What Josh Elander said on Tennessee baseball parting ways with Josh Reynolds

Tennessee baseball is looking for a new pitching coach as Josh Reynolds is out after one year in the position and two seasons with the Vols.

Volquest first reported the news of Tennessee parting ways with Reynolds on Thursday.

“I want to thank Josh Reynolds for his hard work and dedication to the Tennessee baseball program during his two seasons in Knoxville,” Josh Elander said in a statement released by the university, “but I have decided it’s best for our program to move in a different direction from a pitching standpoint at this time.”

Reynolds joined Tennessee’s staff as the director of pitching performance prior to the 2025 season. Vols coach Josh Elander tabbed Reynolds as the pitching coach on his first staff after Frank Anderson joined Tony Vitello‘s staff with the San Francisco Giants. He spent one season in the role and now Elander is seeking a new pitching coach for his second season.

Reynolds inherited the staff assembled by Vitello and Anderson, taking over as pitching coach in November. The staff had mixed results and finished the season without many options, especially in the bullpen.

The Vols had a 4.72 team ERA in 2026, the highest mark since 2013. They hit 62 batters, its most since 2012. Tennessee also ranked highly in categories that it historically has leaned on. It ranked among the top 10 teams in the nation in walks per nine innings and strikeout-to-walk ratio. They were in the top 20 in strikeouts per nine innings.

Reynolds, who has been a pitching coach at Kansas State and Northwestern, spent one season at Cincinnati before he was hired by Tennessee in July 2024. He was a third-round pick by the New York Metsin the 2000 MLB Draft and spent time in the minor leagues before shifting to coaching in 2004.

A search for a new pitching coach is “already underway” according to the school release.