List of Nashville Sounds coaches

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Seven men wearing red baseball jerseys, gray pants, and black caps are standing on a baseball diamond's infield; three are talking together on the mound.
Pitching coach Stan Kyles meets with the Sounds' battery of Justin Lehr and J. C. Boscán on the mound.

The Nashville Sounds Minor League Baseball team has played in Nashville, Tennessee, since being established in 1978 as an expansion team of the Double-A Southern League.[1] They moved up to Triple-A in 1985 as members of the American Association before joining the Pacific Coast League in 1998.[1] With the restructuring of the minor leagues in 2021, they were placed in the Triple-A East, which became the International League in 2022.[2][3] In the 2026 season, the Sounds' coaching staff is led by manager Rick Sweet and includes Eric Bunnell, Tim Doherty (hitting), Zack Jones (hitting), Bryan Leslie (pitching), Tyler Thornburg (pitching), and David Tufo (bench).[4]

Seven former Sounds players later served as coaches for the team. Wayne Garland of the 1982 starting rotation returned as pitching coach from 1987 to 1988.[5] Don Cooper, who pitched out of the bullpen in 1980, served as pitching coach from 1994 to 1996.[6] Reliever Steve Wilson retired from the Sounds during the 1995 season and became the team's pitching coach.[7] Fred Dabney, a reliever on the 1993 team, returned to coach pitchers from 2012 to 2014.[8] Éric Gagné, who made two major league rehabilitation starts in 2008, served as bullpen coach in 2019.[9] Jim Henderson, a reliever from 2011 to 2012 and in 2014, returned to the Sounds as pitching coach in 2021.[10] Tyler Thornburg, who was part of Nashville's starting rotation from 2012 to 2013, became a pitching coach in 2026.[11] Outfielder Gene Roof (1986) and catcher Buddy Pryor (1987) were player-coaches who coached hitting while also playing on the team. Two coaches also managed the Nashville club. Pitching coach Wayne Garland filled in as interim manager for three games in 1988 after the dismissal of manager Jack Lind.[12] Richie Hebner, who was the hitting coach from 1998 to 2000, became the team's manager for the second half of the 2000 season when Trent Jewett was hired as the Pittsburgh Pirates' third base coach.[13] Four coaches have been selected to participate in the Triple-A All-Star Game: Stan Kyles (2006), Rich Gale (2011), Bob Skube (2014), and Rick Rodriguez (2017).[14][15]

Pat Dobson's 1980 to 1981 pitching staffs had a 3.18 earned run average (ERA), the lowest recorded under all pitching coaches. Darold Knowles (2001–2004) and Stan Kyles (2005–2008) are the longest-tenured pitching coaches, having each served four full seasons. Hitting coaches Jeff Livesey (2001) and Sandy Guerrero (2009–2011) led their hitters to batting averages of .276, the highest under all hitting coaches. Al LeBoeuf (2012, 2021–2024), who coached hitting for five seasons, is the longest-serving hitting coach.

Pitching

Key
No. A running total of the number of Sounds coaches. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms is only counted once.
W% Team winning percentage: number of wins divided by number of games coached in the regular-season
ERA Team earned run average: earned runs divided by innings pitched times nine
SO Team strikeouts
BA Team batting average: hits divided by at bats
HR Team home runs
RBI Team runs batted in
* Player-coach
† All-Star while coaching the Sounds
A portrait of a man in a blue cap with a white "N" on the front and a white baseball jersey with "Sounds" across the chest in red and blue
Pat Dobson's 1980 to 1981 pitching staffs had a 3.18 ERA, the lowest under all pitching coaches.
A man in a blue cap with a white "N" on the front, a blue baseball jersey with "Sounds" across the chest in white and red, and white pants stands on a baseball field with his hands behind his back.
Hoyt Wilhelm, pitching coach from 1982 to 1984, was inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.[16]
A man in a blue cap with a white "N" on the front and a white baseball uniform with "Sounds" across the chest in blue and red stands, hands on hips, on a field.
Wayne Garland of the 1982 Southern League champion Sounds returned to coach pitchers from 1987 to 1988.[17]
Pitching coaches
No. Coach Season(s) Wins Losses W% ERA SO Ref(s). Stat ref(s).
— None 1978–1979147138.5163.321,630[18][19][20]
1 Pat Dobson 1980–1981178108.6223.181,804[21][22][23][24]
2 Hoyt Wilhelm 1982–1984239198.5473.732,357[25][26][27][28]
3 Roger Craig[p 1] 19857170.5043.84783[29][30]
4 John Hiller[p 2] 19866874.4794.25755[31][32]
5 Wayne Garland 1987–1988137145.4863.891,833[33][34][35]
6 Ray Rippelmeyer 1989–1990160133.5463.521,784[36][37][38][39]
7 Don Gullett 19916578.4553.77886[40][41]
8 Frank Funk 19926777.4653.821,033[42][43]
9 Rick Peterson[p 3] 1993–1994164123.5713.701,951[44][45][46][47]
10 Kirk Champion[p 4] 19948361.5763.531,041[48][47]
11 Don Cooper[p 4] 19948361.5763.531,041[48][47]
12 Dewey Robinson[p 5] 19948361.5763.531,041[48][47]
— Don Cooper[p 6] 19956876.4724.04931[50][51]
13 Steve Wilson[p 7] 19956876.4724.04931[52][51]
— Don Cooper 19967767.5353.77880[53][54]
— Kirk Champion 19977469.5174.64881[55][56]
14 Bruce Tanner 1998–1999147136.5194.731,894[57][58][59][60]
15 Jim Bibby 20006379.4444.80854[61][62]
16 Darold Knowles 2001–2004280289.4924.323,961[63][64][65][66][67][68]
17 Stan Kyles† 2005–2008299273.5234.134,327[69][70][71][72][73]
18 Chris Bosio[p 8] 20097569.5214.25882[74][75]
19 Jim Rooney[p 9] 20097569.5214.25882[76][75]
20 Rich Gale†[p 10] 20107767.5354.27938[78][79]
21 Bill Castro[p 11] 20107767.5354.27938[77][79]
— Rich Gale†[p 12] 20117173.4934.271,003[15][80]
— Bill Castro[p 13] 20117173.4934.271,003[15][80]
— Chris Bosio[p 14] 20117173.4934.271,003[81][80]
22 Fred Dabney 2012–2014201231.4654.223,353[82][83][84][85]
23 Don Schulze 20156678.4583.951,037[86][87]
24 Rick Rodriguez† 2016–2018223198.5303.923,279[88][89][90][91]
25 Brian Shouse 20196672.4785.481,158[92][93]
— Brendan Sagara[p 15] 2020—————[95]—
26 Jim Henderson 20216556.5294.161,108[96][97]
27 Jeremy Accardo[p 16] 2022–2024252191.5694.304,216[99][100][101][102]
28 Patrick McGuff[p 17] 20247868.5344.401,286[98][102]
29 Bryan Leslie 2025–present8563.5743.911,277[103][4][104]
30 Justin Meccage 20258563.5743.911,277[103][104]
31 Tyler Thornburg from 2026—————[4][104]

