Ryan Jenkins - Baseball Coach

Ryan Jenkins

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
pjenki11@utm.edu
Phone:
731-881-3691

Ryan Jenkins is in his eighth season as head coach of the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball program in 2025. He was named to the position on April 17, 2018 after serving as interim head coach for the previous four months.

Last season, UT Martin made the Ohio Valley Conference tournament for the second straight season which marked the first time the Skyhawks had appeared in the postseason in consecutive campaigns. Jenkins produced four All-OVC honorees with three student-athletes making the second team (third basemen Mac Danford, outfielder Will Smith and relief pitcher Tucker Reed) while Tristan Walton (first team all-conference) became the first UT Martin pitcher to lead the OVC in ERA and make the OVC’s All-Tournament team.

In 2023 the Skyhawks soared to new heights with 19 school records being shattered. Included in those new milestones were most Ohio Valley Conference victories (14), which tied for the second-most wins in league play and was good enough for UT Martin to nab the No. 3 seed in the OVC Championship tournament. The 2023 Skyhawks topped the OVC in batting average for the first time in school history (.329, 20 points higher than second place), on-base percentage (.409), runs scored (191), hits (276) and doubles (63) in league play. UT Martin’s offense also ranked in the top-five in the school’s NCAA Division I Era in doubles (115, first), triples (15, first), runs scored (347, second), walks (224, second), stolen bases (72, second), home runs (57, third), total bases (857, third), times hit by pitch (58, third), RBI’s (313, fourth), slugging percentage (.455, fourth) and hits (541, fifth). On the pitching side, the Skyhawks combined for 12 saves (second-most in program history), dialed up 381 strikeouts (fourth in the school’s NCAA Division I Era) and allowed the fewest home runs (24) of any OVC squad in league play.

Jenkins also oversaw a wealth of individual success for several UT Martin players in 2023. Caleb Hobson became the highest Major League Baseball Draft pick in school history when the Colorado Rockies selected the speedy centerfielder in the 13^th round. The Skyhawks also produced Zach Wager, who was the program’s first-ever Freshman All-American pitcher and the first UT Martin representative to earn OVC Freshman of the Year honors after his 2.44 ERA was the best of any Skyhawk with at least 40 innings pitched in the program's NCAA Division I Era. UT Martin accounted for the most All-OVC selections (Wager, Andrew Fernandez, Blaze Bell, Mac Danford, Hobson) in school history last spring. Danford and Fernandez also became the first Skyhawks to ever win OVC Player of the Week accolades twice in a season. Fernandez led the OVC with 21 doubles (second-most in program history) and became the first UT Martin batter to lead the OVC in hits at the end of the regular season since 2004.

The Skyhawks dialed up the second-most home wins (14) in the program’s NCAA Division I history in 2023. UT Martin won six of its eight OVC series, including taking two out of three from the eventual regular season champion Morehead State, winning twice in three chances against eventual 2023 OVC Tournament champion Eastern Illinois and sweeping defending league champion Southeast Missouri for the first time since 2006. The Skyhawks swept Murray State (a 31-win team) for the first time as a NCAA Division I member, took a game from Big Ten Conference member Illinois (the third straight season where UT Martin knocked off a Power 5 opponent) and reeled off six straight victories from May 6 through May 14 – equaling the program’s longest winning streak since April 19-30, 2011.

In 2022, the Skyhawks defeated a Southeastern Conference opponent for the second consecutive season as UT Martin beat Alabama by a 7-6 margin on March 1. The Skyhawks also broke several school records in an April 23 home triumph over Tennessee Tech, scoring its most runs against a NCAA Division I opponent (24) and collecting 47 total bases - the most the program had produced in a single game in 18 years.

Bell earned a spot on the 2022 OVC All-Freshman squad, becoming the 15th UT Martin player to claim a spot on that team. Rhett Fetner also garnered OVC Pitcher of the Week accolades on March 14, becoming the 12th Skyhawk hurler to ever accomplish that feat.

The 2021 version of the Skyhawks boasted three OVC postseason honorees, which are tied for the second-most in program history. Winston Cannon became only the second starting pitcher in school history to be named All-OVC first team, David Hussey became just the second relief pitcher in program history to earn All-OVC second team status while Wil LaFollette captured OVC All-Freshman honors.

