Matt Schilling enters the 2026 season as one of the longest-tenured and most respected members of the Coastal Carolina baseball staff, bringing more than two decades of experience in Conway as both a player and coach.
A former Chanticleer standout, Schilling played at Coastal Carolina from 1993–94 before beginning his coaching career with the program as an assistant coach from 1995–2000. He returned to his alma mater in the summer of 2012 as a volunteer assistant and has since been a key figure in the program’s sustained success at the conference and national levels.
During his time on staff, Schilling has been part of multiple championship teams and postseason runs, including Coastal Carolina’s historic 2016 NCAA Division I National Championship. His influence has been especially evident on the defensive side of the game, as the Chanticleers have consistently ranked among the NCAA and conference leaders in double plays turned while maintaining a reputation as one of the nation’s most fundamentally sound infield units.
Schilling was also part of Coastal Carolina’s historic 2025 season, which saw the Chanticleers post a school-record and nation-leading 56 wins, capture Sun Belt Conference regular-season and tournament championships, win the Conway Regional and Auburn Super Regional, and advance to the Men’s College World Series Championship Final. Coastal Carolina put together a 26-game winning streak during its historic 2025 season, a stretch that carried the Chanticleers to the Men’s College World Series Finals.
In addition to coaching the infielders and working with the hitters, Schilling serves as the director of the Chanticleer Baseball Camps, continuing his long-standing commitment to player instruction and development.
Schilling brings extensive experience in player development from his 12-year tenure as senior director of on-field instruction at the Baseball Factory in Columbia, Md., where he worked one-on-one with numerous future college and professional players. He also spent three seasons as an associate scout with the Atlanta Braves organization, gaining valuable insight into player evaluation at the professional level.
A two-sport student-athlete at Coastal, Schilling was a member of both the Chanticleers’ baseball and soccer programs. He earned first-team All-Big South Conference honors as a second baseman in 1994 and was a nominee for the Rotary Smith Award. He was also part of Coastal’s men’s soccer team that advanced to the quarterfinals of the 1992 NCAA Tournament.
A native of Hightstown, N.J., Schilling earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Coastal Carolina University in 1994. He and his wife, Colleen, have two sons, TJ and Brayden, and a daughter, Camden.
