University of South Florida head baseball coach Billy Mohl has named Alan Kunkel to his staff as associate head coach. Kunkel returns to South Florida after previously serving as an assistant coach with the Bulls in 2020-21.
Kunkel arrives back in Tampa after spending the previous two seasons (2022-23) as assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at UAB.
Under Kunkel, UAB saw its team batting average rise from .250 in 2021 to .279 in 2022. The Blazers also had improved marks in home runs (from 33 to 54), slugging (.366 to .421) and OBP (.330 to .375) during his first season in Birmingham.
Despite his first season with the Bulls being cut short due to COVID-19, Kunkel's work with USF's hitters paid dividends the next year during the team's historic postseason run in 2021. He helped develop both Carmine Lane and Drew Brutcher into Freshman All-Americans that season as the Bulls won the 2021 American Athletic Conference Tournament Championship, the Gainesville Regional and reached the program's first-ever Super Regional. Additionally, redshirt freshman Daniel Cantu was named the 2021 AAC Tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Prior to USF, Kunkel spent four seasons as head varsity coach and director of baseball operations at Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He guided the program to a pair of Class 4A state titles during his tenure. The team finished 22-4 in 2019 and 28-4 in 2018.
Prior to his time at Calvary Christian Academy, Kunkel was the head coach of Florida Travel Ball Tucci and the director of recruitment and teams from 2010-2013. He then returned to FTB in August of 2017. In 2012, FTB was rated as one of the top travel ball organizations in the U.S. in 2012. The team was the WWBA World Championship runner-up in 2017. Kunkel coached nine MLB Draft selections with Florida Travel Ball, including two first -rounders.
From 2013-2017, Kunkel was the director of college recruiting and head coach of the 17U Prime Team with South Florida Elite in Pembroke Pines. The team made the WWBA Final Four and Perfect Game World Series Final Four in 2015. The team placed third at the Perfect Game World Series in 2014 and was the PG Memorial Day Weekend champion that year as well.
Kunkel also had a coaching stint at Westminster Academy in Fort Lauderdale as an assistant with both the baseball and football programs from 2012-2015. He coached with the USSSA All-America Team in 2013, as it competed in Prague, Czech Republic and won bronze. The team was also the 18U champion of the Gold Medal Games.
Kunkel's first head coaching role was at Orangewood Christian School in Maitland, Fla. He coached that team to a 120-80 record from 2004-2011. Orangewood Christian was the 2A District 7 champions in 2009, 2010 and 2011. The 2011 club was the Class 2A state runner-up, finishing 30-2. That team also held the Sentinel Super Six No. 1 ranking, was in Baseball America's top 50 and set the state home run record for a single season (83). The team had several individual honors, including a Baseball America All-American, two Under Armor All-Americans, three Rawlings All-Americans, one Louisville Slugger All-American, two Central Florida Player of the Year recipients, 11 All Central Florida Team members, five all-state players and 23 all-district players.
Throughout his coaching career, Kunkel has coached over 70 players that were selected in the MLB Draft dating back to the 2011.
Aside from coaching, Kunkel has served as an associate scout with the Toronto Blue Jays, evaluating talent of area high school and collegiate players since 2017. He held the same title with the San Diego Padres from November, 2010 - August, 2017.
Kunkel played at Glen Oaks Community College in Centreville, Mich., from 1995-1997. He then transferred to the University of North Carolina, where he played in Chapel Hill from 1997-1998. His UNC team was a NCAA Regional finalist in 1998 and was ranked in the top 15.
