Jewett Adds Tighe Dickinson and Billy Jones to Staff
Aug 1, 2016 | Baseball
Dickinson and Jones bring wealth of collegiate baseball experience to Tulane
NEW ORLEANS – Tulane baseball's first-year head coach Travis Jewett has announced that Tighe Dickinson and Billy Jones will join the Green Wave staff as assistant coaches.
"I am extremely excited to announce the hiring of both Billy Jones and Tighe Dickinson to our baseball staff here at Tulane University," stated Jewett. "Billy and Tighe are reputable people and teachers of the game. I look forward to having them aboard and watching them help grow our program. I am certain the young men inside this culture will enjoy being in their presence and excited about what they can do for them not only as players but as people as well. Please help me welcome Billy and Tighe to the Tulane family."
Dickinson and Jones both bring a wealth of coaching experience to Tulane. Dickinson last coached collegiately at Florida International (2016) before moving immediately to the professional ranks as the pitching coach of the Cleveland Indians' Short-Season A Mahoning Valley Scrappers. Jones was most recently the head coach at Appalachian State (2013-16).
Tighe Dickinson
Tighe Dickinson (pronounced Ty) begins his first year with the Tulane baseball program as the team's pitching coach after serving as an assistant coach in both the professional and collegiate ranks.
Dickinson comes to Tulane having spent the beginning of the 2016 season as the pitching coach for the Cleveland Indians' Short-Season A club, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.
Prior to joining the Cleveland Indians organization, Dickinson spent time at Florida International, Arkansas State and Washington.
During his career, Dickinson has coached numerous Major League Baseball pitchers including two-time World Series Champion Tim Lincecum, 2013 World Series Champion Jon Lester and 2010 MLB All-Star Evan Meek. ). In all, Dickinson has coached 18 pitchers who have been drafted by Major League Baseball teams.
During his time with the Scrappers, Dickinson worked closely with two of the Indians' top picks in the 2016 draft in third-rounder Aaron Civale and fourth-rounder Shane Bieber. The Scrappers were sixth in the New York-Penn League in strikeouts upon Dickinson's appointment at Tulane.
In Dickinson's final year at Arkansas State in 2015, the Red Wolves' pitching staff enjoyed a solid campaign. The staff pitched to a 4.58 ERA and struck out the second-most batters in school history with 426. The staff also held opposing hitters to a .262 batting average and only threw 23 wild pitches.
Dickinson coached two draft picks in David Owen and Chandler Hawkins in 2015. Owen was again the team's best starting pitcher with a 3.25 ERA and was selected in the 19th round by the San Francisco Giants. Hawkins had his best year as an A-State pitcher with a 4.87 ERA and 5-7 record and he finished the season strong again with another dominant outing in the SBC Tournament to propel himself to a 33rd round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals. Dickinson also helped Coulton Lee to a 3.03 ERA after posting an ERA of 9.00 as a freshman and helped Adam Grantham's development as he worked to a 4.43 ERA after entering the season with a career mark of 7.92.
In 2014, the Red Wolves' staff struck out 423 batters, the third most in school history, and had a team ERA of 4.31 and collected 32 wins. Sophomore pitcher David Owen went 5-6 and was named to the Gregg Olson "Breakout Player of the Year" Watch List, the first A-State pitcher in program history to earn the honor.
Dickinson also helped guide Bradley Wallace to a 4-5 record on the season and a dominating 8.0-inning performance in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. Wallace drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays with 307th pick in the 10th round of the 2014 MLB Amateur Draft in June. He is the second-highest draft in Red Wolves history and the fifth pitcher that Dickinson has had drafted since arriving at Arkansas State.
In 2013 he coached one of the best pitching staff's in school history, including guiding Daniel Wright, who was a 10th round selection of the Cincinnati Reds, to an First Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection. Dickinson also helped John Koch become the school's all-time leader in saves and helped the 2013 pitching staff obliterate the team record for strikeouts in a season. The 2013 staff struck out 487 batters, breaking the record by 80 strikeouts, which had stood for over 15 years.
Dickinson coached former A-State pitcher Jacob Lee to one of the most successful seasons in school history in 2012. Lee is ASU's all-time leader in career strikeouts with 280. He broke ASU's previous record of 251 which was set by Rusty Bourg from 1967-70. Lee also finished with 24 victories, one shy of the all-time school record. He was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the ninth round of the 2012 MLB draft.
