JONESBORO, Ark. Keith Kessinger, a former assistant at Ole Miss and the current head coach at Carson-Newman College, has accepted the position of head baseball coach at Arkansas State University, it was announced Monday afternoon.
Kessinger, the son of baseball legend Donnie Kessinger, replaces Bill Bethea who retired in June after 11 years at ASU. Kessinger will assume his head coaching duties immediately.
"I am extremely excited about the opportunity to be the head baseball coach at Arkansas State," Kessinger said. "Whats more, we are excited about moving our family to Jonesboro and being a part of the communityand a part of Arkansas State. I am really looking forward to beginning work immediately. I am so excited that I began working for ASU before I got here. I see a very bright future for ASU baseball."
Kessinger plans to be in his new office Monday through Wednesday before returning to Tennessee to begin moving.
"I believe ASU has a fine baseball coach in Keith Kessinger," said ASU Director of Athletics Paul Griffin. "His very name speaks of baseball and his experience as a coach, collegiate player and as a professional player brings instant credibility to the program."
The 35-year-old Kessinger has a long and storied baseball history. He was named the South Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year in 2002 after winning the regular season championship. His team at Carson-Newman was ranked nationally this season by Collegiate Baseball in the Division II Top 30 for 14 consecutive weeks reaching as high as twelfth in the poll.
Kessinger brings in a record of 66-47 over his two-season tenure at Carson-Newman. His team was 27-28 in 2001 and finished 39-19 this season and reached the NCAA South Regional for the second time in the history of the school. The team also set or tied 18 individual or team records in two seasons.
The former player at Ole Miss coached a school record nine All-SAC players in 2002, two All-Americans and the Division II National Player of the Year. In addition, he coached 15 SAC scholar-athletes.
His players hit 97 home runs which broke an old conference mark of 79 and was more than three times the total of the home runs scored in 2000.
The 2002 team led the league in batting average, runs, hits, home runs, doubles, total bases and earned run average.
Prior to taking over the program at Carson-Newman, Kessinger was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Ole Miss for four seasons. While there, he coached three All-Southeastern Conference players, two All-Americans and two freshman All-Americans as well as 28 academic All-SEC players.
Fifteen of his players were drafted or signed professional contracts. Under his tutelage, Ole Miss set school records for home runs (98), at-bats (2,209), runs scored (424), hits (658), doubles (132) and total bases (1,068). He helped guide the Rebels to three 30-win seasons in a row from 1998-2000.
Kessinger was a standout basketball and baseball player for the Rebels and finished his career in the top ten in Ole Miss record book in hits, runs and doubles in a season. He was named All-Southeastern Conference second-team shortstop in 1989 and Academic All-SEC three times.
Drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 1989, he played seven years with that team, the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs organizations for Davey Johnson, Tony Perez, Ray Knight and Bobby Valentine. He finished the 1993 season in the major leagues with the Reds. He singled on the first pitch in his first major league at-bat and finished the season at .257 with one home run.
Kessinger graduated from Briarcrest High School in Memphis, Tenn., in 1984 and received his bachelor of arts degree in managerial finance from Ole Miss in 1989. He is married to the former Laura Neyman and they have two childrenAnna Kathryn (6), and Chase (3).
ASU