News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Tennessee Tech hired Justin Holmes as the new head baseball coach Thursday.
Holmes spent the past four seasons serving as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Golden Eagles.
“This program has a strong foundation,” Holmes said. “Coach [Matt] Bragga laid that foundation. I’m not going to sit up here and pretend that it didn’t happen. It absolutely did and I love him. And I appreciate him giving me and my family an opportunity to come here into this great community.”
Holmes replaces Matt Bragga, who took the head coaching job at Rice University last week.
Holmes said Bragga helped shape him into a future head coach during his time with the Golden Eagles.
“He did his best to take care of people, ” Holmes said. “He did his best. He was a fair man, and he taught me about the importance of that. He taught me about the importance of consistency.”
Holmes said he isn’t looking to revamp the program now he is the head coach.
“We’re not coming in here with a bulldozer… this is our history,” Holmes said. “Things will change because I’m not Coach Bragga. But there are a lot of things that have been successful whether it be academically, on the field, or practicing, that I see no reason to try and come in here and reinvent the wheel.”
Athletic Director Mark Wilson said hiring from within will help keep continuity in the program.
“Certainly with Tennessee Tech baseball right now, continuity is really important,” Wilson said. “We had a really quality guy right here whose had great tutelage under [former] head coach Matt Bragga, so it just made sense to promote Coach Holmes.”
Holmes becomes the 14th head baseball coach in the history of the program. He is a 2004 graduate of the University of Georgia and was an assistant coach at Mercer before arriving at TTU in 2013.
