Baseball Announces Parker Bangs As Assistant Coach

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – North Florida baseball Head Coach Joe Mercadante announced the addition of Assistant Coach Parker Bangs to the coaching staff on Tuesday, Jul. 22.

"As I searched for a coach who could lead and elevate our pitching staff to the next level, Parker Bangs stood out as the obvious choice, and I'm so thrilled for him to join us here at North Florida," Mercadante said. "A national champion himself as a student-athlete at South Carolina, he has shown to be a great developer of talent, excellent communicator, high-level evaluator and a well-respected pitching coach. I look forward to seeing the positive impact he will have on our student-athletes and I'm excited to get to go to work with him each day. We're so excited to welcome Parker, his wife, Ariel, and their two children to the Jacksonville community and to the Osprey family. SWOOP!"

Bangs will be the Ospreys' pitching coach after he most recently served in the same role at Rice from 2023-25. In his first season with Rice, he developed three pitchers to 2023 MLB Draft selections – the most pitchers selected in the MLB Draft for the program since 2019. The unit ranked third in the American Athletic Conference with 491 strikeouts – the program's highest total since 2019 – while it lowered its opponents' batting average from .272 to .251.

"I'm beyond excited and thankful to Coach Mercadante and North Florida for welcoming me into a program with a rich tradition and a coaching staff with a high level of experience," Bangs said. "I'm looking forward to contributing to a staff and leading this unit of pitchers to help achieve our goal of bringing home an ASUN Championship."

In his second season in 2024, Bangs elevated the pitching staff to rank second in the AAC and 33rd nationally with 8.53 hits allowed per nine innings, an increase of 77 spots from 2023. Bangs developed right-hander Parker Smith to become the highest-drafted Rice pitcher since 2019 when he was selected by the Houston Astros in the fourth round of the 2024 MLB Draft.

Prior to Rice, Bangs spent four seasons in the same role at Davidson from 2019-22, where his staff led the Atlantic 10 Conference and finished eighth nationally with a 3.86 ERA in 2022. While at Davidson, he coached Blake Hely to 2022 Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year honors and Ryan Feczko to 2022 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, 2022 D1Baseball.com Freshman All-American and 2022 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American distinctions.

Bangs started his collegiate coaching career at Presbyterian from 2016-18. Bangs led Presbyterian to program-bests in multiple categories since its transition to Division I, including 433 strikeouts, 16 saves, and a 4.32 ERA in 2017. The unit allowed its fewest runs at 321 and earned runs at 258 since 2013 and recorded a DI-era best 32 wins. Under Bangs' guidance, the program had two pitchers earn 2017 All-Big South Conference selections. In 2016, his unit helped spark Presbyterian's first-ever appearance in the Big South Conference Baseball Championship title game.

He played at South Carolina from 2008-10 and was a member of the program's 2010 NCAA College World Series Championship team. Bangs was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 31st round of the 2010 MLB Draft and made 17 appearances in three minor league seasons.

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