Drew Linder - Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator - Baseball Coaches

Drew Linder

Title:
Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator
Email:
k.linder@unf.edu

Drew Linder returned to the First Coast and joined the UNF baseball staff as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator in August of 2023.

Linder At a Glance

Arrives from Pittsburgh where he had a five-year stint
On the Florida State staff during their 2017 trip to the CWS
Helped see five pitchers to the MLB draft and two more that signed at Pitt
Helped the Yarmouth Dennis Red Sox to the Cape Cod League regular season title in ‘18
St. Augustine, Fla., native

Linder brings a unique mix of experience at the collegiate levels since his time as a student at Florida State. A native of St. Augustine, Fla., Linder attended Nease High School in Jacksonville, Fla., before earning his bachelor’s degree at Florida State.

In four years in Tallahassee, Linder was the bullpen coordinator and aided heavily with the FSU pitching staff, helping the Noles to three ACC titles, four regional appearances and a 2017 College World Series appearance.

With the Seminoles he also took on multiple roles at the national and summer collegiate level. In the summer of 2016, Linder served on the evaluation staff for the Tournament of the Stars, selecting the top talent from around the country to represent the U18 National Team. In that same summer, Linder took on a lead role with USA Baseball’s Task Force and Evaluation Staff for the National Team Identification Series (NTIS), which selects some of the nation’s top high school talent for USA’s developmental programs.

In 2017 Linder was named the bullpen coach and assistant pitching coach for the collegiate national team under John Savage, providing him the opportunity to work with the USA pitching staff and roster selections for the team. The Collegiate National Team went on to win all three of the International Series contests against Taiwan, Cuba and Japan. During the summer of 2017, the USA went 15-5 with a team ERA of 2.15. Four pitchers on the staff, Tyler Holton, Jake Irvin, Casey Mize and Konnor Pilkington, have gone on to make their MLB debuts.

Following the 2018 season at Florida State, Linder spent the summer in the prestigious Cape Cod League where he served as an assistant coach with the Yarmouth Dennis Red Sox. Linder aided with the Red Sox pitching staff along with the day-to-day opponent game planning and preparation work. The YD Red Sox went on to win the regular season title during the summer of ‘18 season.

Linder remained in the ACC for his next role, taking over at Pitt in ‘18 as the Director of Player Development. He worked with the Panthers in overseeing technology and data analytics initiatives centered around player development and the pitching staff. He also led the Panthers on-campus recruiting efforts in the Steel City. Throughout his stint in Pittsburgh, Linder helped see five pitchers to the MLB draft and two more that signed with MLB organizations.

“I am truly honored and grateful to join Coach Mercadante and the Osprey family,” Linder said. “Joe Mercadante has all of the intangibles and leadership qualities to bring championships to UNF baseball. It’s an exciting time to join this family as Nick Morrow and Coach Mercadante have established a standard for excellence for this baseball program. Jacksonville has always been home for me and my wife and I could not be more excited to return back to my roots and build something special.”

“Drew is going to be a huge piece of what we do here at UNF,” head coach Joe Mercadante said. “Working with Drew the last two years at Pitt has allowed me to see his drive, work ethic, relationship building skills, hunger for excellence and attention to detail. All of these qualities together will make him an exceptional recruiting coordinator and member of our coaching staff. Drew brings a successful background in pitching development at the Power 5 level and that will allow him to be a big contributor in terms of what we bring to our pitching staff this year. Drew is a Nease HS graduate and knows Duval and St. Johns county well, as well as Florida as a whole. We are lucky and grateful to have Drew and his wife, Miranda, joining the UNF baseball family.”