Vanderbilt makes a change to its baseball coaching staff

Fans, players and coaches all wish the Commodores were still playing, but the offseason is in full swing and changes are being made.

Vanderbilt baseball head coach Tim Corbin speaks with the umpire during a NCAA baseball game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Vanderbilt Commodores at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on May 11, 2025. | Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Vanderbilt has an opening on its baseball coaching staff.

D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers is reporting that Vanderbilt assistant coach Jayson King is leaving Nashville “to pursue other opportunities” after just one season with the Commodores.

COACH SCOOP: @VandyBoys assistant Jayson King is leaving the program to pursue other opportunities, I'm told. King, who spent seven seasons as the head man at Dayton, joined the #VandyBoys staff for the 2025 season. The #Commodores now have an assistant vacancy.

UPDATED… pic.twitter.com/AbGRRvRvMT

— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) June 16, 2025

King was the Commodores’ hitting coach for this past season after seven seasons as the head coach at Dayton. Here’s what Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said before the season about King:

"Jayson is someone who I have known and respected for many years," Corbin said. "He brings 27 years of head coaching experience, but it goes well beyond that. He simply gets the best out of every situation that he's in, regardless of the resources. He's tough, relentless, he has winning fibers and a teacher's heart. Kids love playing for him and with him. There isn't a coaching road that Jayson hasn't traveled. His admiration for our program and wanting to coach here, was certainly humbling to me."

Vanderbilt had a great season, overall. The Commodores won the SEC Tournament and was the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. They were 43-18 overall, but it wasn’t the bats that other teams began to fear.

That may be why King is leaving after one season. The Commodores’ offense batted just .264, which is the second-lowest average among the SEC teams. Only Texas A&M had a lower batting average. The offense combined to record a .427 slugging percentage, .369 on-base percentage, 66 total home runs, 89 doubles and 16 triples.

Vanderbilt’s offense struggled in the first few SEC series this season, but got hot in April and May, leaving the Commodores to a 9-1 finish to the regular season and a dominant showing at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala.

But then the Commodores struggles returned at the Nashville NCAA Regional and the Commodores became the first ever No. 1 overall seed to fail to make its own regional final.