COACHES
#43 Daron Schoenrock | #21 Mike Federico | #13 Jerry Zulli | #29 Cory Barton
Al Woods
Head Coach: Daron Schoenrock
The 16th baseball coach in school history, Daron Schoenrock enters his fourth season at the controls of Memphis baseball. After a rocky inaugural season, Schoenrock confirmed what many in the coaching world believed to be true when he was hired--that he was one of the top new head coaches in the business and that he could turn around a once successful Memphis baseball program.
In three short years Schoenrock has done just that, taking a struggling program and reviving it back to what it once was--a winner. With Schoenrock at the helm of the Memphis program that is noted as one on the rise, it was no surprise that the Tigers were able to end the 12-year postseason hiatus and earn a berth to the NCAA Tournament in 2007. With Schoenrock on the Tiger bench, the 2007 team went 36-27, marking the most wins since 1994 and combined with the 2006 campaign represented the first back-to-back winning seasons since the 1994 and 1995 slates.
Schoenrock inherited a program that had lost its top three pitchers and 10 seniors from 2004, and struggled through a 13-42 campaign in 2005. With a well-planned goal, he wasted little time working to get the Tiger baseball program back on track, signing 25 newcomers for the 2006 season, including four four-year transfers, a National Junior College Player of the Year honoree and five major league draftees. Schoenrock brought those additions together and led the Tiger to a 32-win season in just his second campaign. The 32 wins were the most wins for Schoenrock in his three years as a head coach and the most by a Memphis baseball club since 2001. The 19-game turnaround tied for the second-best winning turnaround in the country in 2006 and also tied for the best turnaround in Tiger baseball history--tying that of the 2001 team. Along with that 32-28 mark came Memphis' first appearance in the Conference USA semifinals since the 2001 season.
Hired on June 29, 2004, Schoenrock immediately brought two talented young coaches aboard, in Michael Federico and Jerry Zulli. He has taken on the tasks of a much-needed renovation of Nat Buring Stadium, marketing season ticket campaigns, reorganizing the Bullpen Club, and revamping the Diamond Darlings program to help elevate the program's image. Schoenrock is also making a conscious effort to reach Tiger baseball alumni, having honored the 1994 team in 2005 and the 1986 team in 2006.
The difference he has made has been evident off the field as well, as in just his first semester a more disciplined baseball team recorded the program's highest GPA ever. They once again recorded a program-high GPA with a 3.12 mark in the fall 2007 semester. A mirror of its coach, his squad also has been involved in community service efforts, such as visiting children at the Ronald McDonald House, Target House and St. Jude every year since his hiring. The Tigers added Streets Ministries to its goodwill efforts this year, preparing a meal and interacting with the inner city youth in a visit to the community outreach organization in the fall of 2006.
Schoenrock came to Memphis after several successful years as an assistant coach. Before taking the post as the Tigers' skipper, he spent three seasons as an assistant coach on the Mississippi State staff--his fifth year in association with State's coaching legend Ron Polk. His primary responsibilities included coaching Bulldog pitchers, and overseeing MSU's recruiting efforts. Schoenrock also coordinated the activities of the Bulldogs' foster-parent program.
Regarded as one of college baseball's premier pitching coaches, Schoenrock has sent over 30 pitchers under his tutelage to the professional level, including Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, and Paul Maholm, who was a first-round pick (the No. 7 overall) of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Most recently three Bulldog pitchers were taken in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft.
The 2006 Major League Baseball season was special to Schoenrock as two of his former pitchers achieved national recognition. Former Kentucky Wildcat Brandon Webb won the National League Cy Young Award, while former Mississippi State Bulldog Papelbon was the runner-up for the American League Rookie of the Year honor. Both were named to the Major League All-Star Game.
Prior to joining Polk at MSU, he served as the pitching coach in 2000 and 2001 on the University of Georgia staff. In Athens, he developed a Bulldog pitching staff that, in 2001, helped boost Georgia to its first SEC championship in 47 years and its first appearance in the NCAA College World Series since 1990. He launched his affiliation with Southeastern Conference baseball in 1998 at the University of Kentucky. He served two seasons on the coaching staff of former MSU baseball staffer Keith Madison, coaching the UK pitchers and catchers and heading up the Wildcats' recruiting program in 1998 and 1999. His coaching expertise gained national acclaim during a highly-successful eight-year coaching stint at Birmingham Southern. His Panther pitchers improved their staff earned run averages each season and helped lead Birmingham Southern to the 1995 NAIA World Series.
