Baseball
Coggin, Will
Will Coggin
- Title:
- Assistant Head Coach
- Email:
- wcoggin@sports.uga.edu
Will Coggin has directed the Georgia offense for Ike Cousins head baseball coach Wes Johnson the past two seasons, and the results have produced two NCAA Tournament teams that were national top eight seeds, two SEC batting champions and led the country in combined home runs in that span.
Georgia's record-setting offense under Coggin in 2024 helped the team post a 43-17 mark, and it was one win away from the College World Series. Georgia garnered a top 10 final team ranking for the first time since 2008. The offense was headlined by a pair of All-Americans in Charlie Condon and Corey Collins. Condon, who was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft (Colorado Rockies), swept every major award, earning the Dick Howser Trophy, the Golden Spikes Award, the Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger Award plus was named National Player of the Year by multiple outlets. He became just the third player in NCAA history to lead the nation in batting average (.443) and home runs (37--a BBCOR-era record) in the same season. Collins, a sixth round pick of the New York Mets in 2024, became the first SEC player to lead the country in on base percentage at .574.
The 2024 Bulldogs finished second nationally with a school record 151 home runs including 12 grand slams and led the SEC in on base percentage (.433), hit by pitches (128), strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.24) and was second in batting average (.303) and slugging percentage (.589).
During the 2025 season, the Bulldogs led the nation in home runs as they tallied 144 in 60 games, trailing only the 2024 club that hit a school record 151. Georgia's 475 RBI ranked third in school history. In 2025, Georgia raced out to another impressive start that featured a 17-game winning streak and eventually finished 43-17. The Bulldogs were a consensus top 10 ranked team, including reaching as high as No. 1 during the season, and played host to an NCAA Regional for the second year in a row. Also, the Bulldogs established a school record for fielding percentage at .983.
Robbie Burnett and Ryland Zaborowski were named semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy plus Burnett was a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Trophy. Third baseman Slate Alford earned first team All-SEC honors while Burnett (outfield) and Zaborowski (utility) made the second team. Zaborowksi became the sixth Georgia player in school history to lead the league in batting (.370) and the second in as many years, joining Condon who lead the SEC and NCAA with a .443 clip in 2024. Also, Zaborowksi led the SEC in slugging percentage (.788) and on base percentage (.500) in 2025.
Coggin, a former player and coach in the Southeastern Conference, came to the Bulldogs after spending four years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Kentucky under Nick Mingione. In 2023, Coggin helped the Wildcats advance to an NCAA Super Regional for only the second time in school history, and UK reached the 40-win mark for just the seventh time in program history. In SEC action, the Wildcats led the conference in batting average, doubles, triples, stolen bases and fielding percentage and finished second in on base percentage, hit by pitches and turning double plays. The Wildcats led the nation with a school record .984 fielding percentage.
Coggin, a former Mississippi State infielder and assistant coach, has proven adept in recruiting and as a hitting guru who has helped developed 19 players who have reached the Major Leagues. Additionally, he’s been to the College World Series as a player, won multiple conference championships with St. Johns River State College and an SEC title while at his alma mater.
Coggin served as the hitting coach for the 2016 MSU club that won the SEC championship, was a national seed in the NCAA Tournament and saw 11 players selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, including seven members making it to the Major Leagues. It was his second stint in Starkville, having played for the Bulldogs from 2007-08 and served on former UK and Mississippi State coach John Cohen’s staff from 2009-12. He spent three seasons at St. Johns River State College in Palatka, Fla., before returning to State before the 2016 season.
In 2016, the Bulldogs improved their team batting average 42 points (.271 to .313), on-base percentage jumped from .372 to .407 and slugging percentage increased by 91 points. The club hit 30 more home runs, 60 more extra-base hits and scored 90 more runs on the way to 20 more wins.
Perhaps most impressive was Coggin’s work with then-freshman outfielder Jake Mangum, who captured the batting title and became the first Mississippi State player to win SEC Freshman of the Year and first freshman to win the C Spire Ferriss Trophy, which is awarded to the best college baseball player in Mississippi. Mangum would go on to become the SEC’s all-time hits leader and helped the program to back-to-back trips to the College World Series in 2018 and 2019.
