Miami hires Nova Southeastern baseball coach, former Hurricane as new pitching coach
The Miami Hurricanes’ new coaching staff is coming together, and J.D. Arteaga isn’t going far to find his new pitching coach.
Laz Gutierrez, who played at Miami and spent the last four years as the coach at Division II Nova Southeastern University in Davie, is returning to his alma mater as the Hurricanes’ pitching coach, multiple sources told the Miami Herald.
The hire is expected to be officially announced soon.
Arteaga officially became the new coach Monday after spending the previous 21 years as the pitching coach. Gutierrez will be the coach’s successor and the Hurricanes’ first new pitching coach since 2003.
Gutierrez is from South Florida, and graduated from Brito and Miami, where he was a star pitcher for three years. He went on to play three seasons in the minor leagues with the Tigers and Padres organizations, and then started his coaching career at Coral Gables before joining the Red Sox as an amateur scout in 2006. He spent 13 seasons with Boston — first as a scout, then as a pitching coach in the minors and finally as the mental skills coordinator for six years — and won a pair of World Series in 2013 and 2018.
In 2019, he took over as the coach at Nova Southeastern University and posted an 86-63 record in four seasons, peaking with a 36-win season and trip to the NCAA tournament in 2022. Nova Southeastern opened the 2022 college baseball season with a 17-game winning streak to reach No. 1 for the first time since 2017.
“Laz was a disciplined student and great team player. He does everything with his heart,” former Hurricanes coach Jim Morris said after Gutierrez took over with the Sharks in 2019 ahead of the 2020 season. “His passion and knowledge of the game will complement Nova Southeastern’s baseball program. I am very excited for Laz and Nova Southeastern. It’s a great fit.”
