BREAKING: USM Hitting Coach Travis Creel Hired as Jacksonville State Head Coach

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - After spending the last seven seasons as the hitting coach for the Southern Miss baseball program, Travis Creel is leaving Hattiesburg to become the next head coach of the Jacksonville State Gamecocks, multiple sources tell Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI.

After former Jacksonville State head coach Steve Bieser left to assume the same position at Grand Canyon University, the Gamecocks decided that Creel was the best candidate to lead their program going forward. Jacksonville State officially announced Creel as its next head coach soon after this report was published.

Creel, 36, was the hitting coach for the Golden Eagles under former head coach Scott Berry and current head coach Christian Ostrander for the better part of a decade. Addtionally, he helped out with the defensive side of the game along with recruitment. This past season, Southern Miss led the conference with a .981 fielding percentage. Additionally, they ranked in the top 5 in the conference in the following statistics: batting average (.287), hits (.591), home runs (86), runs batted in (377), slugging percentage (.469), and much more.

Aside from the 2026 season, the Golden Eagles' team batting average improved in every season since Creel was hired. Southern Miss is coming off a season where it won its first-ever Sun Belt regular-season championship, as well as its third Sun Belt tournament championship in four years.

Given the amount of speed that Southern Miss has coming to Hattiesburg with its upcoming freshman and transfer portal class, we were already expecting the Golden Eagles to tweak their offensive philosophy a little bit, whether Creel had stayed or not. The Golden Eagles could see a significant uptick in 2027 when it comes to more aggressive calls on offense.

Now there are two big questions looming: 1) Who will replace Creel as USM's hitting coach? 2) Will Creel end up taking any current USM players or recruits with him to Jacksonville State?

Stay tuned to Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI for more information regarding the newly opened USM hitting coach position.

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