston.
A Fernandina Beach, Fla. native, Heath was a highly touted prep star as he was named the North Florida Player of the Year out of Fernandina Beach High School. He played at the University of Florida under Andy Lopez for two years before transferring to play for Skip Bertman at Louisiana State University.
Heath graduated from LSU in 2002 and later played in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization for two seasons. He and his wife have two children.
"I am very grateful to Coach Jenkins for the opportunity to join the UT Martin baseball program," Heath said. "We feel like we have a great chance to build a solid program here and look forward to the 2019 season."
UT Martin is coming off its first season under Jenkins, who coached an All-OVC first team outfielder (Jordan Stoner) and two All-Freshmen players (Blake Davis and Ethan Whitley). Whitley also was tabbed to the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Freshman All-American list in 2018.
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