In the summer that followed, Schoenrock earned a position as the short-season pitching coach for the Chicago White Sox's affiliate in the Appalachian League.
Schoenrock was a four-year starting pitcher under Coach David Mays at Tennessee Tech University. He earned his bachelor's degree in secondary education with a certification in biology before launching his coaching career as a graduate assistant coach there in 1985. He continued his coaching career as a graduate assistant coach under ABCA Hall of Famer Johnny Reagan at Murray State University, where he earned a master's degree in education in 1987.
Schoenrock undertook his first head coaching job back in 1988 at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn. He was 25-52 in his two years as coach of the Railsplitters. Schoenrock guided LMU to its first postseason appearance in five years and was named the Tennessee Valley Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 1989.
A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Schoenrock has been involved in numerous community outreach efforts, sharing his knowledge at coaching clinics and banquets nationwide and making several appearances for speaking engagements across the country, as well as in the Memphis area since taking the head coaching post at the U of M. Schoenrock also serves as a clinician for www.mycoachonline.com, a baseball instruction website, and is also active in Fellowship of Christian Athletes program. In 1995 Schoenrock authored a comprehensive textbook on pitching titled "The Total Pitching Program." He is currently serving a second three-year term on the selection committee for the ABCA's prestigious Lefty Gomez Award, an annual award given for lifetime meritorious service to baseball. This past fall, Schoenrock was selected as the chairman for C-USA baseball coaches.
Schoenrock, 47, is married to the former Carol Cawood of Harlan, Ky. Carol will also be involved in the Tigers' baseball program as she will coordinate the Tiger Diamond Darlings program. They are the parents of two sons, Erik, 16, and Bret, 5.
Assistant Coach: Mike Federico
Michael Federico is set for his fourth year as assistant coach at the University of Memphis. Hired in July 2004 as Coach Schoenrock's top assistant, Federico is primarily responsible for the instruction of the Tigers' pitching staff. In addition, he coordinates the Tigers' aggressive recruiting efforts.
Under Federico's coaching, the Tiger pitching staff improved in his first two years, and then, despite an influx of injuries to its starting pitching rotation, got significant performances to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Despite its deficiencies, "Fed's" staff held opponents to a .299 clip at the plate--16 points lower than the previous season--and allowed fewer hits, while producing more saves in a season in which they played the most games since 1994. The staff also logged three complete game performances while fanning 356, compared to its low walk totals of 235.
In his time at Memphis, Federico's mentoring has produced the program's third Conference USA All-conference pitcher and second All-freshman selection when Scott McGregor earned those honors in 2006. Under Federico's tutelage, junior Matt Yokley posted a program-record nine saves in 2007.
A two-time Junior College Coach of the Year honoree, Federico spent three years (2002-2004) as the head coach at Meridian Community College before taking the assistant post at Memphis. In 2003 and 2004, he led his squad to the JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, Colo.
Federico led MCC to a 46-14 finish and a ninth-place finish in the JUCO World Series in 2004. Several of his players received accolades following the 2004 season, as two players were named as All-Americans, four players received All-Region 23 honors, and nine Eagles were voted to the All-State team. Federico was named region XXIII and Southeastern District Coach of the Year.
In 2003, he led the Eagles to a fifth-place finish in the Alpine Bank JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, Colo. The Eagles also won the MACJC Central Division, Region XXIII and Southeastern Regional Championships. Federico was honored with Region XXIII and Southeastern District Coach of the Year accolades for his accomplishments in 2003.
Before taking over the head duties, Federico served as the assistant coach for two years, working with pitchers and catchers. As an assistant, he helped lead the Eagles to two conference championships, one region, and one sectional championship and a trip to the 2000 JUCO World Series.
Prior to joining the staff at Meridian, Federico served as a graduate assistant coach at the University of Southern Mississippi for two years. In 1999, his last year with USM, he helped lead the Eagles to the NCAA Regionals.
As a player, Federico was a catcher at USM from 1995-1997. He served as the team captain his senior year. He started his collegiate career at Hinds Community College in 1993-1995, where he was the starting catcher with the Eagles and helped lead his teams to back-to-back Division II World Series.
While at USM, Federico received his undergraduate degree in physical education in 1998, and his master's degree in sports administration in 1999.
