Auburn baseball made a minor coaching change official today. Long time volunteer assistant Ty Megahee was promoted to "assistant coach" and will transition into a full-time role. Megahee replaces Link Jarrett, who moved on to become the Head Coach at UNC-Greensboro.
"Coach Megahee's baseball knowledge and coaching abilities have been instrumental in our hitters' success over the past three seasons," Pawlowski said. "Auburn baseball has hosted an NCAA Regional, won two SEC batting titles and has been to three straight SEC tournaments during his tenure on the Plains. Ty reflects everything that is good about Auburn. Along with his coaching skill set, his loyalty, work ethic and ability to build and develop relationships make him a perfect fit for this position. We are excited about the continuity and consistency that Ty brings to our current team and the future of Auburn baseball." -
Auburn Release
Initial reaction to the hire? Good job for Ty. Megahee will allow Auburn to continue its offensive improvements, and he's paid his dues. He brings coaching experience and a proven track record as the Auburn bats continue to adjust to a lack of power (from both a player and equipment standpoint).
The other rumored names for the job included former Auburn assistant Jeff Duncan (currently at Purdue) and St. John's hitting coach Mike Hampton. Hampton was a bit of a long-shot. He had a previous relationship with Auburn head coach John Pawlowski at Clemson, but he'd also been with the Johnnies for 11 seasons. It's easy to see why he'd want to stay put.
Is this a "rah-rah get excited" type of promotion? Not really. Personally, it just shows me that Pawlowski will reward loyalty on his staff.
This will possibly open up another spot on the staff for a volunteer coach. Hopefully, Auburn will look for someone who can focus on pitchers since next year's rotation/bullpen will be filled with young arms.