The 2012 pitching staff recorded 391 strikeouts, the third most in school history, and allowed just 254 earned runs on the year. Opponents hit just .270 against the Red Wolves and Dickinson helped the pitching staff win 34 games, the fourth most in school history.
While at A-State, Dickinson has had five players drafted including Bradley Wallace (Tampa Bay Rays), Daniel Wright (Cincinnati Reds), Jacob Lee (Cleveland Indians-2012), Brandon Farley (San Francisco Giants-2012) and Andy Ferguson (Kansas City Royals-2011).
In 2010 Dickinson helped the A-State pitching staff record the sixth most strikeouts in school history with 382.
Prior to his time at A-State, Dickinson coached 13 drafted pitchers including a first and second round pick while at Washington. Dickinson served as an assistant coach at Montesano High School in 2009-10 where he led the squad to a 21-4 first-place league finish and an appearance in the state playoffs.
Prior to his appointment at Washington, Dickinson served as head coach at Edmonds Community College where he led the squad to a third-place finish in the NWAACC Tournament and a 75-16 record as head coach, including a 40-8 conference mark.
Dickinson also served as head coach at Skyline High School in Issaquah in 2003, guiding the team to a 14-7 overall mark and a 13-5 conference record. He also served as pitching coach at Edmonds CC in 2000 and 2001.
Aside from his work at Edmonds and Skyline, Dickinson has also served as pitching coach at Taylor Baseball, a top youth summer program, since 2001. Taylor took third place in the national AAU tournament in 2001 and in 2002, finished second at the USA Baseball Federation national tournament. During the 2005 summer season, Taylor finished second at the USABF World Series and completed the season with a 59-7-1 record.
A native of Montesano, Wash., Dickinson graduated from Montesano High in 1994. After one year at Green River CC, he played three seasons of college baseball as a pitcher at Alabama-Birmingham, lettering in 1996, 1997 and 1998. In 1999, he earned a bachelor's degree in secondary education from UAB. He married his wife, Billie, on August 9, 2014.
Billy Jones
Billy Jones is in his first season with the Green Wave program after spending the previous four as the head coach of the Appalachian State Mountaineers. Jones has 20+ years of coaching experience.
Prior to joining Appalachian State, Jones spent the previous 14 seasons as a coach at four of college baseball's most elite programs — Oregon State (1999-2000), Arizona State (2001), NC State (2002-04) and Oklahoma State (2005-12).
Jones went 86-130 in one of the most challenging jobs in the country at Appalachian State. Jones helped guide the Mountaineers from the Southern Conference to the Sun Belt Conference before the 2015 season.
In four seasons at the helm of the Mountaineers, Jones coached eight all-conference performers (including First Team All-Sun Belt pitcher Taylor Thurber, Second Team All-Sun Belt second baseman Dillon Dobson in 2015 and Second Team All-Sun Belt shortstop Matt Vernon in 2016), an all-region selection (Hector Crespo in 2013) and one of only three freshman All-Americans in Appalachian State history (Jaylin Davis in 2013).
Jones saw eight of his Mountaineers selected in the First Year MLB Player Draft, with a school-record-tying four draftees apiece in 2013 and 2015.
During his first campaign as head coach in Boone, North Carolina, the Mountaineers posted a 30-win campaign. He has also led the Mountaineers to postseason wins in his first two seasons, including a berth in the Southern Conference Tournament semifinals in '13.
Prior to taking the reins at Appalachian State, Jones served as Oklahoma State's recruiting coordinator while working directly with the Cowboys' hitters and outfielders for eight seasons. He helped lead OSU to eight-straight winning campaigns, six NCAA Regional appearances, an NCAA Super Regional and a Big 12 Tournament championship. The Cowboys notched three 40-win campaigns, closed the season ranked among the nation's top 25 three times and finished among the top four in the ultra-competitive Big 12 on five occasions during Jones' eight years with the program.
As Oklahoma State's recruiting coordinator, he led the efforts to bring 33 eventual Major League Baseball draftees and four future all-Americans into the program. Among his most notable recruits were first-team all-Americans Tyler Mach, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2007 MLB Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies and Andrew Heaney, who was selected No. 9 overall by the Miami Marlins in the 2012 MLB Draft. He also recruited Jason Hursh, the 31st overall selection of the Atlanta Braves in last year's MLB Draft. In all, Jones recruited and coached the only Big 12 Player of the Year (Mach - 2006), Big 12 Pitcher of the Year (Heaney - 2012), Big 12 Newcomer of the Year (Zach Johnson - 2011) and Big 12 Freshman of the Year (Corey Brown - 2005) in OSU history. Seven players that he coached at OSU have gone on to play in the Major Leagues, which is more Major Leaguers than any other Big 12 program produced from 2005-12.
