There’s an old adage in coaching: you never want to be the man to replace the man. Well, Kevin Schnall has been preparing for that opportunity his entire career. On Monday, Coastal Carolina officially named the former Chanticleer catcher as the school’s sixth head baseball coach. Schnall replaces Gary Gilmore, who retired after the 2024 campaign following a 29-year career guiding the CCU program.
Schnall, who was CCU’s first NCBWA All-American, served as an assistant to Gilmore from 2001 to 2012 before spending three seasons as the University of Central Florida’s hitting instructor and recruiting coordinator. He returned to his alma mater in 2016 and helped guide the Chanticleers to a national championship in his first season back on staff. Schnall also served as CCU’s acting head coach in 2020, as Gilmore missed time due to medical reasons. And now, it’s his turn.
Named one of the top 15 premier assistant coaches for 2018 by D1Baseball, Schnall has mentored 10 players who have earned conference Player of the Year honors. Under his guidance, Daniel Bowman set CCU career records for hits, RBI, and total bases, while Matt Beaird ended his career behind the plate as Coastal’s career and single-season leader in runners caught stealing.
The Chants have led the conference in home runs in 12 of Schnall’s seasons on staff and have been the league leaders in runs scored 12 times, including each of the past two seasons. CCU has scored at least 500 runs seven times in Schnall’s last 14 seasons on staff after failing to crack 500 in each of the program’s first 22 seasons.
CCU Media Release on Schnall:
“Being given the privilege to coach at my alma mater and now lead this program is one of the greatest honors of my life,” said Schnall. “I am deeply grateful to Matt Hogue, Dr. Benson, and our Board of Trustees for entrusting me with the leadership of our storied baseball program. If it weren’t for the opportunity Gary Gilmore gave me 24 years ago, this wouldn’t be possible. His leadership and guidance have brought us to where we are today, and I am forever indebted to him. Coastal Carolina is a special place, and my family and I couldn’t be more excited!”
Schnall played catcher for the Chanticleers from 1995-99 and was inducted into the George F. “Buddy” Sasser Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005. The 1999 Big South Conference Player of the Year, Schnall set the CCU single-season record for on-base percentage and was hired by his alma mater as an assistant coach in 2001.
In 2024, the Chants led the Sun Belt Conference in runs and RBI and ranked first in the league in batting average, runs scored, hits, doubles, RBI, total bases, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage in 2023.
Twice, Schnall has been recognized by Baseball America in a survey of the nation’s head coaches as one of the nation’s top assistant coaches, ranking seventh prior to the 2013 season and sixth in another poll that came out in December of 2017. Since returning to CCU as the recruiting coordinator in 2016, the Chants have had three classes ranked nationally by Collegiate Baseball (2017, 2018, 2019), D1Baseball (2018), Baseball America (2018), and Perfect Game (2019) with the 2018 class perhaps the most highly rated recruiting class in Coastal history at No. 14 (D1Baseball), No. 18 (Collegiate Baseball), and No. 25 (Baseball America).
During his three seasons at UCF, Schnall was responsible for a trio of nationally ranked recruiting classes and helped Chris Taladay earn Conference USA Player of the Year honors. In Schnall’s final season in Orlando, UCF led the American Athletic Conference and ranked sixth nationally with 66 home runs, while leading the AAC and ranking 12th in the NCAA in slugging percentage.
In Schnall’s first stint in Conway, the Chanticleers made 11 NCAA Tournament appearances in 12 years, advancing to the NCAA Super Regionals in 2008 and 2010. The Chants were No. 1 seeds in four NCAA Regionals and were the No. 4 national seed in 2010. From 2001-12, Schnall helped guide Coastal to eight Big South regular-season championships and eight Big South tournament titles.
A native of Mercerville, N.J., Schnall posted a .360 career batting average during his time at Coastal Carolina. He became the program’s first NCBWA All-American, earning second-team honors in 1999, and was Coastal’s first and only finalist for the R.E. “Bob” Smith Award, given to the College Player of the Year. He was the first Chanticleer to earn multiple all-conference tournament accolades, earning a spot on the Big South All-Tournament team in 1998 and 1999. His .515 on base-percentage in 1999 set a school record that would stand for six seasons. Behind the plate, Schnall threw out 18 runners in 1999 to set a then-school record.
After college, Schnall was drafted by Cincinnati in the 25th round and spent two seasons playing professionally, batting .322 in the minor leagues.
He is married to the former Megan Magee. The couple has two daughters, Sydney and Fallon, and a son, Jayden.