Matt Myers released by WKU baseball
May 18, 2015
WKU athletic director Todd Stewart has announced that Matt Myers will not be retained as head baseball coach of the Hilltoppers next season, with the search for a new coach already underway.
“Matt Myers has always handled himself with total class while working tirelessly on behalf of our baseball program, and we thank him for his dedication, efforts and sacrifices,” said Stewart via press release. “He, his staff and our players have represented WKU with professionalism on and off the field and with distinction in the classroom.We also had some quality non-conference wins this season. Unfortunately, the program’s overall body of work over the last four years has not met the on-field performance standards all of us expect.”
Myers held the position for four seasons, but in his last campaign managed just a 24-28 record and missed post-season play with a 10-19 league record in the Conference USA and an 11th place finish. He guided the Hilltoppers to just three wins and 11 losses in their conference home contests, and went 1-10 in their final conference matchups.
Before taking the head coaching job, Myers served as an assistant under Chris Finwood since 2008. This marks the first season since 1998 that WKU has missed the post-season conference tournament.
“I would like to thank Dr. Gary Ransdell, Todd Stewart, Jim Clark, the WKU athletics department and University for their support of me and our program,” Myers said through the same press release. “I also want to thank the many people in the Bowling Green community that have been so caring and supportive of me and my family. I cannot begin to tell you how much your support has meant. It was always my goal to bring this community a championship, and I am sorry we were not able to accomplish that.”
The Bowling Green Daily news reported that Myers’ contract was set to expire this summer, but included an automatic one-year extension in both 2015-16 and 16-17 if the contract wasn’t terminated with cause.
Since Myers release does not count as termination with cause, the Daily News reported that WKU will owe Myers a $125,000 buyout, the equivalent of one year’s salary.
While the 11th place finish was the worst of Myers career at the Hill, in his first three he only managed an eighth place showing and two fifths.
“We must have more success in conference play and the postseason,” Stewart said. “Our 11th place finish in Conference USA this season with an experienced lineup fell far short of our goals, and our failure to qualify for the C-USA Tournament was particularly disappointing.”