Before heading to Stillwater, Jones was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at North Carolina State from 2002-04. His reputation as one of the nation's top recruiters began at NC State, where he brought in 21 players that would go on to be selected in the MLB Draft and six that would earn all-America recognition. On the field, the Wolfpack put together three-straight winning seasons and earned two NCAA Regional berths with Jones on the bench, highlighted by a 45-18 campaign in 2003 that culminated with the program's first NCAA Regional championship since 1968. For his efforts at NC State, Jones was named one of five finalists for Baseball America's National Assistant Coach of the Year award in 2003 and was promoted to assistant head coach for his final season in 2004.
His Division I coaching career began with two seasons as an assistant coach at Oregon State (1999 and 2000), followed by one season at Arizona State (2001), coaching infielders at both schools. Following his only season at Arizona State, he served as head coach of the Brewster Whitecaps of the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League in the summer of 2001, where he was also selected to manage in the CCBL's annual All-Star game.
Jones started his coaching career in 1995 at Green River Community College, in Auburn, Wash., serving as an assistant coach for two seasons (1995-96) before taking over as head coach for the 1997 and '98 campaigns. He was named the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) Western Region Coach of the Year after leading the Gators to a regional championship in 1998, when his squad hit .342 with 60 home runs in just 36 games and 11 players earned all-region recognition. He also coached the Western Region club to victory in the 1998 NWAACC all-star game.
A native of Kent, Washington, Jones played collegiately at Lower Columbia College in Longview, Wash., where he hit .433 as a freshman in 1988, and Bellvue Community College in Bellvue, Wash. before transferring to NCAA Division I Southwest Texas State (now Texas State) for his senior season. He earned a bachelor of science in liberal studies from Oregon State in 2001.
Jones and his wife, Tiffani, have two sons: Ryder, an infielder in the San Francisco Giants' organization who was selected by the Giants in the second round of the 2013 MLB Draft, and Utah, an infielder at the University of North Carolina.
"I am extremely excited to announce the hiring of both Billy Jones and Tighe Dickinson to our baseball staff here at Tulane University," stated Jewett. "Billy and Tighe are reputable people and teachers of the game. I look forward to having them aboard and watching them help grow our program. I am certain the young men inside this culture will enjoy being in their presence and excited about what they can do for them not only as players but as people as well. Please help me welcome Billy and Tighe to the Tulane family."
Dickinson and Jones both bring a wealth of coaching experience to Tulane. Dickinson last coached collegiately at Florida International (2016) before moving immediately to the professional ranks as the pitching coach of the Cleveland Indians' Short-Season A Mahoning Valley Scrappers. Jones was most recently the head coach at Appalachian State (2013-16).
Tighe Dickinson
Tighe Dickinson (pronounced Ty) begins his first year with the Tulane baseball program as the team's pitching coach after serving as an assistant coach in both the professional and collegiate ranks.
Dickinson comes to Tulane having spent the beginning of the 2016 season as the pitching coach for the Cleveland Indians' Short-Season A club, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.
Prior to joining the Cleveland Indians organization, Dickinson spent time at Florida International, Arkansas State and Washington.
During his career, Dickinson has coached numerous Major League Baseball pitchers including two-time World Series Champion Tim Lincecum, 2013 World Series Champion Jon Lester and 2010 MLB All-Star Evan Meek. ). In all, Dickinson has coached 18 pitchers who have been drafted by Major League Baseball teams.
During his time with the Scrappers, Dickinson worked closely with two of the Indians' top picks in the 2016 draft in third-rounder Aaron Civale and fourth-rounder Shane Bieber. The Scrappers were sixth in the New York-Penn League in strikeouts upon Dickinson's appointment at Tulane.
In Dickinson's final year at Arkansas State in 2015, the Red Wolves' pitching staff enjoyed a solid campaign. The staff pitched to a 4.58 ERA and struck out the second-most batters in school history with 426. The staff also held opposing hitters to a .262 batting average and only threw 23 wild pitches.
