Zach Dillon to Join Mitch Thompson's Staff as New Bears Hitting Coach
The Baylor Bears' coaching staff is starting to take shape under new coach Mitch Thompson. On Friday it was announced that Thompson had hired James Leverton as the new Baylor pitching coach, and Saturday brought the announcement of another assistant under Thompson.
Zach Dillon will be joining Thompson's staff in Waco, where he will serve as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator. Dillon has both player and coaching experience with Baylor previously, having played from 2003-2006 and serving as a voluntary assistant in 2012.
He makes his return to Waco under Thompson having spent the last six years as the director of operations for Twelve Baseball, a premier select youth and high school program based out of Katy, Texas.
Adding Dillon to Thompson's staff will not only help the Bears' approach at the plate, but should greatly impact their efforts on the recruiting front as well.
"I couldn't be more excited to add Zach Dillon to our staff," Thompson said. "Zach truly understands what it means to be a Baylor Bear. His extensive resume and experience at all levels of the game will pay huge dividends in helping our players reach their maximum potential and helping our program win championships. Zach's ability to recognize talent on the field coupled with his contacts throughout the country will benefit our program tremendously on the recruiting trail.
While Leverton will have a lot of work to do with his pitching staff, Dillon might just have to do more work to get the offense turned around. The Bears would hit .266 as a team on the season, ranking dead last in the Big 12.
Dillon is keenly aware of the challenges facing him and the rest of Thompson's staff, but there is little doubt that he believes they can turn the Baylor program around.
"I am honored to be coming home to our Baylor Family," Dillon said. "I am so fired up to be a part of the next chapter of Baylor Baseball alongside Coach Thompson. We will work relentlessly to bring in talented players with winning DNA. We will build team and championship culture on and off the field together. I can't wait to start recruiting, developing and serving our players to Prepare Champions for Life!"
Time will ultimately tell how successful Thompson and his staff are for the Bears. However, so far he has hired an excellent staff and has given Baylor fans reason to be hopeful in their program once again.
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.