With the East Mississippi Community College football team owning four national championships this decade and the men’s basketball program also boasting a national tournament pedigree, Brett Kimbrel has been given the charge of taking the Lions baseball program to similar heights.
The school announced Kimbrel as the new head baseball coach Tuesday afternoon. He replaces Chris Rose, who resigned earlier this month after eight seasons on the job.
No stranger to EMCC baseball, Kimbrel served each of the past two seasons as an assistant coach for the Lions.
“I would like to give God the glory for this incredible opportunity to become the head baseball coach here at East Mississippi Community College,” Kimbrel sad. “To have (EMCC president) Dr. (Rick) Young and (EMCC Director of Athletics) Dr. (Randall) Bradberry believe in me, is quite humbling. This is a great opportunity at a school where athletics is important to the student body.”
In 2018, EMCC finished 13-29 overall and 6-22 in Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges play. EMCC last qualified for the playoffs in 2017 when it finished 25-20 overall, including a first-round playoff series loss to Hinds Community College.
“Coach Kimbrel is going to do an outstanding job of moving our program forward,” Bradberry said. “He is a dedicated, hard-working baseball man with tremendous recruiting skills and respected coaching talents.”
Prior to coming to EMCC, Kimbrel spent 12 seasons as an assistant coach at Shelton State Community College. The team’s primary hitting instructor, Kimbrel was part of four National Junior College Athletic Association World Series-participant teams with the Buccaneers.
“The future for this program is off the charts,” Kimbrel said. “We have several talented sophomores who will be returning, and we will combine that with a talented incoming class of signees. The challenge is to find the right players who can contribute to your team but who will also fit in on your campus and be excellent student-athletes.”
A native Floridian, Kimbrel has more than 30 years of coaching experience, including a successful run as a high school head coach and a graduate assistant stint at the University of Alabama. He was chosen as the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association assistant coach of the year in 2008 after Shelton State finished second nationally.
Rose compiled a 172-184 record in his eight seasons with the Lions. EMCC won the 2014 MACJC North Division championship and the following year, finished as the state runner-up, while advancing to the NJCAA Region XXIII tournament.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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