Hitting

A man in a blue cap with a white "N" on the front and a white baseball jersey with "Sounds" across the chest in red and blue smiles.
Ed Napoleon was the Sounds' first hitting coach, serving from 1980 to 1982.
A man in a blue cap with a white "N" on the front, a blue baseball jersey with "Sounds" across the chest in white and red, and white pants stands on a baseball field resting a bat on his shoulder.
Outfielder Gene Roof served as a player-coach in 1986.
Hitting coaches
No. Coach Season(s) BA HR RBI Ref(s). Stat ref(s).
— None 1978–1979.256108977[18][19][20]
1 Ed Napoleon 1980–1982.2702731,922[105][23][24][26]
2 Dick Sisler[h 1] 1983.272100650[107][27]
3 Jim Saul[h 1] 1983–1984.2681991,244[106][108][27][28]
— None 1985.25296521[109][30]
4 Gene Roof* 1986.27485600[110][32]
5 Jim Lett[h 2] 1987.25775535[111][34]
6 Buddy Pryor*[h 3] 1987.25775535[112][34]
— None 1988–1990.2532461,594[113][114][115][35][38][39]
— Jim Lett 1991–1992.2551991,086[116][41][43]
7 Roger LaFrancois 1993–1996.2645272,482[117][46][47][51][54]
8 Von Joshua 1997.269153659[55][56]
9 Richie Hebner[h 4] 1998–2000.2734822,049[13][58][59][60][62]
10 Dave Clark[h 5] 2000.258138639[13][62]
11 Jeff Livesey 2001.276130616[118][65]
12 Curtis Wilkerson 2002.262110608[119][66]
13 Jay Loviglio 2003.266116585[63][67]
— Jeff Livesey 2004.272180642[118][68]
14 Gary Pettis 2005–2006.2692721,279[120][70][71]
15 Harry Spilman 2007–2008.2672781,267[121][72][73]
16 Sandy Guerrero 2009–2011.2763941,978[122][75][79][80]
17 Al LeBoeuf 2012.259119507[123][83]
18 Bob Skube† 2013–2014.2602491,145[124][125][84][85]
19 Webster Garrison 2015.26584548[86][87]
20 Eric Martins 2016–2018.2614081,864[88][89][90][91]
21 Howard Johnson 2019.261179658[92][93]
— Chase Lambin[h 6] 2020———[95]—
— Al LeBoeuf 2021–2024.2546212,778[126][97][100][101][102]
22 Eric Theisen 2024–2024.244133688[126][102]
23 Tim Doherty 2025–present.249134687[103][4][104]
24 Zack Jones 2025–present.249134687[103][4][104]

Bench coaches

Bench coaches
No. Coach Season(s) Ref.
1 Geno Petralli 2019[92]
2 David Tufo 2024–present[103][4]

Bullpen

Bullpen coaches
No. Coach Season(s) Ref.
1 Éric Gagné 2019[92]
2 Patrick McGuff 2023–2024[126][127]

General

General coaches
No. Coach Season(s) Ref.
— Tyler Graham[o 1] 2020[95]
1 Ned Yost IV 2021–2024[96][128]
2 Liu Rodríguez 2023[127]
3 Eric Bunnell 2025–present[103][4]

Former roles

Former roles
Coach Season(s) Role Ref.
Sean Isaac 2022Development coach[99]

See also

Notes

References

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