Michigan Announces Staff Changes, Additions
10/3/2017 5:09:00 PM | Baseball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan baseball team and head coach Erik Bakich have announced three changes to the Wolverines staff heading into the fall season. The changes include the promotion of former assistant coach Nick Schnabel to assistant head coach, the hiring of former player John DiLaura as the team's program assistant and the naming of Jeremy Kelch as the team's full-time video coordinator.
Schnabel has served as an assistant coach under Bakich for the last five seasons, overseeing the infielders and working with the hitters. During that time, Michigan infielders earned All-Big Ten selections and five were selected in the Major League Baseball draft.
"Nick Schnabel is one of the elite assistant coaches in the entire nation," said Bakich. "He is a tireless recruiter, an outstanding developer of talent and extremely loyal. He is one of the primary reasons our program has escalated quickly over the last five years and is very deserving of this opportunity."
DiLaura was a member of the Michigan baseball team from 2010-13Â and served as both a catcher and outfielder during his time with the Maize and Blue.
"We are thrilled to welcome John DiLaura back to Michigan as our program assistant," said Bakich. "John most recently helped Chipola College win the national championship last season as an assistant coach. He will be instrumental is assisting our coaching staff administratively in all areas of program growth, player development, recruiting, MLB research, analytics and advance scouting."
Kelch joined the Michigan baseball program in 2014Â and has overseen and coordinated the video operations of the team since. Due to his work with BATS and other technologies, Kelch has been able to identify opportunities for growth with each individual player.
"Jeremy Kelch is the leading expert on BATS video technology, having served as the former Director of Baseball Video Operations and Video Advance Scout for the Detroit Tigers for 12 years," noted Bakich. "With our usage of BATS, HitTrax, Rapsodo and soon to be installed Trackman, he and our entire staff are on the cutting edge of advanced player development."
The Wolverines also recently hired former player Chris Fetter as the team's pitching coach in July.
Under Bakich and his crew, Michigan has compiled five straight winning seasons, including 42 wins in 2017. The 2017 Michigan Wolverines also advanced to the NCAA Tournament with the program's first at-large postseason bid since 2008. In addition, the end of the season featured a program-high 11 MLB draft picks, which tied with Texas to lead the country.
