Michael Earley breaks down why he targeted Jason Kelly for his coaching staff

After being named Texas A&M baseball’s next head coach, Michael Earley didn’t hesitate to make additions to his staff. On the same day the Aggies announced Earley was their next headman, he hired Jason Kelly to be Texas A&M’s pitching coach.

Kelly spent the past two seasons as Washington‘s head coach. During Earley’s introductory press conference on Tuesday, he explained the rationale behind his immediate hire.

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“He’s gonna be huge for me,” Earley said. “That was a big part of this deal for me and a big part of selling my plan, and I’m just glad I could pull it off. He’s an amazing human, amazing person, but he’s a phenomenal baseball coach. This guy is super well respected and he’s also super connected on the West Coast, which is important to me.

“Over the last couple of years, we’ve had probably more players from the west coast on Texas A&M baseball than — I don’t know I’m not a historian — but then they’ve ever had. My goal has always been, you’re gonna get the best players out of portal but high school-wise, we need to get the best players from the state of Texas, that’s going to be the bulk of it. And if I can grab some of the best players from Arizona, California and places over there, that’s what I want to do. JK is going to be a big part of that.”

Jason Kelly’s history with Michael Earley

Earley and Kelly previously coached together at Arizona State. Earley was with the Sun Devils as an assistant coach from 2017-21, while Kelly was there from 2020-21.

Kelly also has previous stints as the LSU pitching coach (2022), the Washington pitching coach (2013-19), the Cal Poly pitching coach (2007-12) and the Chico State pitching coach (2005-06). He was also an assistant coach at Cuesta in 2003.

Earley believes Kelly is the perfect first addition to his coaching staff.

“He’s been in the SEC. Jay Johnson trusted him enough to make him his first hire when he was at LSU. He’s obviously a pretty successful coach,” Earley said. “I like where we’re at with JK and I think you guys are gonna really enjoy and really like what he has.”

In two seasons at the helm of Washington, Kelly guided the Huskies to a 54-51-1 record. In the 2023 campaign, Washington sputtered, posting a 10-20 mark in conference play and failing to reach the NCAA Tournament. Now, Kelly will look to bounce back in his new position.