After a historically bad season for Arizona, particularly on the offensive end, a change was needed. Chip Hale wanted a hitting coach that could take advantage of Hi Corbett Field’s abundance of outfield grass, and it didn’t take long to find his guy.
Arizona has hired Saint Mary’s associate head coach Jack Meggs as hitting coach, the school announced Wednesday. He replaces Toby DeMello, who was not retained after five seasons.
Meggs, 31, spent the last four seasons at Saint Mary’s, where he oversaw
an offense that led the West Coast Conference in hitting the past two years. Its .327 batting average currently thanks third nationally and is also in the top 20 in doubles and triples, categories Arizona traditionally finishes high in.
The Gaels won the WCC Tournament the last two seasons, becoming the first No. 4 seed in an NCAA Regional to win its opening game in consecutive years. In 2025 Saint Mary’s upset eventual College World Series qualifier Oregon State in Corvallis, then this past weekend twice beat No. 1 overall seed UCLA before falling in the Los Angeles Regional final to Cal Poly.
The son of former Washington coach Lindsay Meggs, Jack Meggs played outfield for his father from 2024-17 before getting picked by the Oakland Athletics in the 10th round of the 2017 MLB Draft. He played 212 games for the Huskies, starting 178 including six against the UA at Hi Corbett Field.
Meggs played pro ball for three seasons before beginning his coaching career, spending three years at Kansas as a graduate assistant and then hitting coach prior to joining Saint Mary’s.
At Arizona, Meggs will be inheriting an offense that hit .256, down 30 percentage points from the 2025 squad that reached the College World Series, and averaged just over five runs per game. True or redshirt freshmen combining to make 204 starts in 2026 and most of those players are set to return, most notably first baseman Tony Lira, infielders Cash Brennan and Nate Novitske and outfielder Caleb Danzeisen along with upperclassmen Easton Breyfogle, Andrew Cain, Carson McEntire and Beau Sylvester.
Prior to hiring Meggs, Hale noted that his new hitting coach would have “a huge say on what the offense will look like, but also what kind of hitters he wants.” Arizona is expected to prioritize adding a leadoff hitter in the NCAA transfer portal along with bats for the middle of the field.
