Two former Notre Dame baseball assistant coaches earn head coach jobs

Florida State having its worst season in program history in head coach Link Jarrett‘s first season at his alma mater made what happened at Notre Dame during Jarrett’s three-year tenure in South Bend (two-straight Super Regional appearances to go along with a trip to the College World Series) a bit puzzling. Jarrett’s assistants are still being rewarded for that string of successful seasons, though.

Jarrett’s hitting coach, Rich Wallace, is now the head coach at his alma mater, UCF. Jarrett’s pitching coach, Chuck Ristano, is taking the head coaching job at Navy. Both coaches followed Jarrett to Tallahassee after Notre Dame’s 2022 season ended with a trip to Omaha for only the third CWS appearance in Fighting Irish history.

Jarrett and his trusty assistants fell on hard times at FSU this spring. The Seminoles went 23-31 to record the first-ever losing season in the program’s storied history. They couldn’t figure out either facet of the game, turning in the ACC’s fourth-worst team batting average at .276 and the league’s third-worst team earned run average at 5.75.

UCF and Navy were both obviously well aware of Wallace and Ristano being much more than one bad campaign in the first year of a cultural overhaul.

Wallace was with Jarrett all three seasons at Notre Dame. The Irish went 86-32 to claim the second-highest winning percentage in college baseball during that stretch behind Tennessee. Notre Dame made it to the CWS once and was one game away from doing so in 2021 as well before ultimately falling to eventual national champion Mississippi State in the Starkville Super Regional.

Notre Dame’s team batting average never dipped below .281 in a single season in the three years Wallace was with the Irish. Notre Dame had the worst team batting average (.250) in the ACC this past season. Losing Wallace immediately impacted the Irish in a negative way.

The hope for UCF is the opposite.

“Rich Wallace will be a perfect fit for UCF baseball,” UCF vice president and director of athletics Terry Mohajir said in a statement. “As a player and coach, he already has experienced UCF and played on three UCF NCAA tournament teams. His experience as a national recruiter and with player development is well-known. In particular, his recent work at Notre Dame is noteworthy in producing consecutive teams advancing to the Super Regional level, one of those advancing to Omaha. I firmly believe Rich has a great understanding of what it takes to build a tournament team and an Omaha roster.”

As for Ristano, Notre Dame’s pitching and defense were the catalysts for its deep postseason runs in 2021 and 2022. The Irish ranked third and second, respectively, in the ACC in team earned run average in those two seasons. Ristano knows what he’s doing in getting guys ready to perform on the mound. Navy noticed that.

“Coach Ristano has proven to be an extraordinary baseball coach with impressive documented accomplishments for almost two decades,” Navy director of athletics Chet Gladchuk said in a statement. “He has influenced the lives of young men both on and off the field in ways that resonate with and substantiate his respected national reputation.  His endorsements were glowing and, as a players’ coach, he builds relationships on trust, confidence, loyalty and family values.”