Current LSU volunteer assistant coach Will Davis will succeed Lamar coach Jim Gilligan at the conclusion of the 2016 season, Davis confirmed via Twitter Friday morning.
Danielle and I are beyond excited to be a part of the Lamar University family and to call Beaumont home!!! #PeckEm pic.twitter.com/rXZ6yeJ08G
— Will Davis (@willd52) January 15, 2016
The LSU baseball program also confirmed the news via a news release. According to release, the date of when Davis will join to Cardinals has yet to be determined.
“I am honored and thankful to be named the next head baseball coach at Lamar University,” Davis said via the news release. “When Jason called me to tell me the wonderful news, I couldn’t help but think how blessed and lucky I am. Today is the day I have dreamed about ever since I was a young boy watching my dad impact young men’s lives in the dugout as a head coach at a Division I university.”
After a four-year career as a Tiger catcher from 2004-2007, Davis has served under LSU coach Paul Mainieri for the last eight years, initially as a coordinator of baseball operations in 2008.
Davis has been the Tigers third base coach while also coaching catchers and outfielders. The Baton Rouge native has also been a designated recruiter since 2011, assisting with Perfect Game’s No. 1 class for 2014 and the No. 4 class for 2015.
In his time as a Tiger assistant, LSU has won three Southeastern Conference regular season championships, five league tournament titles and appeared in the College World Series four times, including the 2009 national championship team.
The 2015 Tigers won the conference regular season title and earned a No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA tournament before reaching Omaha, where it was eliminated after a 1-2 outing.
“I am so happy for Will to have received this tremendous opportunity,” Mainieri said in the release, “and he is ready for it. To have the challenge of following in the footsteps of one of the giants of college baseball, Jim Gilligan, is a great honor and responsibility that Will Davis embrace. Will has been an integral part of our staff since I arrived at LSU nine-and-a-half years ago. In fact, I literally have not coached a game at LSU without Will by my side in the dugout. I have watched him grow as a coach and have no doubt he will prove to be a great selection by Lamar University.”
Ten outfielders and six catchers have been selected in the MLB draft while Davis has been at LSU. The Lee High School graduate was also the lead recruiter for Louisiana standouts such as Andrew Stevenson and Kade Scivicque.
Davis also led a high school showcase camp that helped bring 37 players to the program.
Most recently, Davis was a candidate for the head coaching vacancy at the University of New Orleans. Former LSU first baseman Blake Dean, who served as the Privateers’ interim coach when Ron Maestri retired at the end of the 2015 season, received the permanent position in June.
“Coaching at LSU the past nine years has been a dream come true and I’ve enjoyed every second of it,” Davis said in the release. “The LSU baseball program is so important to so many people that it makes every single decision that we make as coaches so important. I feel that coaching in an environment like this, where so much is expected of you, has really helped me develop as a coach and prepared me to handle all different types of situations as I move forward in my career.”
Former players and Tiger hitting coach and recruiting coordinator Andy Cannizzaro shared their support for Davis via Twitter.
Congrats @willd52 pic.twitter.com/dES79xfl6J
— Mikie Mahtook (@MikieMahtook8) January 15, 2016
S/O to my man @willd52 for being named the next HC at Lamar University! Lamar ⚾️ just hit a HR. #Southland👊🏻 pic.twitter.com/eHfb98Tj0U
— Andy Cannizaro (@Cannizaro11) January 15, 2016
@willd52 congrats on the head coaching job!!! @TigerWoods @ChuckLiddell @iamkevingates @CookingChannel @BleacherReport @thereallisaann
— Alex Bregman (@ABREG_1) January 15, 2016
