#9 Kevin Schnall
Assistant Coach - Second Season at UCF Kevin Schnall begins his second season at UCF as an assistant coach with the baseball team. He serves as the Knights’ hitting coach and recruiting coordinator. In Schnall’s first season with the Knights, senior C/3B Chris Taladay won Conference USA Player of the Year after leading the team with a .342 batting average, 43 RBI and a .409 on-base percentage. Senior OF Erik Hempe also earned C-USA First Team honors under Schnall’s tutelage after setting career highs in batting average and RBI while leading UCF in home runs and doubles. As the Knights’ recruiting coordinator, Schnall has been responsible for a pair of nationally-ranked recruiting classes per Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. The first of those recruiting classes landed Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American and C-USA AllFreshman Team member Zac Favre. He began his coaching career 13 years ago at Coastal Carolina. Serving as an assistant on Gary Gilmore’s staff, the Chanticleers made appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 11 out of 12 seasons while advancing to the Super Regionals in 2008 and 2010. In those same seasons, Schnall also aided Coastal
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Carolina to a share of the Big South regular season or tournament title. Schnall, a former Big South Player of the Year in his days behind the plate with the Chanticleers, also assisted with the catching unit his past 12 years in Conway. He coached Dock Doyle and Jose Iglesias, who were both finalists for the Johnny Bench Awards, given to the nation’s top collegiate catcher in 2008 and 2010, respectively. Most recently, Schnall aided Chanticleer backstop Tucker Frawley to semifinalist status for the same award.
The Schnall File Born: Jan. 30, 1977, in Easton, Pa. High School: Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville, N.J. College Education: Coastal Carolina, 2001 bachelor’s degree in business management Playing Career: Catcher - Coastal Carolina, 1996-99 Catcher - Billings Mustangs, 1999 Catcher - Dayton Dragons, 2000 Catcher - Sarasota Reds, 2000 Coaching Career: Assistant coach - Coastal Carolina, 2001-12 Assistant coach - UCF, 2012-Present
Schnall also boasts successful stints as a summer league head coach. In 2001, he coached Front Royal (Va.) of the Valley League and led the Cardinals to the playoffs. In 2002, Schnall was tabbed by the Baseball Factory to coach one of its select summer teams. In his playing days, Schnall became just the second Chanticleer in Big South history to bat over .400 in a season (.405). He was named Big South Player of the Year in 1999 and led Coastal to a 43-15 record, the program’s best mark since 1983. Schnall slugged seven home runs and collected 48 RBI and struck out just 19 times all season, setting a school record for on-base percentage (.515). He finished his career as an NCBWA Second Team All-American and was
a finalist for the Rotary Smith National Player of the Year award. Schnall’s collegiate success earned him notice from the Cincinnati Reds, who made him their 25th-round pick in 1999. He played two seasons in the Reds farm system, compiling time with the Billings Mustangs of the Pioneer League and the Dayton Dragons of the Midwest League. He is married to the former Megan Magee. The couple has two daughters, Sydney and Fallon, and a son, Jayden.