Texas A&M’s baseball coaching staff is beginning to take shape after Sunday, June 30’s hiring of Michael Earley as head coach. The Aggies appear to have found their next pitching coach in Washington’s Jason Kelly, who is expected to make the trip from Seattle to College Station, according to Travis Brown of The Bryan-College Station Eagle.
Kelly has served as the Huskies’ head coach for the past two seasons, amassing a 54-51-1 record with a 19-31-1 mark in 2024. Kelly and Earley were together on staff at Arizona State in 2020 and 2021, serving as the Sun Devils’ pitching and hitting coaches, respectively. Kelly is making his return to the SEC after spending 2022 as the pitching coach at LSU.
From 2013 to 2019, Kelly was the pitching coach at Washington, earning National Assistant Coach of the Year honors from D1Baseball in 2018. That year, the Huskies made their first trip to the College World Series in program history as the pitching staff put together a 3.81 season ERA.
In Kelly’s return to Washington as head coach in 2023, the Huskies finished third in the Pac-12, going 17-12 in conference play and 35-20 overall. They reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018. Six players were selected in the 2023 MLB Draft after four earned All-Pac-12 distinction plus five honorable mention nods.
RHP Kiefer Lord was the highest-drafted Husky since 2015 at 86th overall, while RHP Case Matter and LHP Stu Flesland III were also selected, making up a pitching staff with a 5.36 ERA.
Washington took a step back in 2024, finishing ninth in the 11-team Pac-12. Sophomore RHP Grant Cunningham took home All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention honors with a 3-4 record and a 2.86 ERA out of the bullpen. The team’s ERA rose to 5.78.
In his lone season in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Kelly led LSU pitchers to a 4.32 ERA en route to the NCAA Hattiesburg Regional. RHP Paul Gervase led the Tigers with a 1.85 ERA and a 4-1 record in 29 relief appearances.
Kelly’s start at Arizona State was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, yet he lowered the team’s ERA from 4.93 to 3.56, dating back to the previous season. Behind Earley and Kelly, the Sun Devils reached the NCAA Tournament in 2021 with a 5.28 ERA.
Over seven seasons as the Huskies’ pitching coach, Kelly tutored 15 MLB draft picks as Washington made three NCAA Tournaments compared to just one appearance in the 13 years prior. In 2016, Kelly developed Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year and First Team All-American Troy Rallings.
2017 saw Kelly help sign a top-10 recruiting class for Washington. In 2014, the Huskies achieved their highest Top 25 ranking in school history at No. 5 while their 3.11 ERA was the lowest for the program since 1985.
Prior to heading to Washington, Kelly served as pitching coach at Cal Poly from 2007 to 2012.
