DAYTON – University of Dayton Vice President/Director of Athletics Neil Sullivan has announced Jayson King as the next head coach for the Flyer baseball team.
“We are extremely pleased to announce that Jayson King is our new baseball coach,” Sullivan said. “He is a proven winner, a proven recruiter and a proven teacher of the game. Coach King shared a vision of excellence, on and off the field, that meets our standards at the University of Dayton. He is a great fit to be a part of University of Dayton athletics.”
“My family and I are extremely excited about joining the Flyer family, the University of Dayton, and the rich heritage of success in the classroom, community and athletic programs,” King said. “We are grateful for the opportunity that we have been provided and look forward to taking the baseball program to that next level of success. We will talk frequently amongst the program about championships and will strive for excellence in everything we do.”
King was most recently the Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Army after spending the previous 18 seasons as head coach at NCAA Division II Franklin Pierce. In his first season in Division I, King produced the No. 33 overall recruiting class as ranked by Perfect Game, with 24 high school commitments from 14 states.
In his 20-year career as a head coach, King has amassed a record of 675-338-3 (.610) at Franklin Pierce University and UMass-Boston. His success in his 18 years at Franklin Pierce left him in a class of his own in Division II, as he led the Ravens to 10 NE-10 Conference Championships, seven NCAA Northeast Regional appearances, and seven trips to the NCAA Division II College World Series. King’s teams also won at least 31 games in every season since 2002.
King earned the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Northeast Region Coach of the Year honor on seven occasions, most recently in 2016. He was also selected the Division II Coach of the Year by the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) seven times. In his time at Franklin Pierce, 25 of his student-athletes were drafted in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. He was celebrated as one of Franklin Pierce University Athletics All-Time Top 50 Most Important Figures during the institution’s 50th Anniversary in 2012, and was inducted into the FPU Hall of Fame in 2015.
The Westminster, Mass., native also has experience with USA Baseball, serving as an advisory staff member and an assistant coach for the 18U National Team. King also coached in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League as well as working a season with the Lowell Spinners, the short-season affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.
A 1993 graduate of Framingham State College, King received a bachelor’s degree in sociology while playing four seasons for the Rams. He went on to earn his master’s degree in physical education in 1996 from Springfield College. King and his wife, Missy, have one daughter, Katie, and one son, Justin.
