Jax State made its move

Jacksonville State wants to get to Omaha. So the Gamecocks went and hired a coach who has been there.

Travis Creel was a member of Southern Miss’s 2009 College World Series team. He spent the next 17 years building a coaching career defined by winning at every level. Now he takes over a Jacksonville State program coming off the best Division I season in school history — 48-15, a Conference USA tournament championship capped by a 10-0 run rule over Liberty, a first-ever national ranking from D1Baseball and an NCAA Regional bid for the first time since 2019.

Steve Bieser delivered all of that in three seasons, then left for Grand Canyon. Jacksonville State turned to Creel to take the next step.

Creel, 36, spent seven seasons as recruiting coordinator, hitting coach and infield coach at Southern Miss — his alma mater — and helped build one of the most consistent winners in the Deep South outside the SEC and ACC. Six straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including regional championships and Super Regional runs in 2022 and 2023. More than 220 victories. Eighteen MLB Draft selections since 2021. The Golden Eagles’ first Sun Belt regular-season championship and three conference tournament titles in four years.

He has been building toward this since he left Southern Miss as a player. He coached at Jones College, where he helped the Bobcats win the 2016 NJCAA national championship. He went to Louisiana Tech, where the Bulldogs won 109 games in three years — the program’s best stretch in nearly four decades. Then he came home to Hattiesburg and spent seven years developing one of the best offenses in college baseball.

To leave all of that — to leave the program where he played — tells you how Creel views the Jacksonville State job. It tells you how Jacksonville State views itself.

This is a program with a foundation that goes back decades. Rudy Abbott coached 32 years at the Division II level, won 1,003 games and claimed two national championships. Jim Case followed with 22 years and 673 victories. Bieser took what they built and pushed it to a level the program had never reached at the Division I level — a school-record win total, a conference championship and a regional appearance in year three.

“Throughout this process, we were looking for a leader who could build upon the championship foundation of our baseball program while positioning us for continued success in the future,” JSU Vice President for Athletics Greg Seitz said. “He is a proven winner, a relentless competitor and someone who understands what it takes to compete at the highest levels of college baseball.”

Creel inherits all of that plus a job with real advantages: a strong recruiting base across Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Mississippi, deep JUCO ties, a winnable conference and facilities that have kept pace with the program’s rise.

Troy is in the College World Series right now. Every Jax State fan watching knows the same thing: if Troy can get to Omaha, so can we. Jacksonville State won 48 games, swept its conference tournament and competed in an NCAA Regional. The foundation is built. Creel was hired to build on it.

As Southern Miss’s hitting coach, Creel had a front-row seat when Jacksonville State came to Hattiesburg for the NCAA Regional. He watched the Gamecocks play four games. He saw what this program can do.

Then he left his alma mater to lead it. That tells you everything about where Jacksonville State is headed.