He also played an important role in the development of 2017 SEC Player of the Year and First-Team All-American Brent Rooker, who won the SEC’s Triple Crown for batting average, home runs and RBI on his way to being named the Roy F. Kramer SEC Male Athlete of the Year. Rooker made his debut with the Minnesota Twins in 2020 and has been named a two-time All-Star during his career with the Oakland Athletics.
Following the 2016 campaign, Coggin, a native of Booneville, Miss., was promoted to the recruiting coordinator role when Mingione accepted the Kentucky head coaching job. MSU went to two Super Regionals and won the SEC regular season title and the SEC Tournament title (in different seasons).
In between his two stints at Mississippi State, Coggin helped St. Johns River State College post 122 victories in three seasons, including a 57-14 mark in the Mid-Florida Conference. The 122 wins from 2013-15 were the most by a Florida junior college and the program spent time in the top five nationally in 2014 before being ranked No. 1 for much of the 2015 campaign. The Vikings won a school-record 47 games in 2015, won three straight league titles for the first time since 1966-68 and won their first Florida State Tournament game in 38 years.
While at SJRSC, Coggin’s calling card was player development, where 25 players went on to sign with Division I-A programs and 45 with four-year schools. Current big-leaguer Nate Lowe (Texas Rangers) earned NJCAA First-Team All-American honors in 2015 after hitting .372 with 59 runs, 53 RBI and 17 home runs in 56 games before signing with Mississippi State. Lowe went on to win the MLB Silver Slugger award for the Texas Rangers in 2023. The 2015 SJR team also featured 2023 Gold Glove winning centerfielder Myles Straw of the Cleveland Guardians.
Before getting into coaching, Coggin was a middle infielder on Mississippi State’s 2007 and 2008 teams after two seasons at Northeast Mississippi Community College. He earned his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 2010 from Mississippi State before adding a master’s degree in sports administration in 2012.
The Will Coggin File
Born: Nov. 28, 1985
High School: Booneville (Miss.)
College: Mississippi State (Kinesiology, 2010; Master’s in Sports Administration, 2012)
Playing Career
2005-06: Northeast Mississippi Community College
2007-08: Mississippi State
Coaching Career
2009-12: Mississippi State, Student Assistant
2013-15: St. Johns River (Fla.) State College, Assistant Coach
2015-16: Mississippi State, Coordinator of Baseball Camps/Volunteer Coach
2016-17: Mississippi State, Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator
2020-23: Kentucky, Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator
2023-current: Georgia, Assistant Head Coach
What They Are Saying About Coggin
"I owe Coach Coggin an enormous amount of credit for my growth and success as a hitter. His extensive knowledge of the swing is something that is extremely hard to find and would be incredibly valuable to any hitter. His relationships with recruits and players are second to none and will no doubt aid in the building and sustained success of any program." – Brent Rooker, Oakland A’s outfielder, 2017 Minnesota Twins 1st Round Draft Pick/Miss. State/SEC Player of the Year and Roy F. Kramer Male Athlete of the Year
"Coach Coggin has made the biggest impact on my life/career of anybody I’ve ever been around. He would take any hour of his day to make me a better player. Doesn’t matter if it was during practice or at 2 am, he would be there for me if I needed him. He is the most dedicated and motivating person I have ever been around in my 18 years of playing baseball at every level from t-ball to professional baseball…And the most important thing to me was that not only was he best coach I’ve ever had, but he also made sure you left a better person." – Myles Straw, Cleveland Guardians outfielder/2015 Houston Astros 12th Round Draft Pick/St. Johns River JC
"Never have I been helped as a much by a coach and by a human, as the things Coach Coggin has done for me. From a small-town junior college to the biggest state in college baseball, he has been the first person that I look to for support. Twenty-four hours a day and 365 days a year, I know that I’ll receive honest advice. There is not a harder working coach in all of baseball than Coach Coggin." – Nate Lowe, Texas Rangers first baseman/2016 Tampa Bay Rays 13th Round Draft Pick/Miss. State
Georgia's record-setting offense under Coggin in 2024 helped the team post a 43-17 mark, and it was one win away from the College World Series. Georgia garnered a top 10 final team ranking for the first time since 2008. The offense was headlined by a pair of All-Americans in Charlie Condon and Corey Collins. Condon, who was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft (Colorado Rockies), swept every major award, earning the Dick Howser Trophy, the Golden Spikes Award, the Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger Award plus was named National Player of the Year by multiple outlets. He became just the third player in NCAA history to lead the nation in batting average (.443) and home runs (37--a BBCOR-era record) in the same season. Collins, a sixth round pick of the New York Mets in 2024, became the first SEC player to lead the country in on base percentage at .574.
