Josh Hopper was named Coastal Carolina's pitching coach in June 2026.
Hopper arrived in Conway with more than two decades of coaching and player development experience, including the previous five-plus years with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Most recently, he served as Assistant Director of Pitching Foundations after joining the club as Coordinator of Pitching Development in December 2020. During his time with Pittsburgh, Hopper was a member of the player development staff during the rise of Paul Skenes, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, and helped develop 2021 MLB Draft pick Bubba Chandler into one of baseball's top pitching prospects.
Prior to joining the Pirates, Hopper spent two seasons as pitching coach at Dallas Baptist. In 2019, he helped guide the Patriots to a 43-win season and the championship round of the NCAA Lubbock Regional while the pitching staff ranked among the national leaders in strikeouts, strikeouts per nine innings and strikeout-to-walk ratio. Dallas Baptist also established Division I-era program records in strikeouts, strikeouts per nine innings, batting average against and hits allowed per game. Under Hopper's guidance, the Patriots produced All-American MD Johnson and saw three pitchers selected in the 2019 MLB Draft. Following the shortened 2020 season, left-handed reliever Burl Carraway became the third-highest draft pick in program history when he was selected 51st overall by the Chicago Cubs in the second round of the MLB Draft.
Before arriving at Dallas Baptist, Hopper spent nine seasons at UAB, where he helped lead the Blazers to the 2012 Conference USA Tournament championship and the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1991. In 2014, he was named the inaugural Conference USA Assistant Coach of the Year after guiding a pitching staff that posted a 2.87 ERA and ranked No. 24 nationally with nine shutouts. During his tenure, Hopper helped develop nine MLB Draft selections, including future Major Leaguer Garrett Whitlock. His pitching staffs set school records in ERA, shutouts and opponents' batting average while producing nine all-conference selections.
Hopper began his collegiate coaching career at his alma mater, Berry College, where he spent five seasons as pitching coach. He helped guide the Vikings to the program's first NAIA World Series appearance in 2009 and a No. 4 ranking in the final NAIA Baseball Coaches Poll. During his time at Berry, Hopper also helped coach future Major Leaguers Collin McHugh and Chris Rearick.
A standout pitcher at Berry College, Hopper earned all-conference honors three times and finished his career among the school's all-time leaders in wins and strikeouts. Following graduation, he spent two seasons in the New York Mets organization, helping the Mets capture the 1999 Gulf Coast League championship before splitting the 2000 season between the Capital City Bombers of the South Atlantic League and the Pittsfield Mets of the New York-Penn League.
Hopper earned a bachelor's degree in health and physical education from Berry College and a master's degree in exercise science from Georgia State University in 2004.
