Jerry Zulli Is New Alabama Baseball Assistant Coach
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| Photo Credit: Missouri Athletics |
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – University of Alabama head baseball coach Brad Bohannon is wasting no time getting his staff filled out for his new position as batter-in-chief at The Capstone. Bohannon has officially announced the addition of Jerry Zulli to the UA Crimson Tide coaching staff. The announcement came from Bohannon on Friday afternoon. Zulli spent this past season with Louisiana Tech, and will bring the necessary experience to the Alabama coaching staff as an assistant.
In his announcement, Bohannon said, "I am so excited to add Jerry to our staff. When you're heavily involved in recruiting, you know who does a great job on the road, and he is clearly one of the best recruiters. I've known him a long time, and he checks every box that I am looking for. He's a guy of high integrity and character, he has a high motor, he can relate to a wide variety of personalities, he has a great network and is a very talented evaluator. In addition, he is a very skilled instructor, and we share a lot of the same ideas regarding team offense. Jerry is a tremendous addition to my coaching staff and will be a huge part of helping us build this program at Alabama."
Having spent 15 seasons as an assistant coach, Zulli has earned a reputation as both an outstanding recruiting and teaching players the art of hitting. He is, in fact, considered one of the top hitting coaches in the college baseball world. Zulli has been with Ruston, Missouri, South Alabama, Memphis and Middle Georgia College.
Though spending only one season at Louisiana Tech, Zuli helped the Dogs rank in the top three in nearly every offensive category in Conference USA. The offense recorded a .313 average with 203 RBI and 213 runs scored while batting .475 as well as garnering a .413 on-base percentage – all totals that were second in the league. Zulli coached four hitters to all-conference honors, including a pair that were named first team in 2017. Brent Diaz, who was one of the Bulldogs' first team all-conference selections, was also dubbed a Third Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball News while earning a spot as a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award.
With the Missouri Tigers for the 2016 season, Zulli served as recruiting coordinator, infield coach and third base coach. He was responsible for adding seven recruits to the Mizzou recruiting class, including five selected in the 2016 MLB First-Year Player Draft. In addition to his recruits that were drafted, Zulli also had two of his players from the 2015-16 Missouri roster selected in Ryan Howard (5th Round, San Francisco Giants) and Jake Ring (31st Round, Baltimore Orioles).
At South Alabama was responsible for recruiting a collection of talent that helped lead USA to the 2016 Sun Belt regular season co-championship and an NCAA Regional appearance. Three of his four seasons in Mobile featured top-50 recruiting classes, including a 2013 class that ranked 29th by Collegiate Baseball News. That won 37 games and the Sun Belt Conference Championship.
Zulli coached nine of his hitters to All-Sun Belt Conference honors, one conference player of the year winner, an All-American and one Freshman All-America selection during his four seasons at USA.
His offenses at South Alabama ranked first in the Sun Belt in batting average twice (2012, 2015) and was second in in 2013. In his first season, the offense led the SBC in conference play in seven categories, including: average (.306), hits (321), RBI (184), runs scored (205), total baes (474), and on-base (.389) and slugging percentage (.452).
Zulli helped the Memphis Tigers lead Conference USA in hitting and on-base percentage on three separate occasions, while ranking top-five in the league in virtually every hitting metric. He coached eight players to a combined 10 All-Conference USA honors, including Chad Zurcher, who was tabbed the 2011 C-USA Player of the Year and a Third Team All-American after leading the NCAA in average and on-base percentage. He also coached 12 players who were selected in the MLB Draft, including a five who were taken in the 2011 draft.
In just his first season at Memphis, the Tigers increase captured an additional 19 wins over the previous year, the second-best turnaround in NCAA history at the time, while the offense finished ranked 30th nationally. He helped lead the Tigers to 36 wins and a postseason berth in 2007, the program's first NCAA Regional appearance in 13 years.
It all started, however, for Zulli as the recruiting coordinator at Middle Georgia College from 2002-04. The Warriors went 130-51 in his three seasons, including two JUCO World Series appearances in 2002 and 2004. His 2002 team finished sixth nationally, while the 2004 squad wrapped up the season fourth in the national polls.
Turning back the time from coach to player, Zulli began his career at Middle Georgia College for two seasons where he won the Terry Daniels Award and helped MGC to a Region XVII Championship in 1999. He then transferred to the University of New Orleans for his final two years where he was a letterman each season.
