UK baseball roots run deep in the dark hills at Eastern Kentucky University

Kentucky will face in-state foe Eastern Kentucky University on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. The Wildcats, ranked No. 21, will travel to Richmond on Tuesday for a 5 p.m. first pitch before hosting the Colonels at Kentucky Proud Park on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

The ties between the Kentucky baseball program and EKU run deep. This offseason, EKU hired former Kentucky player and assistant coach Jan Weisberg as head coach. Weisberg hired former Wildcat Logan Salow as pitching coach and Troy Squires as an assistant.

Former UK player and EKU assistant Adam Revelette caught up with Colonel baseball’s new regime in November. Here's a transcript of the conversation. Some parts of the transcript have been edited for clarity.

Revelette: How did your experience at UK shape your coaching career?

Weisberg: Coming from California, I got to Kentucky when the SEC was just starting to rise, and starting to recruit outside of the south and attract players from a national standpoint. UK molded who I was. I learned to compete at the highest level of college baseball, but more importantly, it put me on my career track. 

I had another year to finish up school after I was done playing and I was just working at DeSha’s in downtown Lexington. Coach (Keith) Madison called me up and said, ‘I could really use you to coach the catchers and help with the hitters.’ I agreed just because it was Coach Madison, but I was still interviewing for banking jobs in California at that time. I really caught the bug, though, in the spring of 1993. Coach asked about staying around another year, ‘You can always go into banking,’ he said, but he added that he thought I could be really good at this, which I’ll never forget. And we had gone to a regional in ’93 with a good group of guys. That was an eye-opening time for me because it was the first time I considered what I was going to do for the rest of my life. 

I just fell in love with it. I learned so much, not just from the guys I was around at UK, but with people like Tim Corbin, who I learned a lot from, just his work ethic and the level of detail he has. He really took me under his wing and mentored me. Another one is Jim Schlossnagle, who I felt like I was always running into on the road. And of course, I was really fortunate to work with Coach Madison, Coach (John) Butler, and eventually (John) Cohen. Being able to work with people like Gary Henderson and Brad Bohannon as well, those guys really helped form who I am as a coach. That's the biggest takeaway for me, the people that I got to play under and worked with, just molded me as a coach and a person more than anything.

Salow: I spent four years at Kentucky. Coming in as a freshman, it was a place I always wanted to play. I was actually committed to EKU at one point in time, but ended up walking on at UK. I remember that first fall, honestly feeling like I didn't belong. I was competing well, I was just behind. The game was so fast. But a lot of older players on that team really helped me, including A.J. Reed and Micheal Thomas. Those guys were just like, ‘Hey, man, you're going to be good enough to play here, and we're really going to need you.’ 

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I knew being left-handed would obviously help, but you look around and guys are throwing 90-92, and I'm sitting here at 85-87, undersized, just not ready. But having guys like that instill the confidence in me like that I was gonna be able to compete at this level really helped me grow in terms of a player and a person; there's more to the game velo or physical attributes. Coach Henderson really brings that out of you. (Gary) was really good at getting me to understand the game at a higher level, like how to hold runners better by attacking the running game. I still have that PowerPoint [as does this interviewer]. 

And he was really good at delegating a lot of responsibilities throughout the fall to the pitching staff with our jobs and charts. I remember learning how to keep a pitch-by-pitch chart, and I got really good at the ‘SWAT’ chart, trying to find tips from our own pitchers. I would just be walking around the field looking for things with tips and tells. And once I got something, it was my job to explain it to my teammate and help the club that way. That was my first real taste of coaching, whether I realized it at the time or not. 

And then getting older, becoming a little bit better, having the game slowing down all came with time, obviously. But I realized that I found a lot of joy in helping others get better, and that was thanks to my time with Coach Henderson. And then my last year with Coach (Jimmy) Belanger, who opened my eyes to the fact he's like the best staffs that he's ever been a part of coach themselves. So at that point, being a senior with three years in the SEC, I think that a lot of us older guys – Troy included – we were just tired of being mediocre. We took it upon ourselves to really push each other and coach ourselves, and I found myself doing a lot more in terms of running the staff and helping the staff be run. And then that spring semester, I actually did an internship that allowed me to help out Coach Belanger, so three times a week I was in Coach B’s office doing the helping with scouting reports and anything else he needed. 

Throughout pro ball, I found myself continuing to gravitate towards having better relationships with the coaching staff than some of the players, but also affirming that I really did find joy in helping the players that were younger than me. If I don't go to UK, I don't know if I get to have any of those experiences, and I don't think that I'm in this seat today.