Dickinson coached two draft picks in David Owen and Chandler Hawkins in 2015. Owen was again the team's best starting pitcher with a 3.25 ERA and was selected in the 19th round by the San Francisco Giants. Hawkins had his best year as an A-State pitcher with a 4.87 ERA and 5-7 record and he finished the season strong again with another dominant outing in the SBC Tournament to propel himself to a 33rd round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals. Dickinson also helped Coulton Lee to a 3.03 ERA after posting an ERA of 9.00 as a freshman and helped Adam Grantham's development as he worked to a 4.43 ERA after entering the season with a career mark of 7.92.
In 2014, the Red Wolves' staff struck out 423 batters, the third most in school history, and had a team ERA of 4.31 and collected 32 wins. Sophomore pitcher David Owen went 5-6 and was named to the Gregg Olson "Breakout Player of the Year" Watch List, the first A-State pitcher in program history to earn the honor.
Dickinson also helped guide Bradley Wallace to a 4-5 record on the season and a dominating 8.0-inning performance in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. Wallace drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays with 307th pick in the 10th round of the 2014 MLB Amateur Draft in June. He is the second-highest draft in Red Wolves history and the fifth pitcher that Dickinson has had drafted since arriving at Arkansas State.
In 2013 he coached one of the best pitching staff's in school history, including guiding Daniel Wright, who was a 10th round selection of the Cincinnati Reds, to an First Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection. Dickinson also helped John Koch become the school's all-time leader in saves and helped the 2013 pitching staff obliterate the team record for strikeouts in a season. The 2013 staff struck out 487 batters, breaking the record by 80 strikeouts, which had stood for over 15 years.
Dickinson coached former A-State pitcher Jacob Lee to one of the most successful seasons in school history in 2012. Lee is ASU's all-time leader in career strikeouts with 280. He broke ASU's previous record of 251 which was set by Rusty Bourg from 1967-70. Lee also finished with 24 victories, one shy of the all-time school record. He was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the ninth round of the 2012 MLB draft.
The 2012 pitching staff recorded 391 strikeouts, the third most in school history, and allowed just 254 earned runs on the year. Opponents hit just .270 against the Red Wolves and Dickinson helped the pitching staff win 34 games, the fourth most in school history.
While at A-State, Dickinson has had five players drafted including Bradley Wallace (Tampa Bay Rays), Daniel Wright (Cincinnati Reds), Jacob Lee (Cleveland Indians-2012), Brandon Farley (San Francisco Giants-2012) and Andy Ferguson (Kansas City Royals-2011).
In 2010 Dickinson helped the A-State pitching staff record the sixth most strikeouts in school history with 382.
Prior to his time at A-State, Dickinson coached 13 drafted pitchers including a first and second round pick while at Washington. Dickinson served as an assistant coach at Montesano High School in 2009-10 where he led the squad to a 21-4 first-place league finish and an appearance in the state playoffs.
Prior to his appointment at Washington, Dickinson served as head coach at Edmonds Community College where he led the squad to a third-place finish in the NWAACC Tournament and a 75-16 record as head coach, including a 40-8 conference mark.
Dickinson also served as head coach at Skyline High School in Issaquah in 2003, guiding the team to a 14-7 overall mark and a 13-5 conference record. He also served as pitching coach at Edmonds CC in 2000 and 2001.
Aside from his work at Edmonds and Skyline, Dickinson has also served as pitching coach at Taylor Baseball, a top youth summer program, since 2001. Taylor took third place in the national AAU tournament in 2001 and in 2002, finished second at the USA Baseball Federation national tournament. During the 2005 summer season, Taylor finished second at the USABF World Series and completed the season with a 59-7-1 record.
A native of Montesano, Wash., Dickinson graduated from Montesano High in 1994. After one year at Green River CC, he played three seasons of college baseball as a pitcher at Alabama-Birmingham, lettering in 1996, 1997 and 1998. In 1999, he earned a bachelor's degree in secondary education from UAB. He married his wife, Billie, on August 9, 2014.
Billy Jones
Billy Jones is in his first season with the Green Wave program after spending the previous four as the head coach of the Appalachian State Mountaineers. Jones has 20+ years of coaching experience.
Prior to joining Appalachian State, Jones spent the previous 14 seasons as a coach at four of college baseball's most elite programs — Oregon State (1999-2000), Arizona State (2001), NC State (2002-04) and Oklahoma State (2005-12).
