OXFORD — Ole Miss has hired Joel Mangrum as its pitching coach, the school announced Thursday.
Mangrum, who is from Brandon, has spent the last six seasons with the MLB’s Cleveland Guardians, including four as the minor league pitching coordinator. Former Rebels star pitchers Doug Nikhazy and Dylan DeLucia are both currently in the Guardians’ organization. The Guardians’ Single-A, High-A and Double-A teams have ERAs ranked sixth, second and first in their respective leagues.
“We are super excited to bring Joel to Oxford and Ole Miss Baseball,” head coach Mike Bianco said in a news release. “He has a unique and dynamic way of developing pitchers and has proven his success at both the professional and collegiate levels.”
The Rebels finished 27-29 this season, their second losing season in a row and the first two instances in Bianco’s 24-year tenure. Pitching has largely been a strength for Ole Miss under Bianco, having finished with an ERA in the top-50 nationally 12 times since 2003, including eight instances ranking 25th or better. A late-season surge from starters DeLucia, Hunter Elliott and the bullpen propelled Ole Miss to the College World Series title in 2022, a year the Rebels finished with the No. 23 ERA nationally.
The last two years have had their share of ups and downs on the mound, though, with the Rebels finishing third-to-last in the SEC in ERA each of the last two seasons — a 6.40 mark in 2023 and a 5.88 mark in 2024, which were 189th and 133rd in Division I, respectively.
Mangrum, who played at Mississippi College and prepped at Northwest Rankin, previously coached at Louisiana-Monroe, New Mexico State, Austin Peay and Milligan College. His duties with the Guardians included, “building and integrating Minor League pitcher development plans, helping pitchers transition from the minors to the majors, coordinating pitcher/catcher plan of attack meetings at all levels of the minors, coordinating offseason development programs, and more,” according to a press release from Ole Miss.
“I’m really excited to be joining the Ole Miss Baseball family. I’m incredibly thankful for the opportunity that Coach Bianco has provided me and my family,” Mangrum said in a statement. “This is a dream come true. We look forward to making Oxford home and helping continue the tradition of Ole Miss Baseball being a national power in college baseball.”
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