The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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TRACKING THE PACK 16 ■ THE WOLFPACKER In August, NC State baseball coach Elliott Avent an- nounced that he had hired former Wolfpack infielder J.T. Jarrett as the team's newest director of player and program development. Jarrett, who spent five seasons in the red and white, re- turned to Raleigh after spending last season as an analyst at Mississippi State, followed by several months on staff at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, Fla. The Greensboro, N.C., native is no stranger to coach- ing. His father, Link, was the head coach at UNC Greensboro for seven seasons before spending three years at Notre Dame, leading the Fight- ing Irish to the 2022 College World Series. The elder Jarrett, a two-time National Coach of the Year, is now in his second season at the helm of Florida State's program. In announcing the hire, Avent said that Jarrett had been a great student of baseball even as a young player with the Wolfpack. "His inherent leadership skills and knowledge of our game were evident, which is not surprising, as he is the son of one of college base- ball's best coaches," Avent said in the announcement. "But what really makes J.T. great is his work ethic, his heart and his ability to make every- one around him better. I'm excited for him to share those intangibles with our student-athletes and expect our entire staff and university to benefit from his presence as well." Here are the highlights of a Q&A with Jarrett: What's it like being back at NC State? "It was something that I couldn't turn down for several reasons, but mostly because Raleigh turned into home for me over the five years that I was here as a student and a player. So, being back in Raleigh was an easy transition for me. "And then being away for the one year that I was at Missis- sippi State, and then as an assistant coach this summer, for about two months at a junior college down in the [Florida] Panhandle with Tyler Younger, who was an NC State gradu- ate assistant — I learned a lot from my year at Mississippi State and down at Gulf Coast. I felt more prepared to come back here with some more knowledge than I had when I left. "I learned a lot just being in the SEC. That's obviously a good baseball conference like the ACC is, but it's just a dif- ferent environment, and I got to see how another program works outside of Coach Avent and NC State, and then my dad at Florida State and how he does stuff. "So, just coming back here was an easy transition, and I felt comfortable because I had more knowledge just from one additional year of experience." What were some of the most valuable lessons you took away from your experience at Mississippi State and Gulf Coast? "I took some bits and pieces from everything, really: how they run camp down there, their hitting philosophy, how they do infield work, stuff like that. I took little bits and pieces that I liked from things they did down at Mississippi State. They're a great staff, and they have a great fan base, a great ballpark. So just being in that work environment every day was awesome. "It also made me realize how spe- cial Coach Avent and Coach [Chris] Hart are here at NC State. I didn't re- ally realize it every day. When you're here as a player, you just kind of get accustomed to Coach Hart being such a great hitting, infield and all- around baseball coach. When you go away, you step back and think, oh, wait a second, he might be the best in the country at all this stuff. But you kind of take it for granted when you're there for five years every day. Hearing him talk about baseball, I just got so used to it. "But then when I was away, he re- ally made me appreciate how personable Coach Avent is as a coach to his players, and then how in-depth our instruction was here at NC State. Being able to learn even more from Mississippi State and then apply it to your philosophies here at NC State was kind of awesome for me." Have you always wanted to be a coach, growing up with your father being a coach? "It slowly became more appealing to me as I got older in my college playing career. When I first got here my freshman and sophomore years, in my head I was like, there's no way I want to coach. I've seen my dad do it for so long and it's not really something I'm super into. "But then I guess in my fifth year here, maybe my fourth year also, it just became hard to imagine doing anything else. I guess the more I matured and the more I was around the game, I realized, hey, I like this a lot more than I initially thought and maybe I'll be pretty good. At least at a young age in my coaching career, I can connect to these kids that are on the field from 18 to over 23 years old. I can still kind of speak their language and share my experiences with them in an easy fashion right now." — Noah Fleischman SITTING DOWN WITH: Baseball Director of Player and Program Development J.T. Jarrett Jarrett started 193 games for the Wolfpack from 2018- 22 before returning to Raleigh this past summer to join coach Elliott Avent's staff. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS