Brandon Romans joins Austin Peay's baseball program as an assistant coach and will be the Governors recruiting coordinator, hitting and outfield coach.
Romans joins Austin Peay after a second stint at Central Florida in 2016, where he was responsible for catchers, outfielders and hitting. Romans began his coaching career with UCF as a volunteer assistant during the 2010-12 seasons.
The Cocoa, Florida native is no stranger to the Ohio Valley Conference, previously spending three seasons at Jacksonville State (2013-15). As an assistant coach with the Gamecocks, Romans was responsible for catchers, outfielders and hitting while also serving as recruiting coordinator. He was on the staff during JSU’s impressive 2014 OVC Baseball Tournament championship that saw the team win six consecutive elimination games to claim the title and a NCAA Regional berth.
While at Jacksonville State, Romans coached outfielder Michael Bishop, who earned Louisville Slugger All-American Team honors following the 2013 season. In addition, he helped coach four first-team and five second-team All-OVC honorees, including two-time first-team All-OVC selection designated hitter Paschal Petrongolo. Romans also was responsible for recruiting four members of the 2015 OVC All-Freshman team, including second baseman Clayton Daniel, who became a first-team All-OVC pick in 2016.
In his first coaching stint at Central Florida, he coached outfielders and catchers, helping UCF record a 45-win season in 2012. That impressive mark included a program-record 16 victories in Conference USA play and the nation’s best road winning percentage (16-3, .842). The Knights reached the NCAA Coral Gables Regional finals.
Outfielders Alex Friedrich and Ronnie Richardson were each second-team all-conference picks after that 2012 season. Richardson led the league with 59 runs scored for a second consecutive season while Friedrich had a C-USA best 21 doubles.
Romans helped the 2011 UCF team lead Conference USA in runs, home runs, slugging percentage and doubles. The Knights 39-win campaign was their best since 2005 and they reached the NCAA Baseball Tournament as a No. 2 seed in the Tallahassee Regional.
The previous season, he coached outfielders Chris Duffy (.447 batting average) and Shane Brown (.428) – a pair of first-team All-C-USA honorees. Duffy won the league batting title and ranked fourth nationally in batting average during 2010 while the duo became the first pair of teammates to each hit .400 in the same season.
A 2009 graduate of Central Florida, Romans batted .314 during his three-year career at UCF. In his final season with the Knights, he batted .333 and led UCF with 14 home runs and 49 RBI. That performance saw Romans earn second-team Conference USA honors as an outfielder and was selected to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List.
