Jackson Christian names Chase McLean as new baseball coach

When Jackson Christian started the search for a new baseball coach, the administration didn't have to look far.

Jackson Christian has named assistant coach Chase McLean as the new head coach, who has been affiliated with the baseball program for the last 14 years.

"To me this job means everything," McLean said. "This place as been my home for 15-plus years now. I have guys like Brian Stewart and Chuck Cooper that I worked under and played for that meant the world to me. This is home; to be at a place that has poured so much into me and to give a little bit back."

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McLean replaces Chuck Cooper, who took the head coaching job at Scotts Hill.

“We are excited to hire Coach McLean to lead our baseball program," Jackson Christian athletic director Jason Shelton said via press release. "As an alumnus, Coach McLean was impacted by the program and has influenced student athletes in the years since. His appreciation for the program and what it can do for those involved will provide an avenue for him to continue to use the game of baseball to build young men for Christ.”

This will be McLean's first head coaching job.

"When you work for a guy like Chuck Cooper for 10 years, you feel prepared for a job like this," McLean said. "There are a lot of unknowns when making the jump from assistant to head coach. The guys I have worked for, I feel ready to do it."

McLean calls Cooper his mentor, and he doesn't want to change too much from what Cooper did with this program, which led to over 300 wins during his tenure.

"There are so many things that I will do that come from him because he is my mentor," McLean said. "He is alike a father figure to me. I have find a way to my energy and be real. I have to show these kids that I love them, and the decisions that I make are because I love them."

McLean is a 2008 graduate of Jackson Christian, and he has been an assistant coach for the last 10 years. As an assistant coach, he has played in a role in the Eagles reaching the state tournament four times with four district titles and a state championship in 2014.

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Reach Michael Odom at michodom@jacksonsun.com or 731-425-9754. Follow him on Twitter @JSWriterMichael.