Tennessee baseball officially hired Austin Knight as the program’s new pitching coach on Saturday morning. Knight comes to Tennessee after spending the last seven years on staff at East Carolina and the last five years as the Pirates’ pitching coach.
The Vols officially announced the hire on Saturday. Here’s what Tennessee head coach Josh Elander said about the hire:
“We are excited to welcome Austin Knight, his wife Taylor, and his two sons Deacon and Clayton to Tennessee,” Elander said. “Austin has a proven track record of developing pitchers and leading successful staffs that compete at the highest level. He is an exceptional coach and recruiter whose values align with our culture, and we look forward to the impact he will have on our student-athletes and program.”
Knight has an extended history of success leading East Carolina’s pitching staff over the last five years. The Pirates ranked 20th nationally in ERA (4.23), 25th nationally in WHIP (1.34) and 28th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.54) during the 2026 season.
East Carolina has frequently had strong pitching staffs under Knight’s guidance ranking eighth nationally in ERA (4.05), 11th nationally in WHIP (1.29) and 17th nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.59) during the 2024 season.
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The Pirates 2023 pitching staff ranked 21st nationally in ERA (4.34), fifth nationally in WHIP (1.28) and fourth nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.10).
Knight has coached a number of highly touted pitchers in his career, most notably Trey Yesavage— a first round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft and the Toronto Blue Jays game one starter in last October’s World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Yesavage was the second youngest pitcher ever to start in game one of the World Series.
The 33-year old Knight has spent the majority of his career at East Carolina but previously spent time at Louisiana Tech. He played his college baseball for Mike Bianco at Ole Miss.
Tennessee got an upfront look at Knight’s work in the NCAA Tournament when the Vols scored just three runs in 14 innings in the 7-3 loss against the Pirates. East Carolina used top pitchers Ryan Towers and Ethan Norby in the tournament opening matchup.
Knight replaces Josh Reynolds as Tennessee’s pitching coach. Reynolds spent just one year in role, moving into the head pitching coach position in November after Frank Anderson left for a position with the San Fransisco Giants.
