MARSHALL, Texas – There will be a different look from the
dugout for the East Texas Baptist baseball team in 2014-15 as
two-year assistant coach Jared Hood has been named Tigers'
head coach following the departure of Lee Driggers who moved to
Union University and the baseball head coach position at the NCAA
Division II institution.
"We are excited to have Jared (Hood) stepping in as our head
baseball coach at ETBU," said Kent Reeves, East Texas Baptist
University Director of Athletics. "Jared has a tremendous knowledge
of the game of baseball and we look forward to him continuing to
build this program."
Hood, who is a Marshall, Texas, native, will enter his first head
coaching job. He has a strong coaching background that includes
collegiate and summer ball to working with the Cleveland Indians as
an associate scout.
At ETBU, Hood has been the hitting coach the past two seasons and
helped coach several players to postseason honors. Phillip Windham,
Tyler Bates, and Jeremy Pinder were each named to the All-ASC
first-team. Windham and Bates were voted to an ABCA All-West region
team. Windham was also named a preseason D3baseball.com
All-America and the past two years was in the top 20 for home runs
in NCAA Division III.
"I am excited to have this opportunity and blessed to start my
head coaching career here at ETBU where I have roots in East
Texas," Hood said. "This will be a great transition as the players
already know the program and we won't miss a beat moving
forward.
"I want to thank Kent (Reeves) and ETBU for this opportunity along
with my wife and staff for their support they have given me in my
career here and I am looking forward to starting my head coaching
career in a town that means a lot to me."
He received his first chance to coach collegiately at Hill College
where he was an assistant for two years. While at HC, Hood
recruited three players who were major league draftees and coached
in a program that produced five major league draft picks.
Coaching in the summer leagues, Hood made stops as an assistant
coach for the Cooperstown Hawkeyes of the New York Collegiate
Baseball League (Cooperstown, N.Y.) and the Dallas Patriots 18U
select squad. Last year, he was an associate scout for the
Cleveland Indians.
Hood started his collegiate playing career at Hill College before
transferring to the University of Texas at Tyler where he had two
productive years for the Patriots. In his senior season (2009),
Hood batted .345 with 13 home runs and 49 RBI to follow a junior
season (2008) where he collected 50 RBI with seven home runs while
hitting .390. Hood was captain of the Patriots' 2009 ASC
championship team. Hood graduated from Texas-Tyler in 2010 with a
bachelor's degree in health and kinesiology.
During his tenure with East Texas Baptist, Lee Driggers
produced 35 wins over two seasons (2013, 2014) and in 2013 guided
the Tigers to their first ASC tournament appearance in eight years.
He also had two players named to the ABCA All-West Region team and
three players make the All-ASC first-team. Prior to his stint at
ETBU, Driggers was baseball head coach at Wheaton College (Ill.)
and McMurry University. Driggers will rejoin former East Texas
Baptist president Dr. Dub Oliver who became president at Union
University on June 1 after five years at ETBU.