Western Illinois tabs United grad Sheriff as interim baseball coach
Jul. 11—United High School graduate and former Paul Carpenter Capital Advisors GM-assistant coach Tayler Sheriff was named interim head coach of the Western Illinois University baseball team for the 2023 season on Monday.
Sheriff, who recently completed his first season as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator with the Leathernecks, had moved into an interim role on June 30 after the contract of head coach Andy Pascoe was not renewed.
Monday's announcement gives Sheriff the upcoming academic year as head coach at the university in Macomb, Illinois. Western Illinois competes in the NCAA Division I Summit League.
"I couldn't be more excited to have an opportunity to lead these guys," said Sheriff, who as GM helped Paul Carpenter Capital Advisors reach the championship round twice in the AAABA Tournament as the Johnstown-2 representative. "I'm very thankful and I'm excited for the opportunity.
"I'm excited that our administration has put their trust in me to lead our baseball program. I've put a lot of time into building the roster and building relationships with the players and the staff here. I'm just blessed to be able to do this."
Western Illinois University Director of Athletics Paul Bubb said the move will provide some stability in the program.
"After speaking with returning members of the baseball team, I truly believe this is the best opportunity for this program at this time," Bubb said in a statement. "Many of these players were part of the last coaching change, which took place after the semester had started and shared their concerns with a new coach joining the team.
"We also have commitments from new players who were recruited by Coach Sheriff, so this will provide for some continuity going into this season," Bubb said.
Prior to joining Western Illinois, Sheriff spent three seasons as a pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky. His duties included day-to-day operations of the entire pitching staff, practice setup, planning scouting reports, field maintenance, fundraising, scheduling and coordinating all recruiting efforts.
Spalding was the regular-season champion in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) in 2019. During the 2017-18 year, Sheriff contributed as a volunteer assistant coach at Indiana (Pa.).
From 2014 through last summer, Sheriff had served as general manager and head coach for Paul Carpenter Capital Advisors in the Johnstown Collegiate Baseball League. His father Dave Sheriff manages PCCA.
Paul Carpenter won the 2020 and 2021 JCBL regular season and playoff championships and clinched this year's regular-season crown. In 2016 and '17, the team finished as AAABA Tournament runner-up.
"The baseball world is so small," Tayler Sheriff said. "I appreciate my time in Johnstown. It's certainly something I'm proud of.
"For me, it all started in Johnstown — in Paul Carpenter believing in a 19-year-old kid to be the GM and a coach on a college-age team. That's how I got my start. I cherish my memories coaching in the league and getting the opportunity. That really kick-started my career, and it's something to this day that helps open doors for me."
