Jake McKinley is entering his inaugural season as head coach at William Jessup University in 2017-18. McKinley was brought on in May of 2017 coming off a four-year stint at Menlo College in Atherton, CA.
"We believe William Jessup is a sleeping giant for NAIA collegiate baseball; one that is capable of winning conference and national titles," Von Vogt said. " "Jake not only shares our vision, but also has the ability to develop our baseball program into a nationally ranked championship-caliber program."
McKinley takes over the program after having an impressive 131-92 overall record at Menlo College, where he developed success both on and off the field. Student-athletes that have gone through the program during McKinley's tenure have received honors in multiple categories, most recently 2017 GSAC Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year. Other accolades include 12 All-Conference honorees, six NAIA All-Americans, four NAIA Academic All-Americans, six Scholar-Athletes, and two Capital One Academic All-District selections.
In his four short years at Menlo, four of his players were selected in the Major League Baseball Draft and McKinley was recognized as MLB Scouts Northern California College Coach of the Year in 2016. Of those four draftees, two were selected in the top 10 rounds, most notable being Lucas Erceg who was selected 46th overall by the Milwaukee Brewers. Overall, in four years 13 players have gone on to play professional baseball either being drafted or signing as a free agent.
Prior to Menlo College, McKinley spent four years as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Sacramento State, where he helped the Hornets to a 67-55 record in his final two seasons..
At Sacramento State, the Placerville native first landed a position as the Director of Baseball Operations in 2010-11. He was named volunteer assistant coach the following year and was promoted to Recruiting Coordinator in 2012-13 for the Hornets.
McKinley started his coaching career after graduation from Bethany University (Santa Cruz) as an assistant for the Bruins.
One year later, McKinley left his alma mater and headed to Campbellsville University (Campbellsville, KY) to take on an assistant coaching position from 2007-2009. At Campbellsville he played a major role in leading the team to a 39-12 record and a trip to the 2009 NAIA World Series.
The California native returned home in 2009 for two years at West Valley College, where he was served as pitching coach.
McKinley graduated from NAIA Bethany College in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communications and went on to earn a Master's of Arts in Social Science from Campbellsville University in 2008.
As a Bethany player, he was a standout pitcher and first baseman. McKinley broke multiple records, including most strikeouts in a career, most strikeouts in a single season, lowest single season ERA, and most innings pitched in both a season and career. He was named conference Pitcher of the Year and Most Valuable Player.
At William Jessup, McKinley will be a full-time staff member and focus on building the program that is only in its fourth season of existence.