UT Martin knocked off a pair of nationally ranked opponents in 2021, defeating No. 22 Alabama by a 9-4 margin on Feb. 24 before downing No. 11 Ole Miss by a 9-7 score on May 18. The Skyhawks also narrowly fell to No. 1 Vanderbilt - the eventual NCAA runner-up - by a slim 5-4 margin on April 6. The victories marked the third and fourth wins over ranked squads in Jenkins' tenure.

As a team, the UT Martin pitching staff posted a 5.24 ERA in 2021 - which is the best mark in the school's NCAA Division I Era (since 1993). The Skyhawks boasted three OVC Pitchers of the Week in a single season for just the second time in school history (first since 2010) while Cannon was one of 13 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Players of the Week on May 24. The 2021 squad ranked in the top-five all-time in UT Martin history in home runs (58, second), pitching strikeouts (413, third), saves (eight, fourth) and fielding percentage (.963, fifth).

Although the 2020 season was shortened after just 16 games, plenty of history occurred for the Skyhawk baseball program. UT Martin knocked off No. 30 South Alabama on Feb. 21, junior closer Nick Wohlbold was named the Skyhawks' first ever NCBWA Preseason All-American and UT Martin was one of only 20 NCAA Division I schools to boast at least two Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-Americans (Christian Hall and Wil LaFollette). It marked the first time in school history that the Skyhawks landed multiple honorees on that prestigious squad.

In 2019, Jenkins oversaw arguably the program's best season as a Division I member. The Skyhawks tied for their most victories in their Division I Era and not only advanced to the OVC Championship tournament for just the fourth time in school history, but also won their opening round game - marking the second postseason win since joining the Division I ranks.

UT Martin shattered school records in OVC wins (12), games played (56), fielding percentage (.969), putouts (1,441), saves (17), innings pitched (480.1) and pitching strikeouts (431) in 2019. The Skyhawk offense crushed 48 home runs (third-most in school history) and also pitched to the school's lowest single-season ERA since 2006, leading the OVC with five shutouts.

Jenkins coached a pair of 2019 All-OVC second team selections in Jordan Stoner and Nick Wohlbold. Stoner became the first Skyhawk to ever take home back-to-back All-OVC accolades and just the second player in UT Martin history to win two All-OVC selections in a career. Wohlbold ranked 11th nationally with 13 saves and was just the third UT Martin pitcher to ever earn an All-OVC nod (first since 2010).

In his first year at UT Martin, Jenkins helped mold a trio of All-OVC honorees in Stoner (first team), Blake Davis (All-Newcomer) and Ethan Whitley (All-Newcomer). He led the squad to victories over No. 13 ranked Southern Miss and against Tennessee Tech (who finished ranked No. 11 nationally after winning 53 games and advancing to a NCAA Super Regional).

Whitley would also go on to be named a Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Freshman All-American in 2018. He was one of only nine first basemen in the nation to collect the prestigious award while he became just the fifth Skyhawk to collect Freshman All-American status.

Jenkins joined the UT Martin staff after spending the 2017 season at the College of Charleston, where he served as an assistant under head coach Matt Heath working with both hitters and pitchers. Jenkins coached five All-Colonial Athletic Association honorees and also tutored a Major League Baseball draft pick in 2017.

A Millbrook, Ala. native, Jenkins was a four-year letterman for the Auburn Tigers from 2006-10 as a catcher, playing under head coaches Tom Slater and John Pawlowski. Jenkins also learned under former Auburn assistants Link Jarrett, Chris Finwood, Jeff Duncan and Butch Thompson – who are all now Division-I head coaches. During his playing days at Auburn, Jenkins shared the diamond with four future MLB players – including 2015 American League Most Valuable Player Josh Donaldson.

Jenkins was named to the All-Southeastern Conference team in 2010 after hitting .365 with seven home runs and 34 RBI while making 48 starts behind the plate. He helped lead the Tigers to a 43-21 record as a senior, earning a spot on the NCAA Regional All-Tournament team.

A career .304 hitter over 138 collegiate games, Jenkins currently ranks eighth all-time in Auburn history in caught stealing by with 28 runners thrown out. He also excelled in the classroom, earning a spot on the 2009 All-SEC Academic team.

Jenkins was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 17^th round of the 2010 MLB Draft and went on to play in the Royals’ minor league system from 2010-12. He played in 118 games over a three-year span, throwing out 49 would-be base stealers.

In 2013, Jenkins returned to Auburn to complete his bachelor’s degree in sociology while serving as a student assistant during the 2014 season and a strength and conditioning coach in 2015-16.

Jenkins is married to the former Brooke Hogg from Biloxi, Miss.