Washington names its next baseball coach, Lindsay Meggs successor
It didn’t take long to find Lindsay Meggs’ replacement, and Washington didn’t have to venture too far outside the family to get him, either.
Former UW pitching coach Jason Kelly will succeed Meggs as the Huskies’ next head coach, the program announced this week. Kelly, who spent this past season as LSU’s pitching coach, returns to Montlake hoping for the same kind of success he enjoyed during his seven-year run with UW from 2013 to 2019.
Jason Kelly Returns To Montlake As Head Baseball Coach
Release: https://t.co/6M1yHxtKc3#DaWgStrong pic.twitter.com/hndFOHAv0H
— Washington Baseball (@UW_Baseball) June 17, 2022
“I couldn’t be more excited to welcome Jason Kelly and his family back to Montlake as our next head baseball coach,” said UW athletic director Jennifer Cohen. “JK was an integral part of the success our teams experienced on our historic run to Omaha in 2018. He is an elite recruiter with strong ties to the West Coast and Pacific Northwest, and has significant experience in the Pac-12 and SEC that will be an incredible asset. He has a great deal of pride for this University and the Seattle community, and is hungry to have the Huskies competing again at the highest level. He will embrace the history we have, as well as our amazing alumni, and I can’t wait to have him get started.”
In 2018, Kelly earned D1Baseball’s National Assistant Coach of the Year after helping the Huskies to the program’s first-ever trip to the College World Series.
In his seven seasons as Washington’s pitching coach, Kelly mentored 15 MLB draft selections, and, after making just one NCAA Tournament appearance in the 13 seasons prior to Kelly’s arrival, the Huskies earned three NCAA berths during his tenure. Additionally, he helped UW pitcher Troy Rallings to the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year honor and a first-team All-American selection in 2016 and then helped UW sign a top-10 recruiting class in 2017.
Before coming to Seattle, Kelly was the pitching coach at Cal Poly from 2007-12. In his first season in San Luis Obispo, he produced two pitchers who were selected in the MLB Draft’s first five rounds. His 2011 staff recorded the lowest ERA in the school’s 17-year existence at the Division I level.
“My family and I could not be more excited to be heading back to Seattle,” Kelly said in a release. “The University of Washington has always been home to us. I would like to give a special thank you to President (Ana Mari) Cauce, Jen Cohen, and Kim Durand for entrusting me with this incredible opportunity. I am proud to be a Husky, and can’t wait to get to work. Go Dawgs!”
Meggs announced his retirement last week after 29 years as a head coach, the final 13 of which he spent with Washington. He produced 317 wins while leading the UW program, and ended this most recent regular-season with 12 straight victories.