Oct. 5, 2015
SAN JOSE, Calif. - San José State head baseball coach Dave Nakama announced earlier this month the addition of Jimmy Meuel to the coaching staff. Meuel joins the Spartans after most recently spending three seasons as the director of baseball operations at UC Davis.
Meuel fills the vacancy left by former assistant coach Tom Kunis' departure to join the Los Angeles Dodgers as an area scout.
"Jimmy Meuel is a young, up-and-coming coach who's excited to be at San José State," said Nakama. "He is a very intelligent person and will bring the cerebral part of baseball to the players. I'm excited about it and I think it brings a different dynamic to the staff and different approach to our players. We're lucky to have him and I think it's going to work out well."
In his role with the Spartans, Meuel will work with the team's pitchers in addition to aiding with camps and hitting the recruiting trail alongside fellow assistant coach Nicholas Enriquez.
"There's more to this job than just coaching the team and coaching the pitchers. He brings a recruiting aspect," Nakama said. "He's a very likeable guy, and I think that's important on the recruiting side of it.
"He also brings some different ideas as far as the day-to-day operations of a baseball program, from study hall to fundraising to camps and those things. I think he's going to bring in a lot of new ideas and some things that will really enhance our program."
As UC Davis' first-ever director of baseball operations, Meuel coordinated team travel, assisted with prospect and youth camps, on-campus recruiting, community service, scouting reports and practice management.
In his time at Davis from 2013-2015, 13 Aggies were named All-Big West honorees and three went on to be selected in the MLB First-Year Player Draft.
"San José State is getting a great young pitching coach," UC Davis head coach Matt Vaughn said. "Jimmy has a great mind for the game which he couples with a relentless work ethic. While it is most definitely our loss, it will be San José State's gain."
Tony Schifano, the Aggies' associate head coach for the past seven seasons who recently became the head coach at San Francisco State, said, "Jimmy Meuel is a tremendous hire for San José State. He brings an unmatched passion for the game, recruiting and the wellbeing of the student-athlete. I'm extremely excited to watch the progress the program makes with Coach Nakama's leadership and Coach Enriquez and Coach Meuel's passion for recruiting."
Meuel broke into the Division I ranks when he spent the 2012 season as the director of baseball information at the University of San Francisco. There, Meuel worked closely with former Dons pitching coach Greg Moore, who went on to be named one of Baseball America's "Top 10 College Assistant Coaches" later that year.
"Jimmy Meuel is extremely bright and a detailed teacher," said Moore, now the head coach at Cal State Northridge. "I've thought for long time that he would make an impact on a pitching staff and team. He will. His work ethic, personality and care for players make him a complete coach in my opinion. San José State added an outstanding Spartan."
Prior to his time with the Dons, Meuel spent three years as a pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at nearby Menlo College. Under his tutelage, the Oaks broke school records for earned run average, walks per nine innings and shutouts.
Meuel earned his first coaching position while still a teenager. He served as a student assistant at UC San Diego in 2005, when Tritons won their first California Collegiate Athletic Association championship. Meuel then transferred to Willamette University in Salem, Ore., where he switched roles from coaching to playing and was a three-year letterwinner for the Bearcats from 2006 to 2008. He led the team in pitching appearances as a junior and senior.
Meuel graduated from Willamette with a bachelor's degree in history in 2008.
Besides his collegiate experience, Meuel coached at the Headfirst Baseball Academy from 2006 to 2009. He was an assistant coach for the U-18 team for a year before serving as the head coach of the U-16 squad for the next three summers.