Auburn Daily

Former Auburn Baseball Head Coach Returns to SEC in New Role

Tom Slater, who was Auburn's head baseball coach for four seasons, is back in the SEC after a long stint in both the Majors and Minor League.
Cam Parker|
Tom Slater had two stints at Auburn, one as an assistant and another as the head coach.
Tom Slater had two stints at Auburn, one as an assistant and another as the head coach. | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

A former Auburn Tigers baseball head coach is back in the SEC, temporarily in charge of one of the league's most notable programs.

Tom Slater, who spent time both as an assistant at Auburn (1995-2000) and as the head coach (2005-08), was announced on Friday as the new associate head coach and interim head coach of the Florida Gators.

He replaces Chuck Jeroloman, who departed for the associate head coach position at Tennessee, and will be the interim head coach while longtime head coach Kevin O'Sullivan continues a leave of absence.

Most notably, Slater led the Tigers to the Tallahassee Regional Finals in 2005, his first season as the head coach, but Auburn could not replicate that success in the rest of his tenure. He finished his time at Auburn with a 115-113 record overall and 43-77 record in SEC play.

His best success with the program came as an assistant from 1995-2000, helping Auburn reach 50 wins twice (1995, 1997) and 46 wins two more times (1998, 1999). Those seasons remain the top four seasons with the most wins in program history.

That 1997 season, in which Auburn went 50-17, the Tigers finished sixth at the College World Series.

In his 35-year coaching career, Slater also had stints as an assistant at St. Christopher's School (1991), an assistant at Marshall (1992), an assistant (1993-94) and head coach (2001-03) at VMI, an assistant at Florida (2004) and various roles within the New York Yankees organization (2009-17).

He also spent time as the New York Mets hitting coach (2018-21), senior advisor/Minor League hitting coordinator for the Miami Marlins (2021-24) and, most-recently, in the player development department with the Philadelphia Phillies.

His new job at Florida marks his first college coaching job since his stint as the head coach at Auburn.

Auburn will travel to Gainesville to play the Gators for a three-game series from April 17-19.

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Cam Parker
CAM PARKER

Cam Parker is a reporter covering the Florida Gators, Auburn Tigers and Clemson Tigers with a degree in journalism from the University of Florida. He also covers and broadcasts Alachua County high school sports with The Prep Zone and Mainstreet Daily News. When he isn't writing, he enjoys listening to '70s music such as The Band or Lynyrd Skynyrd, binge-watching shows and playing with his cat, Chester, and dog, Rufus.

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