A native of Slidell, La., Federico attended Pope John Paul II High School, where he was the starting catcher for four years. During this time, he was named All-State, All-District, All-Metro and team captain.
Federico, 33, is married to the former Hannah Sosa of Bush, La. The couple has a two-year old son, Hayden and is expecting their second child in April.
Assistant Coach: Jerry Zulli
Jerry Zulli enters his fourth season on the Memphis Tigers' coaching staff. Zulli is responsible for the instruction of the Tiger hitters and outfielders. He has also taken on a significant role in the recruiting process, as well as placing Tiger players on teams in collegiate-level wooden bat leagues to hone and improve their skills in the summer.
Zulli, brings a dimension of youth, energy and enthusiasm in his philosophy of teaching the offensive part of the game and has an excellent ability to evaluate talent. The players have bought into his philosophy, as is evident in Memphis' continual offensive improvement since his arrival.
Zulli's offenses have posted some of the best numbers in Memphis baseball history over the past two seasons, including banging out a record 137 doubles in 2007. In 2006, the Tiger offense posted top-five totals in games played, hits, RBI, runs, doubles and total bases. As one of the most feared offenses in Conference USA, 2007 was more of the same as Zulli's bunch hit .302 and racked up 665 hits in just over 2200 at-bats. For the second consecutive season, they recorded top-five marks in RBI and total bases, finishing with 399 and 1011, respectively.
Under Zulli, numerous Tiger hitters have etched their names in the Memphis baseball record books. Michael Murray and Adam Amar became just the second Tiger duo to collect over 85 hits in a single season. Bill Moss and Joey Lieberman each homered 14 times, representing the first time in Tiger baseball history that two players have hit as many home runs in the same season.
Zulli has also made his mark on the program off the field, as the team's academic supervisor. As a team, Memphis put together its best academic semester ever by posting a 3.12 GPA in the fall of 2007.
On the field, Coach "Z" also serves as the third base coach during the season. While "Z" coaches third base, his product on the field constantly attests his coaching ability. Not known as an offensive power when he took over as hitting coach, Zulli has transformed the Memphis lineup into one of the top hitting teams in C-USA. A year after hitting just .262 as a team, Memphis had a breakout season at the plate, tying Rice for the league lead and ranking 30th nationally with a .315 batting average. The Tigers' high-octane offense wrapped up the season ranked in the country's top-30 (28th at 7.6 runs per game) in scoring after putting up 10 or more runs 17 times. The 2007 crew crossed 10 or more runs 15 times and ranked among the nation's best in scoring at seven runs per game.
Zulli's philosophy has resulted in a 2007 Nashville Regional All-Tournament selection for Amar and six All C-USA selections over the past two seasons. In 2007, Lieberman garnered First Team DH honors, while Amar, Moss and Murray hauled in Second Team recognition. Amar and K.K Chalmers were All C-USA picks in 2006. Zulli has also produced back-to-back-hitting titles for Memphis players. Murray led the league with a .375 average last season, while Amar, a 2007 preseason All-American, led Conference USA in hitting with a .395 average to earn first team All-C-USA honors in 2006. He hit .459 in league play--third highest ever in C-USA history.
A native of New Orleans, La., Zulli was an assistant coach under Craig Young at Middle Georgia College from 2002-04. While at Middle Georgia, he was the team's hitting instructor and outfield coach. He was also responsible for coordinating the Warriors recruiting efforts. In his final two years at MGC, 12 Warriors were drafted by Major League teams.
Under Zulli's assistantship, the Warriors went 130-51--a 72 percent winning percentage. In 2004, the Warriors placed sixth in the JUCO World Series, and ended the year with a 45-17 record. The 2002 Warriors also advanced to the JUCO World Series and ranked sixth in the final National JUCO Poll.
He also spent the summer of 2004 as an assistant coach of the Hyannis Mets of the Cape Cod Summer League. Under his assistance, the Mets advanced to the semifinals of the Cape playoffs.
Zulli spent the 2003 summer as the assistant for the U-17 East Cobb Braves. Under his instruction, the Braves sent eight players to NCAA Division I baseball programs and captured the 2003 Perfect Game National Championship.
Zulli first arrived at MGC in 1997 as a player. In 1999 Zulli helped lead the Warriors with the Region XVII Championship and finish a game away from an East-Central District Championship. During that year, he was a recipient of the Terry Daniels Award. He earned his associate degree in business management from Middle Georgia in 1999. He then transferred to the University of New Orleans where he played under the direction of Coach Randy Bush.
