Wright State Promotes Mercer To Head Coach
Jeff Mercer, assistant coach to Greg Lovelady at Wright State, was promoted Wednesday to head coach, replacing Lovelady, who left Monday to become the coach of Central Florida.
Mercer is a 2009 graduate of Wright State, and returned to his alma mater in September 2013 to join Lovelady’s staff.
Athletic director Bob Grant said in a statement that Mercer’s experience as a player and assistant coach at Wright State prepared him for the job of head coach.
“His unique background as a player and coach here and elsewhere make him a perfect fit to continue to build on the tremendous success we’ve already achieved,” Grant said. “He fits our culture perfectly. I can’t wait for him to put his mark on our baseball program.”
Mercer helped Wright State win the Horizon League regular season title in 2014 and ’16 and the Horizon league tournament championship in 2015 and ’16. The Raiders reached the regional final in each of the last two years after not having won an NCAA tournament game since 1994. Wright State went 46-17 this season, breaking the program record for victories set just a year before.
Before returning to Wright State, Mercer served as a volunteer assistant for one season at Michigan and three seasons at Western Kentucky. He also was a graduate assistant for one season at Ohio Northern.
During his playing career at Wright State, Mercer was twice named all-Horizon League as a first baseman. He was the conference player of the year in 2009, and owns the Raiders’ single-season records for at bats (255), games played (63), doubles (26) and RBIs (74).
Wright State has stayed within the program for its last two coaching changes. Lovelady was also promoted from assistant to head coach following the 2013 season when Rob Cooper left for Penn State.
| 2016 COACHING CHANGES | ||
| School | Departures | Arrivals |
| Alabama | Mitch Gaspard | Greg Goff |
| Alabama State | Mervyl Melendez | Jose Vazquez |
| Appalachian State | Billy Jones | |
| Army | Matt Reid | Jim Foster |
| Butler | Steve Farley | Dave Schrage |
| Central Florida | Terry Rooney | Greg Lovelady |
| Florida International | Turtle Thomas | Mervyl Melendez |
| Furman | Ron Smith | Brett Harker |
| Jacksonville | Tim Montez | Chris Hayes |
| Kentucky | Gary Henderson | Nick Mingione |
| Lamar | Jim Gilligan (ret.) | Will Davis |
| Liberty | Jim Toman | |
| Louisiana Tech | Greg Goff | Lane Burroughs |
| Missouri | Tim Jamieson | Steve Bieser |
| Nebraska-Omaha | Bob Herold | |
| Northwestern State | Lane Burroughs | Bobby Barbier |
| Oakland | John Musachio | Jacke Heale, Colin Kaline |
| Purdue | Doug Schreiber | Mark Wasikowski |
| San Jose State | Dave Nakama | Jason Hawkins |
| South Dakota State | Dave Schrage | |
| SIU-Edwardsville | Tony Stoecklin | Sean Lyons |
| Southeast Missouri State | Steve Bieser | |
| Texas | Augie Garrido | David Pierce |
| Tulane | David Pierce | |
| Villanova | Joe Godri | |
| Wright State | Greg Lovelady | Jeff Mercer |
| Youngstown State | Steve Gillispie | Dan Bertolini |
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