Zulli earned his bachelor's degree from UNO in sports management in 2002. He is married to the former Kristen Bell. The couple has one daughter, Zoe Madelyn.
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Alabama Men Finish In Top 10
At NCAA Track & Field Outdoor Championships
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
The UA men captured 10th place, their best national outdoor finish since taking sixth at the 2001 NCAA meet, which was also held in Eugene. Florida took the men's crown for the second consecutive year with 61.5 points as the Southeastern Conference dominated the meet. Eight SEC teams finished in the top-10. Texas A&M was second with 59.5 points, followed by Virginia (36), Arkansas (33), Auburn (24), Georgia (22.5), LSU (20), Tennessee (20), Oregon (19.5) and the Crimson Tide (19).
Alabama track & field head coach Dan Waters said, "I'm very pleased and excited about the passion and energy and the way the team bought into what we were trying to accomplish this year. We fought hard in a lot of different places. We went to the well indoors to try to win the conference championship, tried to score well at indoor nationals, SEC outdoors, regionals and outdoor nationals. Every time we asked the team to step up and do something special they absolutely did. I couldn't be prouder of that competitiveness. That's what will put us over the top. A top-10 finish is nice but in order to achieve the goals of this program, we have to be able to come to championships and compete. Hopefully, we can build on what we did here this week."
Men's Event Summaries – NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships- Day 3
Finals
110-Meter Hurdles – Junior Ruebin Walters finished second in the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 13.54. Walters' finish is the best for Alabama in the 110-meter hurdles since Ron Bramlett won back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002. It also gives the Tide All-Americans in the event in back-to-back seasons. Tony Brown finished sixth at the 2016 championships.
400 Meters – Senior Steven Gayle finished seventh in the 400 meters in 45.59 to earn first-team All-America honors in the event for the second time in his career at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Gayle finished fifth in the event at the 2015 NCAA Championships. He is the first double All-American in the 400 meters for Alabama since Kirani James won back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011.
200 Meters – Junior Jereem Richards finished third in the 200 meters in 20.55. The finish is the best for Alabama since Calvin Smith finished second in 1982 and 1983. The finish caps a stellar individual outdoor season for Richards that saw him post four of the 10-fastest times in school history and break Smith's 24-year-old school record of 19.99 with a time of 19.97 at the NCAA East Regional on May 27. The two are the only men to run under 20 seconds in the 200 meters ever at Alabama.
4x400-Meter Relay – In the final event of the evening, Alabama's 4x400-meter relay of freshman Will Allen, Gayle, sophomore Skyler Bowden and Richards finished sixth in 3:03.81, the ninth-fastest time in school history. The race caps off a four-meet stretch dating to May 6 that has seen the quartet record five of the 10-fastest times in Alabama history in its last seven races, including the fourth-best time ever in Wednesday's semifinals.
Discus – Senior Joe Williams finished 11th in the discus with a throw of 188-3 (57.39m). Williams ends his career with back-to-back appearances at the NCAA Championships, earning second-team All-America honors in both trips to Eugene.
Alabama Series
Joe Williams – 184-1 (56.12m); Foul; 188-3 (57.39m)
Triple Jump – Competing for the final time as a collegian, senior Klyvens Delaunay finished 23rd in the triple jump with a leap of 47-10 (14.58m).
Alabama Series
Delaunay – 47-10 (14.58m); 43-6 ½ (13.27m); Foul
NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Thursday, June 9, 2017
Eugene, Ore. (University of Oregon)
Team Standings
1. Florida- 61.5
2. Texas A&M- 59.5
3. Virginia- 36
4. Arkansas- 33
5. Auburn- 24
6. Georgia- 22.5
7t. LSU- 20
7t. Tennessee- 20
9. Oregon- 19.5
10. ALABAMA- 19
Alabama Results
Men
200 Meters- 3. Jereem Richards, 20.55
400 Meters- 7. Steven Gayle, 45.59
110-Meter Hurdles- 2. Ruebin Walters, 13.54
4x400-Meter Relay: 6. Alabama (Will Allen, Steven Gayle, Skyler Bowden, Jereem Richards), 3:03.81
Triple Jump- 23. Klyvens Delaunay, 47-10 (14.58m)
Discus- 11. Joe Williams, 188-3 (57.39m)
*Statistics provided by RollTide.com
