Former Tennessee pitching coach Josh Reynolds is joining Virginia Tech’s staff as the team’s director of pitching performance and baseball analytics, the program announced on Wednesday afternoon.
Reynolds originally joined Tony Vitello’s staff as a secondary pitching coach before the 2025 season, and was then elevated to pitching coach by Josh Elander after Frank Anderson left for the San Francisco Giants alongside Tony Vitello.
“I want to thank Josh Reynolds for his hard work and dedication to the Tennessee baseball program during his two seasons in Knoxville, but I have decided it’s best for our program to move in a different direction from a pitching standpoint at this time,” Tennessee head coach Josh Elander said in a statement earlier this month.
Reynolds total tenue with the Vols lasted two seasons, with one as a secondary pitching coach and one as the primary pitching coach. Tennessee hired East Carolina’s Austin Knight to fill the void just two days after parting ways with Reynolds.
𝘽𝙚𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙗 🧪@VTCoachSzefc is excited to welcome Josh Reynolds into the role of director of pitching performance / baseball analytics at Virginia Tech
🗞️ https://t.co/3icm1nyZmK#Hokies 🦃⚾️ pic.twitter.com/Z4QPOnZZQU
— Virginia Tech Baseball (@HokiesBaseball) June 17, 2026
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Virginia Tech’s press release touts Reynolds as “established mind in the game with a plethora of power conference coaching experience,” highlighting accomplishments such as helping position Tennessee “among the top 10 NCAA Division I pitching staffs in three categories ahead of its berth in the 2026 NCAA Chapel Hill Regional – fewest walks allowed per nine innings (3.13), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.33) and WHIP (1.27) – also cracking the top 50 in ERA (4.71).”
“We want to welcome Josh Reynolds to our coaching staff,” VT head coach John Szefc said in the press release. “He will be a tremendous addition to our staff in the role of director of pitching performance and baseball analytics. I have personally known Josh for more than 15 years. He is one of the best pitching guys in the business. His work, coupled with that of Doug Willey, will really elevate our whole pitching operation in general.”
Tennessee’s pitching staff took a major step back during the 2026 season, ranking 49th nationally in team-ERA. This comes after Tennessee’s pitching staff had ranked in the top 20 nationally in team-ERA each of the last seven seasons.
The Vols had a solid starting rotation of Tegan Kuhns, Landon Mack and Evan Blanco during the 2026 season but still struggled due to a bullpen that lacked quality depth. Brandon Arvidson, Cam Appenzeller and Bo Rhudy all had strong stretches but behind them, the Vols lacked reliable options.
The lack of depth showed up in a big way towards the end of the regular season. While Tennessee did get series wins over Texas and Oklahoma behind their high-powered bats, shaky Game 3 starters prevented both series from being sweeps and resulted in lopsided losses for the Vols.
The transfer portal has been open for about two weeks, and Tennessee Baseball has had plenty of news regarding its pitchers. Returning pitchers include RHP Landon Mack, LHP Cam Appenzeller, LHP Will Hass, LHP Chandler Day, and LHP Jackson Estes. The Vols have seen their fair share of pitchers enter the portal, especially from the right-handed crew, including RHP Brayden Krenzel (Arkansas), RHP Ari Bethea, RHP Nic Abraham, and RHP Sawyer Deering.
Pitchers who have not announced their plans for next year yet include RHP Brady Frederick, RHP Ethan Baiotto, RHP Jax Bishop, and RHP DJ McDowell.
Tennessee is losing three pitchers to the MLB Draft, including RHP Tegan Kuhns, LHP Brandon Arvidson, and RHP Bo Rhudy. The Vols did land a commitment from Northwestern State LHP Brody Trosclair recently.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee Baseball news.
