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Hurricanes Baseball may be out of the spotlight as we approach a highly anticipated football season, but an important piece of the Hurricanes next season has been finalized, the coaching staff.
Miami’s Athletics Department announced several changes in position for assistant coaches on staff, as well as announcing Bo Durkac as the newest coach to join the Hurricanes’ staff.
Longtime pitching coach J.D. Arteaga has been promoted to Associate Head Coach, as well as retaining his previous role working with the pitching staff. Coach Arteaga has long been considered one of the best pitching coaches in America, and hopefully this promotion will keep him in Coral Gables just a little bit longer until he gets a head coaching job of his own.
Additionally, Norberto Lopez has been promoted to a fully fledged assistant coach instead of working as Miami’s volunteer assistant. Coach Lopez will become the Hurricanes’ new Recruiting Coordinator, following in the footsteps of Head Coach Gino DiMare. In addition to his duties in charge of recruiting, Coach Lopez will coach catchers, and will hope to help several talented players behind the plate reach the next level.
Miami’s volunteer assistant coach position will be filled by former Illinois State Head Coach Bo Durkac. Coach Durkac had some ups and downs in his time as ISU’s head coach, posting an 82-134 record in his time as the head man. However, his teams consistently fielded well, recording just 45 errors and a .976 fielding percentage compared to Miami’s 78 errors and .963 fielding percentage last year. His Redbirds were also notable for strong offensive statistics, hitting for a .272 team average last year as compared to the Hurricanes’ .257 mark. It is somewhat surprising that Coach Durkac would make his way to Coral Gables as a volunteer assistant, but this appears as a strong addition by Coach DiMare in an effort to improve the Canes’ fielding and hitting woes. According to Miami Athletics Coach Durkac will primarily work with the infield, replacing Jim Morris as the coach in that area of the park.
At first glance this appears as a very strong staff for the Hurricanes. Coach DiMare already entered with high expectations as Miami’s head coach, and now expectations may be even higher. With a talented coaching staff, and an already talented roster that adds a strong recruiting class, Miami has a lot of reasons to look forward to next season.