The 2024 Bulldogs finished second nationally with a school record 151 home runs including 12 grand slams and led the SEC in on base percentage (.433), hit by pitches (128), strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.24) and was second in batting average (.303) and slugging percentage (.589).
During the 2025 season, the Bulldogs led the nation in home runs as they tallied 144 in 60 games, trailing only the 2024 club that hit a school record 151. Georgia's 475 RBI ranked third in school history. In 2025, Georgia raced out to another impressive start that featured a 17-game winning streak and eventually finished 43-17. The Bulldogs were a consensus top 10 ranked team, including reaching as high as No. 1 during the season, and played host to an NCAA Regional for the second year in a row. Also, the Bulldogs established a school record for fielding percentage at .983.
Robbie Burnett and Ryland Zaborowski were named semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy plus Burnett was a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Trophy. Third baseman Slate Alford earned first team All-SEC honors while Burnett (outfield) and Zaborowski (utility) made the second team. Zaborowksi became the sixth Georgia player in school history to lead the league in batting (.370) and the second in as many years, joining Condon who lead the SEC and NCAA with a .443 clip in 2024. Also, Zaborowksi led the SEC in slugging percentage (.788) and on base percentage (.500) in 2025.
Coggin, a former player and coach in the Southeastern Conference, came to the Bulldogs after spending four years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Kentucky under Nick Mingione. In 2023, Coggin helped the Wildcats advance to an NCAA Super Regional for only the second time in school history, and UK reached the 40-win mark for just the seventh time in program history. In SEC action, the Wildcats led the conference in batting average, doubles, triples, stolen bases and fielding percentage and finished second in on base percentage, hit by pitches and turning double plays. The Wildcats led the nation with a school record .984 fielding percentage.
Coggin, a former Mississippi State infielder and assistant coach, has proven adept in recruiting and as a hitting guru who has helped developed 19 players who have reached the Major Leagues. Additionally, he’s been to the College World Series as a player, won multiple conference championships with St. Johns River State College and an SEC title while at his alma mater.
Coggin served as the hitting coach for the 2016 MSU club that won the SEC championship, was a national seed in the NCAA Tournament and saw 11 players selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, including seven members making it to the Major Leagues. It was his second stint in Starkville, having played for the Bulldogs from 2007-08 and served on former UK and Mississippi State coach John Cohen’s staff from 2009-12. He spent three seasons at St. Johns River State College in Palatka, Fla., before returning to State before the 2016 season.
In 2016, the Bulldogs improved their team batting average 42 points (.271 to .313), on-base percentage jumped from .372 to .407 and slugging percentage increased by 91 points. The club hit 30 more home runs, 60 more extra-base hits and scored 90 more runs on the way to 20 more wins.
Perhaps most impressive was Coggin’s work with then-freshman outfielder Jake Mangum, who captured the batting title and became the first Mississippi State player to win SEC Freshman of the Year and first freshman to win the C Spire Ferriss Trophy, which is awarded to the best college baseball player in Mississippi. Mangum would go on to become the SEC’s all-time hits leader and helped the program to back-to-back trips to the College World Series in 2018 and 2019.
