The Iowa Baseball team has a new pitching coach. The position came open after it was announced on May 26th that Sean McGrath was leaving the program after two seasons with the program. On Tuesday afternoon, news broke that Houston pitching coach Sean Kenny would take over the same position on Rick Heller’s coaching staff. Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball.com was first to report the news. Kenny comes to Iowa City after spending the 2023 season with the Houston Cougars program.
The Iowa pitching staff is set to return LHP Cade Obermueller (3.92 ERA, 59.2 INN), RHP Anthony Watts (3.18 ERA, 45.1 INN) and RHP Aaron Savary (4.19 ERA), 38.2 INN). The Hawkeyes recently added Bradley transfer RHP Jacob Kisting after he started 33 games for the Braves over the last three seasons.
This past season as pitching coach at Houston, the Cougars finished with a 26-28 record, including a 12th place finish in the Big 12 standings. Cade Citelli earned honorable mention honors for his efforts on the mound. As a pitching staff, the Cougars ranked ninth in the Big 12 in ERA, sixth in strikeouts, sixth in walks and ninth in opponent batting average.
Sean Kenny is a graduate of Eastern Michigan, where he was an All-MAC pitcher for the Eagles. He was selected in the 17th round of the 1993 MLB Draft by the New York Mets and played three seasons in the Mets farm system.
Kenny began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at St Mary’s College in 1997. The following season, he earned his first full-time coaching position at Laney Community College, where he was the pitching coach for the 1998 season.
After a year at Laney CC, Kenny took a job as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at San Diego. He spent five seasons with the Toreros from 1999-2003, helping coach Ricky Barrett to the 2002 WCC Pitcher of the Year award and Third Team All-American honors. Under the direction of Sean Kenny, San Diego had three pitchers selected in the MLB Draft.
After the 2003 season, Kenny took the pitching coach job at Pepperdine, where he spent six seasons with the Waves. He helped Pepperdine to five NCAA Regional appearances and three WCC titles. Under his direction, Paul Coleman won 2005 WCC Pitcher of the Year, Barry Enright won 2005 WCC Freshman of the Year and 2006 WCC Pitcher of the Year. During his time with the Waves, 12 pitchers earned a total of 17 All-American honors, while 11 pitchers were selected in the MLB Draft.
From there, Sean Kenny took the pitching coach job at Maryland under Eric Bakich. In three seasons with the Terrapins, his pitching staff saw six players get selected in the MLB Draft. The Terps set a school record with 464 strikeouts during the 2010 season. When Eric Bakich took the Michigan head coaching job, Kenny followed him to Ann Arbor and spent five seasons with the Wolverines. In his time with Michigan, ten pitchers were selected in the MLB Draft, while the Wolverines appeared in two NCAA Regionals. Throughout his time in Ann Arbor, the pitching staff ranked near the top of the Big Ten in several categories.
Prior to taking the pitching coach job at Houston, Sean Kenny spent six seasons in the SEC with Georgia. He helped the Bulldogs two three NCAA Regionals, including two as a national seed. In his first season in Athens in 2018, UGA broke a school record with 532 strikeouts. The pitching staff turned around and broke the school record again in 2019 with 601 strikeouts, while closer Aaron Schunk earned consensus All-American honors. In seven seasons at Georgia, the Bulldogs combined for a 195-117 record and saw 12 players pitchers get selected in the MLB Draft.
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