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John Jarnagin takes over as head
coach of the University of Montevallo
baseball program for the 2008 season.
Jarnagin, who had served as head coach of
the baseball team at Morehead State
University in Kentucky since 1995, will
become the sixth head coach of the
nationally recognized Falcon program. A
five-time “Coach-of-the-Year” award winner,
Jarnagin will bring more than 20 years of
coaching experience to the Falcons. Jarnagin
takes over for Greg Goff, who moved on to
the NCAA Division I head coaching ranks at
Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C.
His MSU teams captured numerous honors in
Ohio Valley Conference competition for
achievements on the field and in the
classroom. His teams also have set national
marks in home runs, team batting and team
scoring. This past year, his team led the
OVC and was ranked among the top NCAA
Division I teams in the nation in stolen
bases. In 2005-2006, the Morehead Eagles had
the highest team grade-point average of all
OVC baseball teams, helping Morehead State
win the conference’s Institutional Academic
Achievement Award.
Jarnagin has coached eight players that were
selected for the Major League draft, . In
addition, his team earned the first
community-service award at MSU in
recognition of outstanding leadership in
projects that ranged from blood drives to
bell ringing for the Salvation Army.
Before joining the Morehead State coaching
ranks, Jarnagin was head baseball coach at
Shelby State Community College in Memphis,
Tenn., from 1985-1995. For his work there,
he was inducted into the Southwest Tennessee
Community College Hall of Fame in 2004 as
the winningest baseball coach. In 1992, he
was named co-coach of the year of the
Tennessee Junior and Community College
Athletic Association. He received four other
coach-of-the-year honors during his time at
the helm of the Shelby State CC program.
Jarnagin’s first coaching job was a
three-year stint as an assistant at Middle
Tennessee State University. From there, he
went to Trevecca Nazarene College in
Nashville before beginning his decade of
service at Shelby State.
The San Diego, Calif., native was a two-year
letter winner at Liberty University, where
he received his bachelor of science degree
in health and physical education in 1981. He
later earned his master’s degree in physical
education, recreation and safety from Middle
Tennessee State University.
Active in the American Baseball Coaches’
Association, Jarnagin also taught in the
physical education departments at both
Shelby State CC and at Morehead State.
Jarnagin, along with wife, Donna Lynn and
two children, Sarah Beth, 15, and Micah, 13,
reside in Pelham. |