Zulli finished his career with the Privateers, where he received his bachelor's degree in sports management in 2002. He is married to the former Kristen Bell of Lawrenceville, Ga. The couple was wed on August 4, 2007.
Assistant Coach: Cory Barton
Cory Barton enters his first season as an assistant coach and camps coordinator for the University of Memphis baseball program. However, Barton is certainly no stranger to the program, having earned a pair of letters as the Tigers catcher and serving as a student assistant for one season. He will be involved in a variety of roles, including assisting in coaching the Tiger hitters as well as coaching the Tiger catchers. He will assume primary responsibility in the upkeep and daily maintenance of Tom DeHart Field, as well as overseeing Tiger baseball camps, summer youth tournaments and the program's Fall Instructional League--all of which are held at Nat Buring Stadium. Barton will also be in charge of maintaining contact with area high school coaches.
A two-year letterwinner behind the plate for Memphis in the 2005-06 seasons, Barton played in 94 games, making 86 starts. A career .252 hitter, the 2006 Tiger co-captain hit six home runs and drove in 49 runs. The most notable moment of his Tiger career came on April 17, 2005, when his 10th-inning walk-off blast ended an 11-game losing streak and gave Memphis a 6-5 win over No. 30 TCU.
Upon completing his eligibility, Barton, a native of Trussville, Ala., graduated from the University of Memphis with a sport management degree in May 2007.
Barton has also spent time in the coaching ranks as the assistant coach of the Danville Dans of the Central Illinois Collegiate League (CICL) after his senior season at Memphis in the summer of 2006. As the hitters and catchers coach, Barton helped the Dans to the CICL Regular season championship and a tournament runner-up finish.
He undertook his first head coaching position in the summer of 2007 as the skipper of the Bama Bombers, a high school travel team that consited of some of the best talent in the southeast.
Prior to coming to Memphis, Barton won two letters behind the plate for Shelton State where he was a Second team All-Alabama Community College Conference performer and led SSCC to a North Division crown in 2004.
A two-year letterwinner behind the plate for Memphis in the 2005-06 seasons, Barton played in 94 games, making 86 starts. A career .252 hitter, the 2006 Tiger co-captain hit six home runs and drove in 49 runs. The most notable moment of his Tiger career came on April 17, 2005, when his 10th-inning walk-off blast ended an 11-game losing streak and gave Memphis a 6-5 win over No. 30 TCU.
Upon completing his eligibility, Barton, a native of Trussville, Ala., graduated from the University of Memphis with a sport management degree in May 2007.
Barton has also spent time in the coaching ranks as the assistant coach of the Danville Dans of the Central Illinois Collegiate League (CICL) after his senior season at Memphis in the summer of 2006. As the hitters and catchers coach, Barton helped the Dans to the CICL Regular season championship and a tournament runner-up finish.
He undertook his first head coaching position in the summer of 2007 as the skipper of the Bama Bombers, a high school travel team that consited of some of the best talent in the southeast.
Prior to coming to Memphis, Barton won two letters behind the plate for Shelton State where he was a Second team All-Alabama Community College Conference performer and led SSCC to a North Division crown in 2004.
Director of Baseball Operations: Al Woods
Al Woods begins his second season as the Director of Operations for the University of Memphis baseball program. Woods joined Daron Schoenrock's staff prior to the 2007 season after a three-year stint as the assistant baseball coach at Southwest Tennessee Community College.
A native of Memphis and graduate of Ridgeway High School, Woods' primary responsibilities will include assisting in game day operations, team travel accommodations, umpires accommodations, coordinating the Tiger baseball Diamond Darlings, assisting with Tiger baseball camps and serving as the staff liaison with the Tiger baseball Bullpen Club. In that position, Woods is responsible for building the Memphis baseball booster club's membership. He has been instrumental in recent efforts to reach out to former Tiger baseball letterwinners to get them involved in the program. Woods also assists with maintenance of Tom DeHart Field as well as assisting with all equipment needs.
Woods is no stranger to baseball in the Memphis area. The former RHS Roadrunner slugger took the assistant coaching post at Southwest in 2004 and assisted Ray through the 2006 campaign. Prior to his stint at SWTCC, Woods coached for several years in the youth baseball ranks in Memphis. Woods, 43, is married to the former Denise Medlin, and the couple has a son, Will (18).