FSU Pitching Coach Mike Bell Accepts Position as Pittsburgh Head Coach

Florida State associate head coach and pitching coach Mike Bell has accepted the head coaching position at Pittsburgh baseball. The hiring was made official on Tuesday afternoon by the Pitt Baseball Twitter account.

Bell has served in his position at Florida State since 2012, and he quickly became regarded as one of the premier pitching coaches in the country. Under his guidance, the team has boasted five 500-strikeout seasons and led the nation with 635 strikeouts in the most recent year.

Bell played at FSU in the 1990s and helped the team reach the 1994 and 1995 College World Series. Bell formerly served as the pitching coach at Florida Southern, Tennessee, and Oklahoma.

In addition to his pitching results, the Seminoles will likely miss Bell’s recruiting prowess. He was one of the top recruiters on the staff and was a key part in assembling multiple top 20 classes. 25 pitchers from FSU have been drafted since his hiring.

It is unclear at the moment who Florida State will replace Bell with. There is some speculation that the open spot could go to Mike Martin’s eventual successor, as next season was confirmed to be Martin’s final with the program.

Clint Eiland is the lead writer for The Daily Nole. You can follow him on Twitter @ClintEiland.