Pair of staffers leave UNM for 1st coaching jobs
Holley is head coach of summer team
University of New Mexico baseball players typically scatter this time of year to compete in various summer leagues, and 2017 is no different.
Current Lobos are signed on teams “from Cape Cod to Alaska,” coach Ray Birmingham said, aiming to improve their skills while seeing different parts of the country.
Far less typical is that two members of UNM’s 2017 baseball staff are heading to New Mexico’s far corners to join the coaching ranks this summer. Former Lobo Jared Holley, who served as a graduate assistant last season, is head coach of the Farmington Frackers, a first-year collegiate-level summer team. Jacob Jarreau, UNM’s student manager for the past five seasons, has been hired as an assistant coach at University of the Southwest in Hobbs.
“I tried to talk them out of it,” Birmingham said with a laugh. “They both could have had real jobs with real paychecks but they decided to stay poor and coach baseball. I thought they were smarter than that.”
Holley picked up his first coaching victory Thursday night as the Frackers defeated the California Jays in their season-opener at Farmington’s Ricketts Park. Both teams compete in the Stan Musial collegiate division of the American Amateur Baseball Congress. Several returning Lobos and a handful of UNM signees for next season are on the Frackers’ roster.
“They’ll have to listen to me now,” said Holley, who played infield at UNM from 2013-2016 and is pursuing a master’s degree in sports administration. “I’m pretty fired up about it. Farmington’s a good baseball town, and I think we’ll have a fun season.”
The Frackers will take on AABC teams from California and Nevada along with some senior teams from New Mexico’s (American Legion) Post 13. Birmingham hopes Farmington will be successful enough to encourage other New Mexico cities to host collegiate summer teams.
“We always encourage our guys to play summer ball,” Birmingham said. “It would be great if they had more options close to home.”
Meanwhile, Jarreau will get his first taste of coaching at the same program where Birmingham got his collegiate start. Birmingham coached then-College of the Southwest in 1988-89.
As UNM’s student manager, Jarreau handled some of the duties he’ll likely draw at University of the Southwest, including handling equipment and pitching batting practice.
“Jacob’s actually one of the best BP pitchers I’ve seen,” Birmingham said, “and he grew into a take-charge guy while he was here. We loved him as a student manager, and this is a positive step if he wants to get into coaching. He’ll do a great job.”