Jeff Palumbo promoted to associate head baseball coach

Jeff Palumbo, who has served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator on the East Carolina University baseball staff since 2014, has been promoted to associate head coach, according to an announcement by Pirates’ Head Coach Cliff Godwin on Monday.

“There is nobody more deserving of this promotion than Jeff,” Godwin said. “He has been my right hand man since the first day I accepted the head coaching position at ECU. He is a tremendous recruiter and a coach who is loyal to our program. He cares about our players and knows how to develop them to their fullest potential! I am so proud to have Jeff, his wife Sarah and their three children, Grayson, Parker, and Ella as part of our Pirate Family!”

Following coaching stints at George Mason, UCF and Virginia Commonwealth, Palumbo oversees all aspects of the Pirates’ recruiting efforts, serves as the base running and infield coach, while assisting Godwin with the hitters.

Palumbo has directed ECU’s recruiting efforts that have garnered national attention since stepping on campus, which included consecutive Top 25 national rankings for its 2015-16 (D1Baseball/18, Baseball America/23) and 2016-17 classes (Baseball America/19, D1Baseball/20), while also being tabbed as one of the nation’s Top 30 recruiters by his peers.

During his five-year tenure, Palumbo has mentored four All-Americans, three freshman All-Americans, six Major League Draft selections and 11 All-American Athletic Conference performers going back to 2015. He has helped the Pirates post 201 total wins with three 40-plus winning campaigns, earn four NCAA Regional berths (two as a host), appear in a pair of Super Regionals (2016, 2019) and claim three AAC titles (one regular season, two tournaments).

Consistently, his teams have ranked among the league (Top 3) and national leaders (Top 50) in almost every offensive category including home runs, runs scored, RBI, sac bunts and sac flies. The 2019 Pirates lead the nation in total sac bunts (72), which set an ECU and American new single-season record. Palumbo’s squads have also stood among the national leaders in fielding percentage (No. 22 in 2018, No. 32 in 2019) and double plays turned (No. 14 in 2015).

Palumbo, a 2004 graduate of George Mason, and his wife Sarah have two sons (Grayson and Parker) and a daughter (Ella). Palumbo graduated cum laude receiving his degree in administration of justice.