Vanderbilt baseball shook up its staff, with hitting coach/recruiting coordinator Mike Baxter and catching coach Tyler Shewmaker departing the program.
Tim Corbin must now fill two staff positions, and doing so quickly will be important to recruit transfer hitters before the portal window closes July 2. With the NCAA allowing three paid on-field coaches, the Commodores could fill the exact positions that Baxter or Shewmaker held, but they also could opt to split up the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator titles.
Here are nine names Vanderbilt could consider:
Sitting assistants
James Ramsey, Georgia Tech
Ramsey has been Georgia Tech's hitting coach since 2018 and in that time, the Yellow Jackets have consistently had an offense that ranks among the top half of the ACC. Ramsey doesn't have any ties to the Commodores or to Corbin's coaching tree, but he does have experience at a school with academic standards that surpass even Vanderbilt's.
Nick Schnabel, Clemson
Schnabel has been Erik Bakich's top assistant for years dating back to his days at Michigan and has a track record of bringing in strong recruiting classes even without access to top local talent. Schnabel played in college with Bakich, so he could be tough to convince to leave, and he also could be in play for a head coaching job.
Derek Simmons, Indiana
Simmons, a Georgia native, has been the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator at Indiana for five years. He has SEC experience, having worked at Alabama for one season. The Hoosiers were second in the Big Ten in home runs and scoring in 2024 and brought in the Big Ten's best recruiting class in 2022 and 2023.
ESTESSomething is broken with Vanderbilt baseball, and it's on Tim Corbin to fix it | Estes
Eric Tyler, Duke
Tyler, the hitting coach at Duke, has ties to Corbin's coaching tree, having played for Cliff Godwin at East Carolina. The Blue Devils led the ACC in home runs in 2024 and went from 70 home runs in 2022 to more than 100 each of his two years as hitting coach. He also has experience working at a school with high academic standards.
Familiar faces
Travis Jewett, Southern California
Jewett was Vanderbilt's hitting coach from 2013 to 2016, one of the most successful periods in program history. After a stint as Tulane's head coach, he now is an assistant at USC. The prospect of returning to the Commodores could appeal to Jewett, with USC set to move into the Big Ten, but the Trojans finished dead last in the Pac-12 in home runs (35).
Ryan Klosterman, Bryant
In recent years, it has become a trend for mid-major head coaches in big-money sports to leave for assistant jobs in a power conference. Klosterman is a former Vanderbilt player who was on Corbin's first two teams (2003-04) and has been the head coach at Bryant since 2019, leading the team to two regular-season conference titles and an NCAA tournament appearance. Before coaching Bryant, Klosterman was the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator at UCF.
Tom Riginos, formerly Winthrop
Riginos replaced Corbin on Jack Leggett's staff at Clemson when Corbin took the Vanderbilt job. He was recently fired as the head coach at Winthrop after holding that position since 2010. He is 56 and hasn't been an assistant in more than a decade, so this would be a risk.
Young up-and-comers
Heath Holliday, Austin Peay
Holliday isn't a hitting coach, but he does serve as the Governors' catching coach and recruiting coordinator. His cousin is Josh Holliday, who worked on Vanderbilt's staff before taking the head job at Oklahoma State. Austin Peay led the country in scoring in 2024, and hiring someone from a local school could help boost the Commodores' reputation with position players in Middle Tennessee.
Caleb Longley, Texas
Longley is currently the recruiting coordinator at Texas. He doesn't have ties to Vanderbilt, but he previously owned a player development facility in Nashville and played at East Tennessee. Texas is joining the SEC, but the uncertain status of David Pierce as the Longhorns' coach could make an easier sell.
Tapping into the pro ranks
It's hard to name anyone specific here, both because there are so many coaches with ties to Vanderbilt working in pro ball, but also because it's hard to know who might want the job. Top college jobs often pay more, and the season is shorter, but those who hope to advance to an MLB manager or front office position likely would be better suited staying in the pros.
Several former players like Ryan Flaherty, David Macias, Gil Kim, Tony Mansolino and Antoan Richardson hold prominent positions on MLB staffs, but Vanderbilt also could tap into organizations known for strong scouting and player development, like the Padres, Dodgers or Orioles.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her atagerson@gannett.comor on Twitter@aria_gerson.
