Former Bears Coach Steve Rodriguez to Become New Texas Hitting Coach
Former Baylor Bears coach Steve Rodriguez was not out of a job for long. It was reported by Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball that the Texas Longhorns would be hiring former Baylor Bears coach Steve Rodriguez to serve as their new hitting coach.
ASSISTANT SCOOP: @TexasBaseball is expected to hire former @BaylorBaseball head coach Steve Rodriguez as its hitting coach, sources tell @d1baseball. Rodriguez spent the last seven seasons as the head coach at #Baylor. @ZachAtTheDisch also has this. #HookEm pic.twitter.com/9OkVdIiTWz
— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) June 30, 2022
Rodriguez spent the last seven seasons as the head coach for the Bears, where he would lead the Bears to three NCAA Tournament appearances. Prior to Baylor, Rodriguez was the coach of the Pepperdine Waves from 2004-2015, where he would lead the Waves to eight NCAA Tournament appearances.
Rodriguez brings years of experience to Pierce's staff and has strong recruiting connections in Texas and California from his years as a coach, which Texas will undoubtedly hope to tap into.
Another aspect that could come into play is the numerous Baylor players that put their names in the transfer portal once the season ended. While they might not be inclined to follow Rodriguez to Austin, the Longhorns could come into play for his former players in the portal.
Ultimately, this is a strong hire for Pierce and the Longhorns who will find themselves in a massive retooling phase with the departures from their lineup. However, the Bears themselves have put together a solid staff under new coach Mitch Thompson, including new hitting coach Zach Dillon, as they look to challenge the Longhorns in the Big 12 moving forward.
You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98
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Connor Zimmerlee is a writer and reporter for the FanNation network. Zimmerlee received his Bachelor's of Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and graduated from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism with a Master's of Science in Journalism with a Specialization in Sports Media.