ATLANTA– Legendary Georgia Tech head baseball coach Danny Hall announced on Thursday afternoon that he would retire at the end of this season. Hall has spent his last 32 years at the helm in Atlanta, winning 1,224 games and leading the Yellow Jackets to Omaha three times– in 1994, 2002, and 2006. Prior to Tech, Hall spent six seasons at Kent State and has won 1,432 combined games as a head coach– which is 10th all-time in college baseball history.
“I have made a decision to step away from coaching at the end of this season,” Hall said per Georgia Tech’s official press release. “My family and I have been blessed beyond belief for 32 wonderful years of wearing the White and Gold.”
The Yellow Jackets are currently off to their best start in nearly 15 years after beginning the year 21-4 overall and 7-2 in the ACC. This week, they were ranked in the D1 Baseball Top 25 for the first time since 2022. The Jacket offense is ranked among the Top 10 nationally in a slew of categories, but it’s the pitching staff and overall team chemistry that’s made this year’s team different. Pitching Coach Matt Taylor, in his second year with the team, deserves a lot of credit regarding the program’s pitching turnaround.
In a fall interview, Taylor explained what made Danny Hall such a great coach.
“He is a big league manager,” Taylor said. “That's what he is exceptional at. He's going to hire his assistants and he's going to let his assistants work. He trusts them to do the work that they need to do. The players respond really well to him because he can stay even keeled throughout the course of a season.”
Taylor went on to reference last season and Georgia Tech’s 3-6 start to begin ACC play. He credited Hall’s quiet confidence and competitive nature as a key factor in the team’s turnaround down the stretch. The lack of panic and trust allowed the coaching staff and players to find the right formula to reel off a slew of conference series wins, including upsets over Virginia and Duke.
While Coach Hall is stepping away after 38 years as a head coach, his statement in the press release stressed that his passion and competitive nature still burns at his core.
“Dr. Homer Rice gave me the opportunity to coach the Jackets in 1994 and, man, what a blessing that was to go to the College World Series for the first time,” Hall said in the release. ”My passion is the same today as it was then, so I want our 2025 team to take the journey as far as it can go.”
Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator James Ramsey, who very well could be Hall’s successor, has been lucky enough to only work for two legendary college coaches– Mike Martin at Florida State and Danny Hall at Georgia Tech. Ramsey talked about getting to work for those two legends prior to the season, highlighting their continued excellence.
“They were really great guys to work for,” Ramsey said. “The best thing is that they've stayed true to themselves and the way that they have others kind of develop under them. No one's trying to make a carbon copy of them. They're not trying to press who they are on their staff. There's definitely those program things that they think are important, but in terms of just working for them I definitely feel very fortunate.”
Georgia Tech players this season have been using the slogan “Get Goose to Omaha” in honor of sixth year captain John “Goose” Giesler. It was Giesler who recently presented an emotional Danny Hall with the lineup card for career win 1,427 that vaulted the Hall of Fame coach into the all-time top 10. The Jackets haven’t been to Omaha in nearly 20 years. With an electric group of players and Hall announcing his retirement at the end of the season– the script has been written for one last legendary postseason run.
“My wife, Kara, and I look forward to one last ride in the Ramblin’ Wreck,” Hall said in the press release. ”Let’s get in the car and make this season one to celebrate”
It looks like Georgia Tech’s internal 2025 campaign to get sixth year captain Goose to Omaha just evolved to: “Get Danny a Natty.” No matter what happens, the crew at College Baseball Central would like to thank Danny Hall for a fantastic career and we are looking forward to one heck of a last ride in 2025.