Staff

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Tim Tadlock embarks on his seventh season as the head coach at Texas Tech after his program earned its third College World Series appearance in 2018.

A three-time National Coach of the Year, Tadlock was named head coach of his alma mater on June 8, 2012, becoming the ninth head coach in program history. Tadlock will enter his 27th year in collegiate baseball in 2019. He owns a collegiate career record of 674-259 in 15 years as a head coach with nine seasons at Grayson County College (435-127) and six at Texas Tech (239-132).

The 2018 National Coach of the Year by D1 Baseball, Tadlock has taken the Red Raiders to three College World Series appearances in the last five seasons, including a return in 2018 in which they upended No. 1 Florida in the CWS opener. Tech is one of four schools in the nation to earn three-straight national seeds, rewarded with the No. 9 seed last season.

During Tadlock’s six seasons, the Red Raiders have recorded four 45+ win seasons and two Big 12 titles. Individually, Tech has earned 27 All-America honors, a College Baseball Foundation National Pitcher of the Year and a Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award. At the conference level, Tech has accumulated 49 All-Big 12 selections, two Big 12 Player of the Years, a Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, two Big 12 Freshman of the Years and a Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.

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Matt Gardner enters his sixth season on staff at Texas Tech and his second as assistant coach, where he assists with the Red Raider pitching staff and catchers, while also working with the outfielders.

Gardner was promoted to assistant coach on June 26, 2017, after serving four years as the program’s volunteer assistant coach.

Gardner, who began his collegiate playing career for Tim Tadlock at Grayson County College in 2005, came to Tech following two seasons as pitching coach at Lubbock Christian University (2012-13). He previously spent three seasons as a graduate assistant coach (2009) and volunteer assistant coach (2010-11) at his alma mater, Oklahoma State.

Since Gardner’s arrival, Tech has had 23 pitchers that have been selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft or that have signed a free agent contract. Tech has set a school record for pitchers selected in the MLB draft in three of the last four seasons, with five selections in 2015, six in 2016 and seven in 2018. Six Red Raider pitchers have been taken in the first eight rounds over the last three years in Matt Withrow, Corey Taylor, Dominic Moreno, Ryan Moseley, Parker Mushinski and Steven Gingery.

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Ray Hayward enters his sixth season on staff at Texas Tech in 2018, moving into the role of special assistant. Hayward was named assistant coach on June 26, 2012, as part of Tim Tadlock’s inaugural staff at Texas Tech, and served in that role for the first five years of his tenure.

Under Hayward, Tech has had 19 pitchers that have been selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft or that have signed a free agent contract. Tech has set a school record for pitchers selected in the MLB draft in two of the last three seasons, with five selections in 2015 and six in 2016. Five Red Raider pitchers have been taken in the first eight rounds over the last three years in Matt Withrow, Corey Taylor, Dominic Moreno, Ryan Moseley & Parker Mushinski.

Hayward was instrumental in the development of Taylor, who was selected in the seventh round by the New York Mets after leading the NCAA with a 0.31 earned-run average in 2015. His impressive year snapped both the Texas Tech and Big 12 records for ERA as he allowed just two earned runs over 57.1 innings. Taylor garnered third team All-America honors by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association as his 0.31 ERA marked the sixth-lowest in NCAA history and the lowest for any Division-I pitcher since Al Holland (North Carolina A&T) compiled a 0.26 ERA in 1975. He was the first Tech pitcher to receive All-America honors since John Neely in 2011.

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J-Bob Thomas enters his seventhseason as the recruiting coordinator/assistant coach at Texas Tech in 2019. Thomas works primarily with the Red Raider catchers and assists with the team’s hitters, while serving as the program’s recruiting coordinator.

Thomas begins his 14th year in collegiate baseball in 2019 – his seventh on head coach Tim Tadlock’s coaching staff at Tech. He was named assistant coach/recruiting coordinator with the Red Raiders on June 20, 2012.

Known as a tireless worker and as one of the top recruiters in college baseball, Thomas has proven his abilities early and often throughout his career at Tech. He was recognized as the ABCA/Baseball America Assistant Coach of the Year in 2017 and by Perfect Game in September 2015 as one of 10 coaches nationally “who are everywhere recruiting.”

To date, Thomas has been responsible for three of the highest-ranked recruiting classes in school history (2014, 2015, 2018), including Tech’s best class to date in 2018 as he signed a group that ranked as high as sixth by Perfect Game. It marked the sixth-straight signing class within Thomas’s tenure at Texas Tech to receive top-25 rankings.

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Joe Hughes enters his seventh season as the director of baseball operations at Texas Tech in 2019. Hughes was named director of operations with the Red Raiders on July 17, 2012.

Hughes is responsible for the baseball program’s day-to-day operations and oversees every Tech baseball student-athletes’ needs. He manages team travel, scheduling and the program’s team budget. Hughes also oversees facility needs for the home of Red Raider baseball, Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.

In addition, Hughes serves as fall, winter and summer camp director for Red Raider baseball and works as the baseball team liaison with every area and department throughout the Texas Tech athletics department.

The Red Raiders returned to Omaha for the third time in the last five years in 2018, as Tech finished 45-20 overall and 15-9 in Big 12 play, earning its third straight NCAA National Seed ranking at No. 9. The Red Raiders closed 2018 ranked as high as No. 5 in the nation and had a school-record 11 players selected in the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft.

In 2017, Tech captured its second-straight Big 12 championship and No. 5 National Seed for the NCAA Tournament after putting together a 45-17 overall record and 16-8 clip in conference play. The Red Raiders earned another top-10 finish in the polls while wrapping the year with 13-straight sellout crowds at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.

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Former Red Raider All-American first baseman Eric Gutierrez was hired to Tim Tadlock's staff in 2018 as a volunteer assistant coach. He will serve his first season in the role in 2019.

Gutierrez returns to Lubbock after wrapping up a professional career in the Miami Marlins organization. In 2016, Gutierrez was drafted in the 20th round by the Marlins and spent three years with the Batavia Muckdogs, Greensboro Grasshoppers and the Jupiter Hammerheads.

“We are extremely excited for Gute to be joining our staff and program,” Tadlock said. “His work ethic and passion for the game and this university should serve our program well. Gute is one of the more diligent workers our program has ever had and he always had a knack for seeing things on the field.”

Gutierrez, a native of Mission, Texas, was a four-year letterwinner and one of the most decorated student-athletes to don the scarlet and black at Texas Tech. He started every game of his collegiate career, primarily at first base, totaling 244 games, the most in school history. Gutierrez still holds four school records, leading the team in eight yearly categories and checks in with 30 marks that rank in the top 10 in the Tech record books.

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Disclaimer: Please note that in accordance with NCAA rules, an athletic booster or other representative of Texas Tech's athletics interests may not pay for any expense (e.g., registration fee, travel, lodging, etc.) related to a prospective student-athlete's participation in a sports camp or clinic administered by Texas Tech or any of its coaches or staff members. This camp is not an official function of Texas Tech and is open to all entrants limited only by numbers, grade level and gender.