Mariners add college coach to major league staff

The Seattle Mariners will have a new major league field coordinator in 2026 with University of Nevada head coach Jake McKinley hired to fill the position vacated by Louis Boyd, who is returning to player development with the Mariners as the assistant director.

The hire of McKinley was first reported by Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball.com.

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McKinley comes to the Mariners after leading Nevada to a Mountain West championship in his third year as head coach. Prior to his time in Reno, Nev., he spent four seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers organization, finishing as vice president of player development.

A pitcher/first baseman at Bethany University, McKinley spent a decade coaching at a number of small colleges before being hired by the Brewers as minor league pitching coordinator. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communications from Bethany University and a Master’s of Arts in Social Science from Campbellsville University in 2008.

The Mariners have yet to announce their full 2026 coaching staff as after three years of relative stability, they have seen a good amount of turnover with third base coach Kristopher Negron leaving to become the bench coach of the Pirates and bullpen coach Tony Arnerich becoming the the bench coach of the Guardians. Arnerich’s position has been filled by former Mariners catcher Austin Nola.

In addition to the changes with uniformed staff, assistant general manager Andy McKay has departed to become the major league field coordinator with the Guardians, and coaching assistant and replay coordinator Andy Bissell announced his departure to pursue another path.

CAREER UPDATE: After 7 unforgettable seasons with the Seattle Mariners, I have decided to leave my role as Coaching Assistant and Replay Coordinator to pursue another path. This organization is where I began my journey in professional baseball, and it has been all my family and I… pic.twitter.com/tSqBBvRT3k

— Andy Bissell (@bissbaseball) November 20, 2025

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