Squires: Just like Salow, I went to UK as a walk-on, we were actually roommates. I was an infielder who knew I wasn't going to really play at all early on. One day Hendu convinced me to put on the gear to catch bullpens and the rest became history. I'll never forget one meeting I had with him where we were setting goals and he said, ‘You’ve got good grades, what do you want to do?’ And of course I’ve got nothing, I’m only a sophomore at this point. But he’s like, ‘You’re gonna coach.’ So from that point on, I’ve been a coach.

Getting to move to catcher and being able to see the game differently really helped with that. And I wanted to stay in the game anyway. I guess when you're going through things like being a walk-on, redshirting, not playing, switching positions, you really don't understand it at the time, but what did Hendu see in me, really? I’m glad it worked out, glad he kept me along, and now as a coach I’ll never forget what it was like to be a freshman walk-on, or redshirt, or switch positions, and now I can help all those guys. Just pouring into guys in those situations now, I am comfortable, and it’s become a passion to keep pushing them. I know it can be done, because I was able to do it. 

It's easy to dismiss those guys in today’s game. And that’s thanks to the people that come into your life and pour into you, like Hendu, Coach (Todd) Guillams, Mike Brown and everyone else at Utah. All those coaches that have invested in me, I feel like now I'm able to pay that forward to the next group. 

Revelette: Tell me about your impression of EKU during your UK years, and how that impression has changed as we sit here today.

Weisberg: To be honest, with where I was in my career and the ability to win at those places, if it was the same old EKU as before, I don’t know if I take the job. It's an ultra-competitive world nowadays at this level, so as you know. Where it is now, compared to where it was? It’s night and day. Just facilities-wise, with the beautiful field, the new turf, the player development center. And beyond that, they’ve really allowed us to staff at a high level, which is a testament to the support and the administration in place here. We're on a real path moving forward here, and it’s not just status quo.

Salow: I mean, being committed here once upon a time, I obviously saw myself here. My mom went to school here, and truthfully, coming from Ashland, I was impressed with what EKU had even back then. But for me personally, as I moved through high school, my goal wasn't just to play college baseball, but to progress into professional baseball, and I just didn’t feel like EKU was the right fit for that mindset at that time. That’s all changed now, of course. I remember going through scouting reports with Austin Cousino the two years prior to coming here and being really impressed with the personnel. We told our guys at UK the past couple years they really needed to be ready to come in ready to go, EKU is a talented team. They maybe didn’t show it as consistently, which we are trying to improve now. There's a lot of talent here, and the ability to compete may have lacked a little bit in the last few years, but you always felt like there were some good pieces at EKU, and we feel the same way now. We don’t have the 1,000-piece puzzle going right now, we're constantly trying to put together those last few pieces instead. So it’s been a really exciting transition for me, for all the obvious reasons.

Squires: I came to a camp here, I think it was my junior year in high school. I just remember the old turf infield, the uphill grass outfield, the chain link fence, a very old locker room and no shiny new training facility. We were going from the football field to the Begley gymnasium and walking all the way back to the baseball field, it was a gloomy day and if I’m being honest, I was probably pissed because I recall not performing well, but I remember getting in the car and telling my dad, ‘Man, I don't think I'd want to go there.’ And that was really the only recollection that I had of this place. We didn’t come over here when I was at UK as a player, so I never really saw the new stuff unless it was on social media or whatever. Then the first day I got back here for this job, I was blown away, like ‘This place is legit, and it's only gonna get better."

Revelette: What do you think it’ll be like returning to UK as an opponent?

Weisberg: I think it’ll just be an appreciation. We want to win every game we play and those will be included, of course, but we aren’t counting it down in the locker room or circling it on the calendar. It’s like when our guys go home for break, I tell our players that we want your parents to see a change in you. So to come back for the first time in a long time, there will be a change in me, as well. I think I'm going to enjoy it, should be a fun one for all of us. 

Salow: ‘Appreciation’ is the word that came to my mind, too. UK allowed me to get my foot in the door in the coaching realm, and to help mold the way I do a lot of things. Dan Roszel has been an incredible resource for me personally, and Coach Minge is a great mentor. Coach Cousino and I are former teammates and he’s always pushed me, and I appreciate the heck out of him. Being able to see those guys on the other side of the dugout and knowing that they helped me get to where I am, there’s a real sense of gratitude there for me. And it’ll be really fun, of course, but so is every game. We are going to prepare and compete for them like we do everyone else and take the emotion out of it to get to what we need to win the game. And we all want to see UK have success except for twice a year, right? 

Revelette: Speaking of the deep Kentucky/UK ties on your staff, how do you have those conversations with recruits who are considering EKU and UK?

Weisberg: Just being honest with the kids about where the right fit for them is going to be. That’s been the foundation of how I’ve recruited my whole career and it won’t change. But the dynamic you mentioned is why I wanted guys that really knew the state, because recruiting this state is an important part of what we do. They’ve also been groomed at the power four level, so they understand the way that it’s done at the highest levels of the game. Obviously, we can't do everything they can do, and kudos to Mitch (Barnhart) for what he’s done. I’ve seen that truly come full-circle, from where that program was to where it is now, what he's done in is a reflection of his leadership. 