Jones went 86-130 in one of the most challenging jobs in the country at Appalachian State. Jones helped guide the Mountaineers from the Southern Conference to the Sun Belt Conference before the 2015 season.
In four seasons at the helm of the Mountaineers, Jones coached eight all-conference performers (including First Team All-Sun Belt pitcher Taylor Thurber, Second Team All-Sun Belt second baseman Dillon Dobson in 2015 and Second Team All-Sun Belt shortstop Matt Vernon in 2016), an all-region selection (Hector Crespo in 2013) and one of only three freshman All-Americans in Appalachian State history (Jaylin Davis in 2013).
Jones saw eight of his Mountaineers selected in the First Year MLB Player Draft, with a school-record-tying four draftees apiece in 2013 and 2015.
During his first campaign as head coach in Boone, North Carolina, the Mountaineers posted a 30-win campaign. He has also led the Mountaineers to postseason wins in his first two seasons, including a berth in the Southern Conference Tournament semifinals in '13.
Prior to taking the reins at Appalachian State, Jones served as Oklahoma State's recruiting coordinator while working directly with the Cowboys' hitters and outfielders for eight seasons. He helped lead OSU to eight-straight winning campaigns, six NCAA Regional appearances, an NCAA Super Regional and a Big 12 Tournament championship. The Cowboys notched three 40-win campaigns, closed the season ranked among the nation's top 25 three times and finished among the top four in the ultra-competitive Big 12 on five occasions during Jones' eight years with the program.
As Oklahoma State's recruiting coordinator, he led the efforts to bring 33 eventual Major League Baseball draftees and four future all-Americans into the program. Among his most notable recruits were first-team all-Americans Tyler Mach, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2007 MLB Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies and Andrew Heaney, who was selected No. 9 overall by the Miami Marlins in the 2012 MLB Draft. He also recruited Jason Hursh, the 31st overall selection of the Atlanta Braves in last year's MLB Draft. In all, Jones recruited and coached the only Big 12 Player of the Year (Mach - 2006), Big 12 Pitcher of the Year (Heaney - 2012), Big 12 Newcomer of the Year (Zach Johnson - 2011) and Big 12 Freshman of the Year (Corey Brown - 2005) in OSU history. Seven players that he coached at OSU have gone on to play in the Major Leagues, which is more Major Leaguers than any other Big 12 program produced from 2005-12.
Before heading to Stillwater, Jones was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at North Carolina State from 2002-04. His reputation as one of the nation's top recruiters began at NC State, where he brought in 21 players that would go on to be selected in the MLB Draft and six that would earn all-America recognition. On the field, the Wolfpack put together three-straight winning seasons and earned two NCAA Regional berths with Jones on the bench, highlighted by a 45-18 campaign in 2003 that culminated with the program's first NCAA Regional championship since 1968. For his efforts at NC State, Jones was named one of five finalists for Baseball America's National Assistant Coach of the Year award in 2003 and was promoted to assistant head coach for his final season in 2004.
His Division I coaching career began with two seasons as an assistant coach at Oregon State (1999 and 2000), followed by one season at Arizona State (2001), coaching infielders at both schools. Following his only season at Arizona State, he served as head coach of the Brewster Whitecaps of the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League in the summer of 2001, where he was also selected to manage in the CCBL's annual All-Star game.
Jones started his coaching career in 1995 at Green River Community College, in Auburn, Wash., serving as an assistant coach for two seasons (1995-96) before taking over as head coach for the 1997 and '98 campaigns. He was named the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) Western Region Coach of the Year after leading the Gators to a regional championship in 1998, when his squad hit .342 with 60 home runs in just 36 games and 11 players earned all-region recognition. He also coached the Western Region club to victory in the 1998 NWAACC all-star game.
A native of Kent, Washington, Jones played collegiately at Lower Columbia College in Longview, Wash., where he hit .433 as a freshman in 1988, and Bellvue Community College in Bellvue, Wash. before transferring to NCAA Division I Southwest Texas State (now Texas State) for his senior season. He earned a bachelor of science in liberal studies from Oregon State in 2001.
Jones and his wife, Tiffani, have two sons: Ryder, an infielder in the San Francisco Giants' organization who was selected by the Giants in the second round of the 2013 MLB Draft, and Utah, an infielder at the University of North Carolina.
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