The Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball team made it to the College World Series for the third time in their history this year, beating the Texas Longhorns in the first round but losing to the Oklahoma Sooners in the second round. Now, they’re losing their coach. Link Jarrett, who had been the head coach of the Irish since 2020 and led them to a 86–32 overall mark in that time (earning the ACC coach of the year and D1 Baseball national coach of the year honors along the way in 2021), is leaving Notre Dame for his alma mater, Florida State. Florida State announced that hire Friday after Jarrett informed the Irish players of his departure:
𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚
Link Jarrett has been named the 10th head coach in @FSUBaseball history!
🔗: https://t.co/gWu1ABwnIG pic.twitter.com/KhzovtW7tB
— FSU Baseball (@FSUBaseball) June 24, 2022
Jarrett was a four-year starter for the Seminoles at shortstop from 1991-94, playing under famed coach Mike Martin and graduating holding school records for consecutive games, at bats, and assists. He was drafted in the 22nd round by the Colorado Rockies in 1994, and spent five years in their minor-league organization before turning to coaching. He began his college coaching career with three years as an assistant at Flagler from 1999-2001, then returned to Florida State as an assistant in 2003, moved to Mercer as recruiting coordinator in 2004, and then spent time with East Carolina and Auburn before getting his first head coaching job with UNC Greensboro in 2013. Over seven seasons there, he led the Spartans to a 215–166 record, then moved on to Notre Dame.
At Florida State Jarrett will replace Mike Martin Jr., the son of his old coach. Martin Jr. replaced his father in 2020, but was fired earlier this month after posting a 77–54 mark across three seasons without advancing to a super regional. We’ll see if Jarrett can lead the Seminoles to greater success.
[ESPN; image from Florida State Baseball on Twitter]
