ABILENE, Texas -- A day after announcing the resignation of McMurry baseball coach Lee Driggers, athletic director Bill Libby announced Tuesday at a press conference the promotion of John Byington from associate head coach to head coach of McMurry baseball, effective Sept. 1.

Byington, who has been a part of the McMurry coaching staff for ten years, becomes just the second head coach at McMurry since the school brought back baseball in 1996 after a 47-year absence. 

Byington, 40, was originally hired in June of 1998 as an assistant coach on Driggers’ staff.  He served as an assistant coach from 1998-2007 before he was promoted to associate head coach for the 2008 season. 

“I want to thank the Lord Jesus Christ for making this possible,” Byington said.  “I also want to thank Coach Libby and Dr. Russell for hiring me, and Coach Driggers for recommending me to be his replacement. 

“Coach Driggers is an outstanding man to learn from on how to run a team,” Byington continued.  “Everything I know from a baseball-coaching standpoint has been from him.  He delegated a lot of responsibilities to me (when Byington was associate head coach) so I would be properly prepared to be a head coach.” 

Byington’s promotion to McMurry’s head coach marks his first head coaching job at a collegiate institution; however, Byington already has head coaching experience at the collegiate level as in the summer of 2007 he was head coach of the Athletes in Action Fire, which competed in the Alaska Baseball League.  He guided the Fire to a 26-15 record and a championship in the six-team league. 

“(McMurry baseball) is a nice program to inherit,” Byington said.  “It was run so effectively under Coach Driggers and has a lot of respect in the baseball world.  It’s nice to have a good foundation to work with.  My goal for the program is to grow on that foundation and become a national contender on a yearly basis.”

Byington began coaching as a student assistant at Texas A&M during the 1996 and 1997 seasons.  He then moved on to Schreiner University, where he was a volunteer assistant during the 1998 season. 

Byington first made his mark during his playing days as an all-American third baseman at Texas A&M from 1986-1989. 

He is best remembered at Texas A&M for his clutch hitting in the 1989 season when he hit game-winning home runs (a grand slam and a three-run homer) in consecutive games against the Texas Longhorns to lead the Aggies to the Southwest Conference Championship. 

After the 1989 season with the Aggies, Byington was selected in the third round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers, an organization Byington spent six seasons with.  He reached the Triple-A level with the Brewers before closing out his professional career with the Texas Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate, the Oklahoma City 89ers, in 1995. 

For his seven-year minor-league career, Byington hit .279 with 54 homers, 473 RBI and 177 doubles.

Byington earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M in 1994.  He is also a 1986 graduate of Robert E. Lee High School in Baytown, Texas. 

Byington and his wife, Kimi, have been married for 17 years.  They have three children -- a daughter Raegan (12), and sons Wade (10) and Cason (7).