Coming full circle

Chip Hale and Willie Bloomquist had a lot in common this offseason. Both took high-profile head coaching jobs at their alma maters, Hale at Arizona and Bloomquist Arizona State. Both arrived at those jobs with their experience coming exclusively in professional baseball.

Hale was hired straight off the Tigers’ major league field staff, where he was third base coach in 2021. He previously served as a big league coach with the Mets, Athletics and Nationals, and he managed the D-backs in 2015 and 2016.

Bloomquist’s experience comes in the front office. After retiring as a player in 2016, he spent five years as a special assistant to D-backs president and CEO Derrick Hall.

This makes Hale and Bloomquist part of a larger trend in college baseball in recent years. College coaching jobs are increasingly being filled by coaches