He also played an important role in the development of 2017 SEC Player of the Year and First-Team All-American Brent Rooker, who won the SEC’s Triple Crown for batting average, home runs and RBI on his way to being named the Roy F. Kramer SEC Male Athlete of the Year. Rooker made his debut with the Minnesota Twins in 2020 and has been named a two-time All-Star during his career with the Oakland Athletics.
Following the 2016 campaign, Coggin, a native of Booneville, Miss., was promoted to the recruiting coordinator role when Mingione accepted the Kentucky head coaching job. MSU went to two Super Regionals and won the SEC regular season title and the SEC Tournament title (in different seasons).
In between his two stints at Mississippi State, Coggin helped St. Johns River State College post 122 victories in three seasons, including a 57-14 mark in the Mid-Florida Conference. The 122 wins from 2013-15 were the most by a Florida junior college and the program spent time in the top five nationally in 2014 before being ranked No. 1 for much of the 2015 campaign. The Vikings won a school-record 47 games in 2015, won three straight league titles for the first time since 1966-68 and won their first Florida State Tournament game in 38 years.
While at SJRSC, Coggin’s calling card was player development, where 25 players went on to sign with Division I-A programs and 45 with four-year schools. Current big-leaguer Nate Lowe (Texas Rangers) earned NJCAA First-Team All-American honors in 2015 after hitting .372 with 59 runs, 53 RBI and 17 home runs in 56 games before signing with Mississippi State. Lowe went on to win the MLB Silver Slugger award for the Texas Rangers in 2023. The 2015 SJR team also featured 2023 Gold Glove winning centerfielder Myles Straw of the Cleveland Guardians.
Before getting into coaching, Coggin was a middle infielder on Mississippi State’s 2007 and 2008 teams after two seasons at Northeast Mississippi Community College. He earned his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 2010 from Mississippi State before adding a master’s degree in sports administration in 2012.
The Will Coggin File
Born: Nov. 28, 1985
High School: Booneville (Miss.)
College: Mississippi State (Kinesiology, 2010; Master’s in Sports Administration, 2012)
Playing Career
2005-06: Northeast Mississippi Community College
2007-08: Mississippi State
Coaching Career
2009-12: Mississippi State, Student Assistant
2013-15: St. Johns River (Fla.) State College, Assistant Coach
2015-16: Mississippi State, Coordinator of Baseball Camps/Volunteer Coach
2016-17: Mississippi State, Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator
2020-23: Kentucky, Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator
2023-current: Georgia, Assistant Head Coach
What They Are Saying About Coggin
"I owe Coach Coggin an enormous amount of credit for my growth and success as a hitter. His extensive knowledge of the swing is something that is extremely hard to find and would be incredibly valuable to any hitter. His relationships with recruits and players are second to none and will no doubt aid in the building and sustained success of any program." – Brent Rooker, Oakland A’s outfielder, 2017 Minnesota Twins 1st Round Draft Pick/Miss. State/SEC Player of the Year and Roy F. Kramer Male Athlete of the Year
"Coach Coggin has made the biggest impact on my life/career of anybody I’ve ever been around. He would take any hour of his day to make me a better player. Doesn’t matter if it was during practice or at 2 am, he would be there for me if I needed him. He is the most dedicated and motivating person I have ever been around in my 18 years of playing baseball at every level from t-ball to professional baseball…And the most important thing to me was that not only was he best coach I’ve ever had, but he also made sure you left a better person." – Myles Straw, Cleveland Guardians outfielder/2015 Houston Astros 12th Round Draft Pick/St. Johns River JC
"Never have I been helped as a much by a coach and by a human, as the things Coach Coggin has done for me. From a small-town junior college to the biggest state in college baseball, he has been the first person that I look to for support. Twenty-four hours a day and 365 days a year, I know that I’ll receive honest advice. There is not a harder working coach in all of baseball than Coach Coggin." – Nate Lowe, Texas Rangers first baseman/2016 Tampa Bay Rays 13th Round Draft Pick/Miss. State
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