Oakland Hires Healey, Kaline As Co-Head Coaches

Oakland on Tuesday announced it has hired Jacke Healey and Colin Kaline as co-head coaches.

Healey was the Golden Grizzlies’ top assistant coach for the past three seasons, while Kaline, the grandson of Hall of Famer Al Kaline, was an assistant coach at Florida Southern, a Division II school, the last three years.

Oakland becomes the lone Division I school with co-head coaches, an arrangement athletic director Jeff Konya acknowledged is unusual. He said he did not enter the search process thinking this was a possibility, but as the interview process evolved, he settled on co-head coaches.

“Jacke and Colin did such a tremendous job in their on campus interviews that it made sense from that perspective and a few other reasons,” Konya said. “Their career arcs are similar, they’re similar in age and they both were receptive. They thought it was a fantastic idea.”

In addition to the abnormal power structure, Oakland will have one of the youngest dugouts in the country. Healey is 28 years old and Kaline is 27. New Orleans coach Blake Dean, 28, was the youngest coach in the country this year.

Konya said their age will allow them to better relate to their players and help them on the recruiting trail.

The arrangement doesn’t come without some complications that will have to be worked out. Konya said there weren’t many compliance issues raised by having co-head coaches, but Oakland will only be able to have one full-time assistant coach because the NCAA limits baseball to three full-time coaches. Healey and Kaline will also have to work out which one of them will be able to discuss calls with umpires, as baseball rules limit that responsibility to just one coach.

Other practical issues like recruiting decisions and in-game management will likely be a collaborative effort, Konya said.

“Most people who hear about this situation, their first question to me is ‘Who is going to make the call to the bullpen in the seventh inning or the bunt sign in the eighth?’” Konya said. “From a baseball perspective, it’s going to force them to be on the same page and be strategic. Rather than looking in the mirror to come up with a game plan, it’s going to force them to be collaborative.”

Healey and Kaline replace John Musachio, who was Oakland’s coach for the last nine years. Musachio went 169-294. The Golden Grizzlies have not had a winning season since 1997.

 

2016 COACHING CHANGES
School	Departures	Arrivals
Alabama	Mitch Gaspard	Greg Goff
Alabama State	Mervyl Melendez	Jose Vazquez
Appalachian State	Billy Jones
Army	Matt Reid	Jim Foster
Butler	Steve Farley	Dave Schrage
Central Florida	Terry Rooney	Greg Lovelady
Florida International	Turtle Thomas	Mervyl Melendez
Furman	Ron Smith	Brett Harker
Jacksonville	Tim Montez	Chris Hayes
Kentucky	Gary Henderson	Nick Mingione
Lamar	Jim Gilligan (ret.)	Will Davis
Liberty	Jim Toman
Louisiana Tech	Greg Goff	Lane Burroughs
Missouri	Tim Jamieson	Steve Bieser
Nebraska-Omaha	Bob Herold
Northwestern State	Lane Burroughs	Bobby Barbier
Oakland	John Musachio	Jacke Healey, Colin Kaline
Purdue	Doug Schreiber	Mark Wasikowski
San Jose State	Dave Nakama	Jason Hawkins
South Dakota State	Dave Schrage
SIU-Edwardsville	Tony Stoecklin	Sean Lyons
Southeast Missouri State	Steve Bieser
Texas	Augie Garrido	David Pierce
Tulane	David Pierce
Villanova	Joe Godri
Wright State	Greg Lovelady	Jeff Mercer
Youngstown State	Steve Gillispie	Dan Bertolini