Michigan baseball announces hiring of Brock Huntzinger
Michigan baseball head coach Tracy Smith officially announced his latest staff addition Thursday. Pitching coach Brock Huntzinger joins him in Ann Arbor to round out his full-time coaching staff. The news was first reported Wednesday by Kendall Rodgers of D1Baseball.com.
The new Michigan pitching coach was most recently the pitching coach at Boise State. Huntzinger also spends time with Smith as a graduate assistant at Arizona State.
“Brock has a phenomenal approach to the game of baseball, and we are fortunate to get him here to Michigan,” Smith said in a release. “Brock’s pitching acumen is surpassed only by his ability to connect with individuals of all backgrounds and personalities.”
Huntzinger is an Indiana native that committed to play for IU out of high school, but elected to go pro and was a third-round pick in the 2007 MLB Draft, signing with the Boston Red Sox. He never made the major leagues, but spent time with the Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Oakland A’s and Chicago White Sox organizations.
“I am incredibly honored to come to Michigan in this role,” Huntzinger said. “It feels like I am coming back home. I am confident in my ability to leverage some of my experiences in order to positively impact a talented group of student-athletes at this great university.”
Huntzinger joins Ben Greenspan on Smith’s Michigan staff, who was named the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator earlier this month.
Others weigh in on Michigan’s pitching coach
Detroit Tigers pitching coach and Michigan alum Chris Fetter weighed in on the hire via the U-M release. Fetter was in consideration for the position after Erik Bakich departed for Clemson, but decided to remain in Detroit.
“Brock is a great person, husband, and father with a unique ability to connect with players of all ages,” Fetter said. “This will serve him well with the current pitching staff as well as in recruiting. With his experience as both a pro player and college coach, he is the right guy to lead the Michigan pitching staff into the future.”
Chicago White Sox scouting director Mike Shirley also told Michigan that Huntzinger has what it takes to keep the train rolling with the pitching staff.
“Brock will bring the ingredients required to continue growing the Wolverine program,” Shirley said. “His pitching intellect, combined with his character, will tremendously impact the careers of his student-athletes. Brock will be driven daily to develop and grow the futures of all pitchers under his watch. Professional baseball will continue to be able to shop in Ann Arbor with Brock at the helm.”
More on Tracy Smith
Smith, 56, has plenty of Big Ten experience, coaching at Indiana as an assistant in 1995-96 and later holding the main job from 2006-14.
He last coached at Arizona State from 2015-21. Smith began his head coaching career at Miami and went 317-220-1 from 1997-2005, advancing to a pair of NCAA Regionals. Rogers went 287-237 in nine seasons on the job at Indiana with three NCAA Regional berths and a trip to the College World Series in 2013.
Smith’s time at Arizona State saw him go 201-155 in seven seasons in Tempe. Arizona State played in four NCAA Regionals on his watch before he was let go at the end of the 2021 campaign.
