(Tempe, AZ) Sun Devil Baseball finalized its support staff ahead of the 2024 season, featuring Dan Jaffe being elevated to a new role as director of baseball operations & analytics, former Hendrix College head baseball coach Sean McSheffery as the director of player development and Sun Devil legend Brett Wallace as the director of quality control & player strategy, as announced by head coach Willie Bloomquist today.
Anthony Gilich was hired by Bloomquist in July as an assistant coach after spending 16 years at Central Arizona College where he won two NJCAA National Championships as head coach (2019, 2022). ASU has also added Nolan Lebamoff as a Student Assistant Coach after he competed for the Sun Devils on the mound last season.
“These are five guys that are going to add dynamic baseball talent and experience to our baseball staff. A tremendous amount of lived baseball experience and knowledge that will help our staff continue to thrive,” said head coach Willie Bloomquist. “We’re also thrilled to have Coach Gilich with his extensive knowledge and success at the junior college level. Being in the national championship game four of the last five years, his energy and his desire to be great is phenomenal. And it is always a great opportunity to help develop our recent alumni as they take the next steps in their post-playing careers and we are excited to do that with Nolan.”
Dan Jaffe, Director of Baseball Operations & Analytics
Jaffe spent the 2023 season as a volunteer assistant coach with the Sun Devils, after spending the two seasons prior at the University of Pacific producing top-100 recruiting classes for the first time in program history for the Boxers. In 2022, Jaffe mentored two MLB draftees, Hunter Hayes (Cardinals, 16th Round) and Elijah Birdsong (Pirates, 18thRound).
In his new role, Jaffe will oversee day-to-day operations of the baseball program and take a leading role in the utilization of the Whiteman Family Performance Center, the Sun Devil’s Pitching Lab located behind right field at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Prior to working at Pacific, Jaffe spent a season with Georgia Tech developing pitchers, catchers and first basemen, where the Yellow Jackets reached No. 3 in the country and were ACC champions. During the year he developed scouting reports and recruited for the team in 2019.
Before joining the college ranks, Jaffe was a scout for the San Diego Padres in the Fall of 2018 as an associate scout and worked for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in the Cape Cod League that summer.
Jaffe spent two years with the College of Southern Nevada, which he also attended during his undergrad years. There, he was the catching coach, camp director and recruiting coordinator and helped guide the team to a 2017 Junior College World Series appearance.
Sean McSheffery, Director of Player Development
In a newly created role, McSheffery will perform recruiting organization and research and be heavily involved in scouting reports and game-planning. He will also oversee the Sun Devil baseball camp program.
“McSheffery adds a dynamic element to our baseball staff; he’s a tremendous role guy with a lot of background and understanding of what makes a good player at this level,” said Bloomquist. ” He’s going to be a very important guy in the recruiting world for us and he’s extremely valuable with what we’re doing here in Tempe.”
Prior to joining Bloomquist’s staff, McSheffery spent time with the Kenosha Kingfish as a manager in 2022 and served in a baseball operations role for the Phenom Wisconsin baseball program. After spending two seasons at Hendrix University, McSheffery was elevated as a manager in 2019 compiling a 48-46 record where he spent three seasons but guided the Warriors to its first-ever SAA Regular Season Championship with a 30-14 record in his first year.
Before taking over the head coach position at Hendrix, he assisted as hitting coach, infield coach and handled recruiting duties for the Warriors. Throughout his coaching career, he has worked with 20 players who’ve been drafted professionally.
Before working at Hendrix in 2017, McSheffery spent two seasons at Florida International University and spent three seasons with the San Diego Padres single-A team, the Eugene Emeralds and the Triple-AAA affiliate Tucson Padres from 2012-2014 being responsible for day-to-day operations of the club and managing scouting reports.
The Dallas graduate was named an assistant coach at Phoenix College in 2012 and was a volunteer assistant in 2011 at Dallas University after graduating.
Brett Wallace, Director of Quality Control & Offensive Strategy
Returning to the Sun Devils after being a two-time Pac-10 Player of the Year (2007, 2008) and a two-time triple crown winner in the Maroon & Gold, Wallace will be responsible for performing video analysis and assisting with offensive game planning.
“Brett’s time as a Sun Devil was legendary. He’s lived all aspects of this journey and I can’t wait for our student-athletes to learn from his experience and insights.” said Bloomquist. “We talk about Sun Devils for Life a lot in this program and I was thrilled that he approached us wanting to help Sun Devil Baseball.”
After starring for ASU from 2006-2008, Wallace spent seven years in the MLB with the Houston Astros and San Diego Padres where he assembled 305 hits, 143 runs, 138 RBIs, and 40 home runs throughout his career before retiring in 2017.
In 2008, he remained one of the best hitters in the country with a career high .410 batting average and 98 hits in his final year with an ASU team that won the Pac-10 title for the second straight year. Wallace added 22 home runs and 83 RBIs to his tally, which helped him become the fifth player in conference history to win back-to-back Pac-10 Player of the Year honors, and only the second time in conference history for a Sun Devil to win the award in back-to-back seasons with Casey Myers being the first. After the season, he was a first-round selection to the St. Louis Cardinals with the 13th overall pick.
In 2007 as a Sun Devil, he had one of the best seasons out of anyone to ever don the Maroon & Gold. Compiling a .404 batting average with 107 hits and leading the Pac-10 in nearly every offensive category, by leading the conference in batting average, slugging percentage (.687), runs scored (75), hits, RBI (78), homers (16) and total bases (182). He would earn First-team All-American honors and second-team ABCA All-American honors in 2007, leading the team to Omaha and the College World Series. He would later become the 12th Sun Devil to win Pac-10 Player of the Year and represented Team USA in the Pan American games.
As a freshman in 2006, he led the team with a .371 batting average and was named All-Pac-10 Honorable Mention after appearing in 48 games and starting in 38 as a designated hitter. He had a .583 slugging percentage in conference with 32 RBIs, 31 runs scored and belting seven home runs and ended the year on a 10-game hitting streak.
Nolan Lebamoff, Student Assistant Coach
After spending a season on the mound for the Sun Devils last season, Nolan Lebamoff will join the staff as a Student Assistant Coach this season.
Lebamoff appeared in a team-high 25 games last season, posting a 3-0 record and a 4.50 ERA and leading the squad with eight holds. Lebamoff started his career at Kankakee College and Valparaiso.
As part of the support staff, Lebamoff will work closely with the team’s pitchers under pitching coach Sam Peraza, providing valuable insight from the bullpen and also helping oversee the team’s student managers.
As a graduate student, Lebamoff has recorded over a 4.00 GPA in Organizational Leadership from ASU’s College of Integrative Sciences and Arts.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Jeremy Hawkes
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