EKU is supported at a very high level as well, we have what we need to win and develop our players, and our coaches understand that too. But knowing the state, is really important, just being able to shorten the curve on recruiting certain areas and finding the right fit for EKU. And with this new 34 (roster limits), I don't think there’s going to be as much butting heads, where a bigger school is taking their seventh walk-on and that kid could really play early and fill a need you have now. It's going to make for a much more symbiotic environment than maybe they’ve had. 

Salow: We talked about it the other day with a player that we lost to another school. ‘If you put all your values in order on the table, how are you going to prioritize them? Is the name on the front of the jersey something you value that much? Make sure it's the right fit for you, and if the pieces on the table don’t make the place you’re considering, maybe you’re not pursuing the right things. We’ve seen it here already with talented players who just didn’t fit at EKU, and it’s addition by subtraction. We may like the talent a certain player has, but if his head and heart aren’t in the right place, we shouldn’t be talking. And if there’s a kid with the right makeup and the right fit for us, maybe we can develop them into a player. 

We have a really good thing going on here, and we want to put every player that we have in a position to be successful. That’s an easier thing to build here than say the SEC, where the pressure is cranked up at all times. If we're doing our jobs right, we will bring in some talented freshmen who end up being really, really good by the end of their sophomore years, and they may have options after that. We want to keep them of course, but we feel like it would be really, really hard for somebody to want to walk out of our clubhouse and our culture after experiencing success like that.

Squires: I think development is key. We all have unique experiences that we can use throughout the recruiting experience. And let’s be honest, if none of us were developed to the extent we were as players, none of us would be coaching right now. So I truly think that piece at this level is going to start to come back. I know every coach really wants development to have a big place for college baseball players at any level, but especially our level at EKU. We can call it what it is in the SEC and leagues like that, but it’s ‘What have you done for me lately?’ We have a safety net, if you will, where we can take a bigger chance on a kid and develop them for a couple years before they become a player than can help us on an everyday basis. And it’s not just at UK, it’s anyplace at those upper levels, that same kid may just get the fall and then he’s out the door. 

Bios

Logan Salow joined the EKU staff as its pitching coach in 2025 after spending the previous two seasons on staff at UK, first as a grad assistant in 2024 and then as director of scouting and analytics in ‘25. The Ashland native earned first-team All-SEC honors with a dozen saves (tying the program record) and a 1.95 ERA and was picked up by the Oakland Athletics in the sixth round of the 2017 MLB Draft. In five seasons of professional baseball, Salow went 14-7 with a 2.76 ERA and 10 saves in 141 appearances, reaching the Triple-A level.

Troy Squires joined EKU as hitting coach in June of 2025 after spending the previous four seasons on Gary Henderson’s staff at the University of Utah. Squires served as a volunteer assistant in 2022 and 2023 before being elevated to assistant coach for the Utes before the 2024 season, which was one of the best seasons in Utah history as they collected the second-most wins all-time and broke into the national rankings. Squires was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 23rd round of the 2018 MLB Draft after arriving at UK as a walk-on high school infielder-turned bullpen catcher, ultimately leaving the program ranking third in career sacrifices (35) and ninth in career hit by pitch (30). The Elizabethtown native was a graduate assistant coach at UK in 2019 and 2020. 

Jan Weisberg was chosen as the new head coach at Eastern Kentucky University on May 31, 2025, after leading DII-power Valdosta State to 30-plus wins for the 12th time in 16 years. Weisberg, a former UK assistant, won more than 500 games and captivated the baseball world with a College World Series run as the head coach at DIII Birmingham Southern College in the same summer as the school ceased operations after 168 years in existence. The Panthers made it all the way to the national semifinals in 2024 and won 14 conference titles, went to nine NCAA Regionals and made three trips to the NCAA Super Regionals under Weisberg’s watch, advancing to the College World Series in 2019 and 2024.  BSC was the fourth-winningest baseball team in Division III during the 2010s and Weisberg was chosen as the Alabama Coach of the Year four times.

In 19 seasons as a head coach, Weisberg had compiled a record of 595-253-1 entering the 2026 season, for a winning percentage of .701. Affectionately known as ‘Jano,’ Weisberg’s played two seasons at UK, where he helped the Cats to a then school-record 41 wins in 1991 and finished with the fifth-most RBIs in single season history in ’92. He also served as a Wildcat assistant for 13 years, engineering three top-25 recruiting classes while running the offense and coaching hitters, catchers and third base. His central Kentucky ties also stretch to Transylvania University, where he was the head coach in 2006, when the Pioneers notched a runner-up finish in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, the highest finish in program history at the time.