Matt Williams

Matt Williams enters his first season in his second stint as the pitching coach at South Carolina. Williams spent the last two seasons as the pitching coach at Coastal Carolina.

Over his collegiate coaching career, Williams has helped 38 pitchers sign professional contracts, including five who have reached the Major Leagues, while mentoring four conference Pitchers of the Year and numerous all-conference selections.

In his first season with the Chanticleers in 2025, Williams orchestrated a dramatic turnaround on the mound that powered Coastal Carolina to a school-record and nation-leading 56 wins, Sun Belt Conference regular-season and tournament championships, Conway Regional and Auburn Super Regional titles, and a trip to the Men’s College World Series Championship Final. Under his direction, Coastal’s pitching staff ranked second nationally and led the Sun Belt Conference in ERA and WHIP, finishing the year with a 3.22 team ERA, the fifth-best mark in program history and a significant improvement from the previous two seasons.

Williams’ impact was evident in both team success and individual player development. Jacob Morrison posted a 12-1 record and earned ABCA/Rawlings Division I National Pitcher of the Year honors while receiving consensus First-Team All-America recognition. Riley Eikhoff and Matthew Potok also made major strides under Williams’ guidance and were selected in the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft, giving the Chanticleers three pitchers drafted during his first season on staff.

The pitching staff continued to excel throughout the postseason, helping Coastal go undefeated (3-0) in Omaha and close the season with a 26-game winning streak, the fourth-longest in Division I baseball over the past five years.

Williams also guided a dominant bullpen in 2025, led by Ryan Lynch, who posted a 0.56 ERA with nine saves. Dominick Carbone added six saves and 52 strikeouts, while Matthew Potok, Darin Horn, Hayden Johnson, and Scott Doran combined to go 15-2 with four saves.

For his work during the 2025 season, Williams was named the American Baseball Coaches Association Division I Baseball Assistant Coach of the Year and the D1Baseball.com Assistant Coach of the Year.

Williams is no stranger to Columbia, as he was the pitching coach for the 2024 squad that advanced to the Raleigh Regional. Williams coached Dylan Eskew in 2024, who went from pitching 7.2 innings in 2023 to 62.2 in 2024, winning three games and having a .240 opponent’s batting average. Chris Veach made a team-best 26 appearances and had 54 strikeouts in 44.2 innings with five wins and three saves. Garrett Gainey had six saves on the season and had 68 strikeouts in 54 innings pitched. Tyler Pitzer was named the SEC Freshman of the Week after striking out nine in 6.1 innings against Vanderbilt. The pitching staff struck out 588 batters in 532.2 innings pitched.

Williams was the associate head coach/pitching coach at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. For four seasons. Under Williams’ tutelage, the Flames advanced to the NCAA Gainesville Regional in 2022 after earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, concluding the season with a 37-23 record, an ASUN East Division crown. Liberty was among the nation’s top teams in strikeouts in 2022, averaging 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings (15^th in the NCAA) and eclipsing the program’s single-season record with 620 strikeouts. In addition, the Flames were 19^th in the country in strikeout to walk ratio (2.79) and 32^nd in ERA (4.29) in 2022. Not only did Liberty lead the ASUN Conference in those categories, but the Flames also led the conference in runs allowed per game (5.0).

Williams spent five seasons as pitching coach at UNCW, where he helped lead the Seahawks to three NCAA Regional championship games and coached 17 pitchers who were selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. Earlier in his career, he served eight seasons as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Spartanburg Methodist College, helping the Pioneers make four trips to the NJCAA World Series.

Williams also gained professional experience in 2019 with the San Diego Padres organization, serving as an international crosschecker before transitioning to pitching coach for the Fort Wayne TinCaps, the Padres’ Midwest League affiliate.

A South Carolina native, Williams prepped at Lancaster High School before attending Spartanburg Methodist College, where his sophomore class won 101 games in two seasons and advanced to the NJCAA World Series. He is a graduate of Limestone College with a degree in liberal studies.

Williams and his wife, Denton, have a son, Calahan.