Just five months ago, Noah Meffert and his Gonzaga Bulldogs were celebrating their final West Coast Conference regular-season title. Jump to today, the former outfielder is still around the game in a different capacity.
Meffert was hired by his alma mater to join the coaching staff back in the middle of September. It’s quite the quick turnaround from playing the game he loves to now giving advice to some of his former teammates. How did this new career path all come about?
“The coaching journey started
with me when I was a freshman in college. I had a really, really impactful head coach at my first school, Kevin Copples at George Fox. He was awesome. He kind of walked me through my freshman year and got me started down this path of being a college baseball player. I remember when I was interacting with him and when I was spending time with him, I was like, I want to do this one day. I want to have an impact on somebody’s life that he’s had on mine.”
The Coupeville, Washington native played three seasons at George Fox in Newberg, Oregon, from 2022 to 2024, and one season at Point Loma Nazarene in San Diego, California, in 2025. Meffert made his way back to the state of Washington for his redshirt senior campaign, starting 53 games for the Zags while hitting for a .314 batting average with 15 doubles, 11 home runs, and 47 runs batted in. The speedster stole a team-high eight bases and collected a .982 fielding percentage in the outfield with 117 putouts, earning him Honorable Mention All-West Coast Conference honors.
Meffert had continuing conversations with Gonzaga head coach Mark Machtolf over the course of his final season to discuss his future with the college baseball program.
“It’s a huge blessing. A huge thank you to all the guys on staff who not only allowed me, but also made it possible for me to get this spot because I’m having a blast. I couldn’t have it any other way.“
Starting one’s coaching career with a strong mid-major institution like the one in Spokane, Washington, is truly a blessing. As a matter of fact, many don’t ever even sniff the Division I level throughout their whole career.
“I would say there are two aspects of it. The first part is the fact that it’s lucky to be a first-time coach starting out at a Division I baseball program. A lot of people work for years to get to this level. And then I just think having spent time around the coaching staff during the summer, during this time here in the fall… it was like a bunch of brothers when I played with them, and it’s kind of like they all grew up. It’s the same way in the coaching staff.”
When speaking with Meffert about what his role is going to look like in Year 1, the conversation focused on in-state or Pacific Northwest recruiting. The entirety of the job description is still being worked out.
“The full extent of the role I have yet to get into and to grow into. I’m helping make everybody’s jobs easier, and that’s what I was told by a couple of people is your job when you start out. But I’ve had some conversations with Coach Mack, Coach (Brandon) Harmon, and some of our other assistants about trying to get more involved in recruiting. I hope to be able to do that because I have some connections on the West Side of Washington as well. And that is a key aspect of being a good coach: being able to recruit really well. I want to learn how to do that. As of right now, the role is just to do what everybody tells me and make everybody’s life as easy as possible.”
Gonzaga baseball has had seven 30-win campaigns in the last 10 seasons, including five West Coast Conference regular season championships and four NCAA Tournament appearances. When on those recruiting trips and talking to recruits and their families, Meffert looks to paint the picture of why this small Jesuit school in the Inland Northwest is such an underrated destination for talent.
A fun fact he will be throwing out there in his recruiting pitch is that nine Zag alumni appeared in an MLB game this year alone. Gonzaga also has a streak of having at least one player selected in every full MLB Draft since 1999.
“I think for recruiting, to be able to highlight that success is a big thing. When you bring a recruit in, especially to a Division I program, you want to be able to offer them a future. Like you want to be able to say, here, this is what we can do for you. If you go into our baseball facility, walking down the main hallway, there are two walls. There are guys who have been drafted, and there are guys who are currently playing in the big leagues. And there’s quite a few names on both walls.”
The upcoming 2027 group, with the help of Meffert, looked to build up their chemistry early during the fall schedule as they prepare for their first season as a member of the Pac-12 Conference this spring.
Pac-12 Conference Baseball Schedule Released
Gonzaga just released its first Pac-12 baseball schedule with an exciting, but tough slate of new opponents coming to the Patterson Baseball Complex.
The Zags open up the new chapter with a road series at the Texas State Bobcats from April 9 to 11. They host the Fresno State Bulldogs from April 16 to 18, the Oregon State Beavers from April 23, and Dallas Baptist from May 7 to 9.
Fresno State won the College World Series in 2008. Oregon State has won multiple College World Series titles in 2006, 2007, and 2018. Dallas Baptist was an NCAA regional champion in 2011 and 2021.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
