Army West Point Athletics
Tracz Adds Cole, Hileman, and Jennings to Coaching Staff
December 15, 2022 | Baseball
WEST POINT, N.Y.— The Army West Point Baseball team welcomes associate head coach Mike Cole, and assistant coaches Franklin Jennings, and Jeremy Hileman to the staff ahead of the 2023 season.
Mike Cole joins the program after four seasons as the Head Coach at Manhattan College (2018-22). Cole will serve as the program's recruiting coordinator as well as planning and developing Army's offensive attack and will also be the infielders coach. During his tenure at Manhattan, Cole had 16 All-Conference Selections. Cole coached the MAAC Rookie of the Year and College Baseball Freshman All-American, Nick Cimillo and three professional players.
Cole was also the Associate Head Coach at Fairfield University (2013-17), where he had three separate 30 winning seasons and back-to-back MAAC Regular Season Championship titles. Fairfield won the 2016 MAAC Tournament Championship and had an NCAA Tournament berth. In 2014 and 2016 the baseball teams set school records for wins (32). Cole also had stops at NJIT (Head Coach 2011-12), and was an Assistant Coach at Vermont (2002-2004, 2009), Manhattan (2005-2006), and Maine (2010).
Franklin Jennings comes to Army West Point after four seasons as an Assistant Coach at Central Connecticut State University (2019-22). At Army, Jennings will assist Associate Head Coach Mike Cole with the offense and will coach the Army's outfielders. Jennings will also be responsible for the team's defensive alignments and will be responsible for on-campus recruiting visits. Jennings will also be the Director of Army West Point Baseball Camps and Clinics.
Before coaching, Jennings was on the Central Connecticut State baseball team (2014-17) where he won an NEC title and played in the NCAA Tournament in 2017 and was an All-NEC First Team member as well as an NEC All-Tournament selection. He played in 187 career games, logged .291 batting average, 87 runs, and had 50 RBI's. After college Jennings went on to play professionally with the Somerset Patriots (Atlantic League), the Eastside Diamond Hoppers (USPBL), and the New York Bucks (Empire League).
Jeremy Hileman joins West Point after being at Canisius College where he was the pitching coach (2021-22). At Canisius Hileman was responsible for the full development of the pitching staff and assessing movement as well as integrating technology to record, track, and reassess development as well as quantifying pitch improvements during pitch design bullpen sessions. The pitching staff finished first in the MAAC in ERA, strikeouts, K/9, and opponent batting average. The pitching staff also broke the single season strikeouts per 9 inning record in Canisius College history by 1.07 K's. Hileman also assisted in creating, managing, and performing recruiting plans and schedules. Hileman also was the pitching coach at Shippensburg University (2020-21).
At Shippensburg University, the team ERA was lowered by 1.28 runs per game and the team strikeouts per 9 innings were raised by 3.5 K/9. The pitching staff was ranked among the top three in the PSAC East in ERA, K/9, H/9, and opponent batting average. Before coaching Hileman at the college level Hileman was the Director of Pitching Initiatives at FullReps Training Center where he oversaw pitching development and initiatives for athletes that included MLB, MiLB, Independent Professional League, Collegiate, and high school athletes.
"We are excited about the staff that we were able to assemble in our first season at Army West Point. The foundation in coaching for Mike, Jeremy and Franklin is rooted in the relationships they have built with players, families, and coaches around the country. They each have specific skill sets that will help us attract the best players and people to West Point and then to foster an environment to bring out the best in them in the classroom, off the field and in competition. They all believe in West Point and have been hard at work serving our program." – Head Coach Chris Tracz
Follow Along
For complete coverage of Army West Point Baseball, follow the Black Knights on Twitter and Instagram at @ArmyWP_Baseball and online at www.goarmywestpoint.com.
Mike Cole joins the program after four seasons as the Head Coach at Manhattan College (2018-22). Cole will serve as the program's recruiting coordinator as well as planning and developing Army's offensive attack and will also be the infielders coach. During his tenure at Manhattan, Cole had 16 All-Conference Selections. Cole coached the MAAC Rookie of the Year and College Baseball Freshman All-American, Nick Cimillo and three professional players.
Cole was also the Associate Head Coach at Fairfield University (2013-17), where he had three separate 30 winning seasons and back-to-back MAAC Regular Season Championship titles. Fairfield won the 2016 MAAC Tournament Championship and had an NCAA Tournament berth. In 2014 and 2016 the baseball teams set school records for wins (32). Cole also had stops at NJIT (Head Coach 2011-12), and was an Assistant Coach at Vermont (2002-2004, 2009), Manhattan (2005-2006), and Maine (2010).
Franklin Jennings comes to Army West Point after four seasons as an Assistant Coach at Central Connecticut State University (2019-22). At Army, Jennings will assist Associate Head Coach Mike Cole with the offense and will coach the Army's outfielders. Jennings will also be responsible for the team's defensive alignments and will be responsible for on-campus recruiting visits. Jennings will also be the Director of Army West Point Baseball Camps and Clinics.
Before coaching, Jennings was on the Central Connecticut State baseball team (2014-17) where he won an NEC title and played in the NCAA Tournament in 2017 and was an All-NEC First Team member as well as an NEC All-Tournament selection. He played in 187 career games, logged .291 batting average, 87 runs, and had 50 RBI's. After college Jennings went on to play professionally with the Somerset Patriots (Atlantic League), the Eastside Diamond Hoppers (USPBL), and the New York Bucks (Empire League).
Jeremy Hileman joins West Point after being at Canisius College where he was the pitching coach (2021-22). At Canisius Hileman was responsible for the full development of the pitching staff and assessing movement as well as integrating technology to record, track, and reassess development as well as quantifying pitch improvements during pitch design bullpen sessions. The pitching staff finished first in the MAAC in ERA, strikeouts, K/9, and opponent batting average. The pitching staff also broke the single season strikeouts per 9 inning record in Canisius College history by 1.07 K's. Hileman also assisted in creating, managing, and performing recruiting plans and schedules. Hileman also was the pitching coach at Shippensburg University (2020-21).
At Shippensburg University, the team ERA was lowered by 1.28 runs per game and the team strikeouts per 9 innings were raised by 3.5 K/9. The pitching staff was ranked among the top three in the PSAC East in ERA, K/9, H/9, and opponent batting average. Before coaching Hileman at the college level Hileman was the Director of Pitching Initiatives at FullReps Training Center where he oversaw pitching development and initiatives for athletes that included MLB, MiLB, Independent Professional League, Collegiate, and high school athletes.
"We are excited about the staff that we were able to assemble in our first season at Army West Point. The foundation in coaching for Mike, Jeremy and Franklin is rooted in the relationships they have built with players, families, and coaches around the country. They each have specific skill sets that will help us attract the best players and people to West Point and then to foster an environment to bring out the best in them in the classroom, off the field and in competition. They all believe in West Point and have been hard at work serving our program." – Head Coach Chris Tracz
Follow Along
For complete coverage of Army West Point Baseball, follow the Black Knights on Twitter and Instagram at @ArmyWP_Baseball and online at www.goarmywestpoint.com.
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