Jeff Mercer adds Scott Rolen and completes his staff – Indiana University Baseball

Breaking News 

by Josh Bennett • @jmbennett22 • Jul 18

On Thursday July 7th Fred Glass announced that Jeff Mercer, a Hoosier native would be the 25th Baseball Head Coach at Indiana University. Just about a week later, Coach Mercer is announcing his staff…. And it has a heavy Hoosier flavor.

Pitching Coach – Justin Parker

As we previously mentioned last Thursday, Parker attended high school in Ft. Wayne.  He will be taking the same position that he held at UCF last season, and will be reuniting with Coach Mercer after the two previously spent time coaching together at Wright State.

Recruiting Coordinator – Dan Held

Held played in the Phillies organization from 1993-1998, and was on the major league roster for the 98 season.  After that he was a hitting coach for the SS Phillies, before moving on to become a Bullpen Assistant for the St. Louis Cardinals.  The Cardinals made two trips to the World Series during his tenure with the team, with one World Championship in 2006.

Although Held is a Wisconsin native he now lives in Noblesville, and was a coach with the Indiana Bulls.

Director of Player Development – Scott Rolen

Rolen a Jasper native (currently living in Bloomington), played on Coach Mercer’s Father’s first Indiana Bulls team, as well as played with Coach Held in the Phillies organization.

Rolen played 16 seasons in the Major Leagues hitting .281, and compiling over 2000 H, 300 HR, and 1200 RBI.  He was a World Series Champion in 2006 with the Cardinals, won the 2002 Silver Slugger Award, the 1997 Rookie of the Year, won 8 Gold Gloves, and was named to 7 All-Star Teams.

Be on the lookout for other articles, as well as a special podcast tonight, that will give a more in depth look at the hires.

For now, we’d just like to welcome all the new coaches to Hoosier Nation, and say we are excited about these selections from Coach Merc!