Schoenrock Named Memphis Tiger Baseball Coach

Daron Schoenrock

University of Memphis Athletic Director R.C. Johnson announced today that Mississippi State assistant coach Daron Schoenrock will become the 16th baseball coach in school history.
Schoenrock (pronounced SHONE-rock) recently completed his third season as an assistant coach on the MSU staff, and his fifth year in association with MSU skipper Ron Polk. His primary responsibilities included coaching Bulldog pitchers and overseeing State's recruiting efforts. Schoenrock was also instrumental in coordinating the activities of the Bulldogs' foster-parent program.

Regarded as one of the college baseball's premier pitching coaches, Schoenrock has sent 20 of his pitchers to the professional level; and three Bulldog pitchers were recently taken in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft. He has shared his expertise at numerous baseball coaches' clinics across the nation and has authored a comprehensive textbook on pitching titled "The Total Pitching Program."

Prior to joining Polk at MSU, he served as the pitching coach in 2000 and 2001 on the University of Georgia staff. In Athens he developed the Bulldog pitching staff that in 2001 helped boost Georgia to its first SEC championship in 47 years and its first appearance in the NCAA College World Series since 1990.

He launched his affiliation with Southeastern Conference baseball in 1998 at the University of Kentucky. He served two seasons on the coaching staff of former MSU baseball staffer Keith Madison, coaching the UK pitchers and catchers and heading up the Wildcats' recruiting program in 1998 and 1999.

His coaching expertise gained national acclaim during a highly-successful eight-year coaching stint at Birmingham Southern. His Panther pitchers improved their staff earned run averages each season and helped lead Birmingham Southern to the 1995 NAIA World Series.

In the summer that followed, Schoenrock earned a position as the short-season pitching coach for the Chicago White Sox's affiliate in the Appalachian League.

Schoenrock was a four-year starting pitcher under Coach David Mays at Tennessee Tech University, launching his coaching career as a graduate assistant coach there in 1985. He continued his coaching career as a graduate assistant coach under ABCA Hall of Famer Johnny Reagan at Murray State University, where he earned a master's degree in 1987.

Schoenrock, 42, is married to the former Carol Cawood of Harlan, Ky. They are the parents of two sons, Erik, 12, and Bret, born in June, 2002.