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Simmons Field: Jerry Zulli Hired as Assistant Baseball Coach

Per Twitter, Tim Jamieson has hired South Alabama's Jerry Zulli to replace Kerrick Jackson

By trripleplay
Mizzou Baseball
Mizzou Baseball
trripleplay

With the departure of Kerrick Jackson from the Tigers, Mizzou wsa left with a head coach and a full-time pitching coach (Hunter Mense). Many head coaches - perhaps MOST head coaches - would do the expected at this point and hire a pitching coach who can also recruit. True to form, Tim Jamieson has hired the guy he wants, a career hitting coach. In the past he hired a non-pitching alum (Tony Vitello) to be pitching coach. He hired two career pitching coaches (Matt Hobbs and Kerrick Jackson) to replace Vitello and Evan Pratte. And a year ago he replaced his departing pitching coach (Hobbs) with a hitting coach (Mense) and installed himself as pitching coach. It's kind of like the MLB scouting directors who like to draft the "best available athlete" regardless of the position they play. Jamieson's first year as pitching coach went pretty well in 2015, presiding over a staff that showed great improvement over previous seasons. So why not continue on and hire a person to fill what may be the most important job on any SEC baseball staff: Head recruiter?

Jerry Zulli

Coach Mizzoulli (instant nickname) comes to Mizzou from the South Alabama Jaguars, where he was the hitting coach and the recruiting coordinator. Prior to his stint at South Alabama he was assistant coach at Memphis.

No doubt a key to Jamieson's choice of Zulli for the job is his years of experience recruiting in SEC country. He was a player and assistant coach at Middle Georgia College and New Orleans prior to coaching at Memphis and South Alabama, going back to the late 90's. With over 15 years coaching and recruiting from one end of SEC-country to the other, his contacts and relationships will e valuable for seeking out recruits for Mizzou.

That stint as an assistant at the University of New Orleans may have been a connection for Jamieson as well, since Zulli coach under UNO head coach Randy Bush, a former teammate of Tim Jamieson's at UNO.

Most of what I find on the internet about Zulli is about his success as a hitting coach. That experience and knowledge will certainly be helpful to Hunter Mense and graduate assistant Trevor Coleman as they work to continue to raise the level of the Tigers' offense.

Videos & Links

Jerry Zulli's South Alabama bio

BoxScoreNews.com, 2011: Keller, Zulli Named USA Jaguar Baseball Assistant Coaches:

"I knew Jerry (Zulli) when he played at New Orleans and I coached at Florida International," Calvi said. "I had a chance to watch him then, and he was a hard-nosed player. He played the game the right way. But he did a fantastic job as a coach at Middle Georgia, and then at Memphis. He is an accomplished, young recruiter and hitting coach. He has a great rapport with the players, and has great energy and enthusiasm toward the players and the game. Our recruits love him, and our student-athletes will love him. He outworks people, and he is a great people person. He does a great job with the hitters and recruiting as well."

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Mizzou baseball targets South Alabama assistant

AL.com: South Alabama's baseball recruiting class earns top 30 ranking from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper

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