Charleston, S.C.. - Dan Roszel and Chris Morris have been named assistant baseball coaches at the College of Charleston, head coach Monte Lee announced on Tuesday.
"I am extremely proud to have Dan as my recruiting coordinator and pitching coach," said Lee, who became coach of the Cougars on July 3. "When I started asking coaches who is the best pitching guy available, Dan's name kept coming up. He's a tireless recruiter and worker, and the success that his pitchers have had at his previous stops have been impressive. Dan's also a family man, and will be a good mentor to our players and will represent our program well. Dan is respected by his peers as much as anyone out there, and I am ecstatic to have him on staff.
"Chris brings a wealth of knowledge about the game to our program. The players here love working with him, and he has six years of professional experience as a player. It's important that my hitting coach can develop a strong working relationship with each player and meet their individual needs, and I feel that Coach Morris is exactly what I need in that role. He's also young and eager to get on the road and recruit for us, and I think his passion for evaluating and recruiting players will be a major asset as well."
Roszel joins the Cougars after spending the past two seasons as an assistant at Florida Gulf Coast University.
Roszel helped the Eagles to a 78-32 record and an appearance in the NCAA Division II Regional as well as an Atlantic Sun Conference championship. In 2007, his pitching staff ranked 21st in team ERA with a 3.50 ERA. They also ranked 2nd in Division II in strikeouts per game (9.16 K/9), 4th in strikeouts with 486 and held opponent's hitters to a .254 batting average all records at FGCU.
During 2008, his pitching staff helped the Eagles to another record breaking season becoming the only team in NCAA history to win a conference championship in their first year of Division I competition upon arrival from Division II.
Prior to his arrival at FGCU, Roszel spent four years at Gardner Webb University. While at Gardner Webb, Roszel worked as the pitching coach and the recruiting coordinator. In four years at GWU, Roszel saw two of his players get drafted on the first day of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. Six of his previous pitchers have signed pro contracts and he has coached four of the top six pitchers on Gardner Webb's career wins list. In 2003, Roszel's pitching staff threw a school-record 20 complete games. Before becoming Gardner Webb's pitching coach, Roszel spent two years at Lake City Community College as an assistant coach.
Roszel and his wife Melissa have two daughters, Madyson (4) and McKenna (born Jan. 10, 2008).
Morris begins his third season overall with the Cougars.
Morris, who earned a degree in exercise science from the College of Charleston in 2005, played a total of six seasons in the St. Louis, Milwaukee and Los Angeles Angels organizations. He played collegiately at The Citadel (1998-00) where he earned first team All-America honors by USA Today and Baseball Weekly in 2000, after leading the nation with a Southern Conference-record 84 stolen bases.
Morris, who was named the Peoria Chiefs team MVP in 2001 after stealing a Midwest League record 111 bases, was drafted in the 15th round by the Cardinals in 2000. He is just one of 15 players in pro baseball history to steal at least 100 bases in a season.
Morris graduated in 1997 from Andrews High School where he was a two-time all-state honoree.