UL Baseball Names Two New Assistant Coaches

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun baseball team named Jeremy Talbot and Daniel Freeman as new assistant coaches on Tuesday, pending board approval.

The two will replace Matt Deggs and Lance Harvell, who left last month to join the Sam Houston St. staff, with Deggs being named head coach there.

Talbot will serve as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator, while Freeman, who was named a volunteer assistant, will work with the pitching staff and help with on-campus recruiting.

A former hitting coach and recruiting coordinator at Texas A&M, Talbot served alongside Deggs with the Aggies from 2005-09, after serving as an assistant coach for one year at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Ala.

Prior to his stint at Jacksonville St., Talbot served as an assistant at ULM, where he was the hitting instructor and third base coach for four seasons, from 2001-2004.

A native of Labadieville, La., Talbot spent the 2000 season as an assistant at Northeast Texas Community College in Mt. Pleasant, Texas, where he coached all position players and assisted in recruiting, after serving as an assistant at both Nebraska (1999), and Nicholls St. (1998) to begin his coaching career.

As a player, Talbot was an all-state performer at Assumption High School, prior to playing college baseball at Mendocino Junior College (Calif.) and Nicholls St.

Freeman, who spent five seasons in the Houston Astros' organization, spent the last three years as the pitching coach at West Monroe High School.

A 17th round selection of the Astros in the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft out of Texarkana College, Freeman went 20-13 with a 3.55 ERA. in 172 career minor league games.

"Our goal was to go out and find a hitting coach that could continue to help us grow," said UL head coach Tony Robichaux. "Jeremy was the perfect answer having coached at a high level and played at a high level while coming from the same hitting system as Deggs. The two of them worked together at Texas A&M under head coach Rob Childress in a similar situation to here, where the head coach was also the pitching coach. I think it's a good fit, just like it was a good fit when Matt came in. I really like our hitting system and this hire will help to keep it the same.

"It's good to have Daniel come on to work with the pitchers and balance our staff out amongst the hitters and pitchers. Working with pitchers is unique where everyone has a different routine each day, while hitters will all do the same things each day. We knew we were going to lose a great coach like Lance, and we feel like Daniel is the perfect person to replace him having played at a high level and had success. He also has a background in conditioning and can help to elevate our game on the mound.

"I think we got the best of both worlds. Jeremy is the hitting guy we were looking for and should fit in pretty seamlessly, while Daniel will be able to come in and help our pitching staff and divvy up the coaching jobs more evenly."