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Baseball: Deggs Accepts Head Coaching Position At Sam Houston State
LAFAYETTE – Matt Deggs, who served the past two seasons as hitting coach for the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns, was named the eighth head coach at Sam Houston State in an announcement on Friday.
Deggs, who served as the Ragin’ Cajuns hitting coach and third base coach, while also overseeing team personnel and recruiting, was the architect behind one of college baseball’s most potent offensive attacks during his two-year tenure, that produced a 101-30 record on the field, including a school-record 58 wins in 2014.
The 42-year-old Deggs, a native of Texas City, Texas, is the sixth assistant under current Ragin’ Cajuns head coach Tony Robichaux to be named a Division I head coach joining Todd Butler (Wichita State), Jim Ricklefsen (McNeese State, now at Lamar), John Szefc (Maryland), Brad Holland (former ULM coach) and Wade Simoneaux (former Louisiana Tech coach).
"I want to thank everyone, especially my wife (Kathy) and kids (Kyler, Klaire and Khloe), as well as my friends and family that have stood by me through my coaching career," Deggs said. "I will miss the guys I’m going to leave behind at UL. I sincerely want to thank Coach Robichaux and the players. Their sacrifice and dedication has led me to this opportunity at Sam Houston." Under Deggs’ guidance in 2014, the Ragin’ Cajuns led the nation in runs scored, hits and triples while ranking second in batting average (.317), home runs (68) slugging percentage (.493). The Ragin’ Cajuns led the nation in wins and captured both the Sun Belt Conference regular-season and tournament championships while securing the school’s first-ever No. 1 national ranking and eventual national seed (No. 6) in the NCAA Tournament.
"Every coach that takes on an assistant position, somewhere in there they have a goal and a desire to become a head baseball coach," Robichaux said. "When he came on board with us two-and-half years ago, it was only going to be matter of time before he had the opportunity to become a head coach. Having Matt do what he did over the last two-and-half years for us with our hitters has really been phenomenal.
"We wish Matt and his family the best of luck in their new adventure in Huntsville. It wasn’t the easiest decision for him, but it’s a decision that will go on to help him grow as a coach. Now, he has the opportunity to call a program his own. We hate to see him go – he will be sorely missed." Led by the nation’s most multi-faceted offense that saw eight regulars in the lineup post batting averages of .290 or above, the Cajuns added to their power numbers by finishing third in the country in hit-by-pitches (114), fourth in on-base percentage (.409) and fifth in steals (108).
The Ragin’ Cajuns became the first team in Sun Belt Conference history to host both an NCAA regional and super regional. The regional appearance marked 10 NCAA Regional squads for Deggs with three different programs (Arkansas, Texas A&M, Louisiana).
The No. 1 ranking marked the third time in Deggs’ career that he was a member of a program that was ranked inside of the top-5 during a season, including two teams that ascended to the No. 1 spot in the nation. Following the program’s second Sun Belt Tournament championship, the Cajuns were tabbed as the unanimous No. 1 team heading into the NCAA Tournament.
Deggs took over a Ragin’ Cajuns offense that posted a .263 average with 18 home runs as a team in 2012 and immediately turned them into a juggernaut the following season by the implementation of his "Pack Mentality" offensive style. Led by Dex Kjerstad with a .388 average, the Ragin’ Cajuns produced a .317 average in 2013 while leading the nation with 74 home runs. The Ragin’ Cajuns finished with 43 wins on the season and earned the No. 2 seed at the Baton Rouge Regional, reaching the final against host LSU.
The squads also produced 15 all-conference athletes, a Sun Belt Player of the Year, a conference tournament MVP, the program’s first-ever member of Team USA (Blake Trahan), three All-Americans and two Freshmen All-Americans.
Most impressive however is the fact that with all the wins, the Cajuns also won the award for best team grade point average in the Sun Belt Conference with a 3.30 GPA.
Prior to joining the Ragin’ Cajuns staff, Deggs previously served as associate head coach at Texas A&M for Rob Childress from 2006-11. While in College Station, Deggs coached third base, oversaw, and ran the Aggie offense in addition to overseeing team personnel.
Deggs spent three seasons at Arkansas as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator for Dave Van Horn from 2003-05. The Razorbacks appeared in the NCAA tournament in each of his three seasons and made a trip to the College World Series in 2004.
Prior to his stint at Arkansas, Deggs tallied a record of 187-100 as the head coach at Texarkana College. In his five-year stay at Texarkana, Deggs led the team to two Texas Eastern Athletic Conference runner-up finishes, a pair of TEAC Titles (2001-2002), and the school’s first ever trip to the Junior College World Series.
Deggs spent the 1996 and 1997 seasons as the hitting and infield coach at Northwestern State under Van Horn, helping the Demons to the Southland Conference Title in 1997. His infield units ranked among the top infield groups in the country in both seasons.
Deggs was an infielder at Alvin Junior College from 1991-92 and at Northwood University from 1993-94. Deggs received his master’s degree from Northwestern State in December of 1996.
He played professionally for three years for the Mobile (Ala.) Baysharks and the Tennessee Tomahawks, two of which were spent as a player/coach under former Boston Red Sox manager Butch Hobson and former Red Sox catcher Mike O’Berry.
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Matt Sullivan
Sports Information Director
Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Cox Communications Athletic Center
201 Reinhardt Drive
Lafayette, LA 70506-4297
Office – (337) 482-6330
Mobile – (985) 981-0009
Twitter – @MattSulli123
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