January 20, 2026
Tennessee Tech Baseball Adds Manny Cervantes as Assistant Coach
Tennessee Tech Baseball has announced the addition of Manny Cervantes as Assistant Coach, as announced today by Head Coach Matt Bragga and the program.
By Jeff Bowe, TTU Athletics Media Relations
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech Baseball has announced the addition of Manny Cervantes as Assistant Coach, as announced today by Head Coach Matt Bragga and the program.
Manny Cervantes joins the Golden Eagles after serving as Head Coach at Asbury University for 11 seasons. Cervantes was responsible for the overall baseball program while making a lifelong impact on student-athletes and creating ambassadors to the world.
"We are thrilled to welcome Manny Cervantes, his wife Jami, and their family to our baseball program," said Head Coach Matt Bragga. "I've known Manny for 36 years, dating back to our time playing together at the University of Kentucky."
Coach Bragga continued, "Manny is an outstanding leader of young men, both as a former player and as a coach. He brings a tremendous amount of knowledge, experience, and energy to our program, and he has a unique ability to make everyone around him better."
Asbury completed its first season as an active member in the NCAA Division III during the 2025 season, competing in the Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS). Graduate student Kaden Dugle was named the National Christian College Athletics Association (NCCAA) Hank Burbridge Award winner.
AU Baseball captured its fifth straight complete season of 20+ wins (14-4 in 2020 COVID-19) in the 2024 season with Cervantes at the helm. Asbury finished with a 21-19 record in its last season before entering the Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS). Cervantes and the Eagles produced 13 players on Mideast All-Regional Teams, including the NCCAA Mideast Region Player of the Year, Matthew Johnson.
The Asbury baseball program continued to strive forward under the leadership of Coach Cervantes in 2023, taking 23 wins with the NCCAA Mideast Region Player of the Year, Ethan Cartwright. A total of 10 Eagles were honored by NCCAA Regional awards, including the Mideast Pitcher of the Year (Brody Bearden) and Mideast Freshman of the Year (Andrew Billington).
In 2022, Coach Cervantes led Asbury to 29 wins and an NCCAA Mideast Region Championship to earn a trip to the NCCAA World Series in Kansas City, Mo. The 29-16 season took AU to an 81-35 record since 2020. Asbury baseball also produced the NCCAA National Player of the Year in Walker Paris, alongside three Eagles named 2022 NCCAA All-Americans.
In his time at the helm, Asbury baseball has become a program synonymous with development. The program takes pride in its ability to not only develop skilled players on the field, but also develop men of character off it.
Asbury baseball team's historic 2021 season sent the program to new heights and national recognition. The Eagles set a plethora of new team and individual records on their way to a program-best 38 wins. Asbury recorded a 52-16 (.765) record over the past two seasons, including a 14-4 start in 2020, which was the best start in the program's history before the year ended due to COVID-19. Their 14-4 record included multiple wins against top 25-ranked opponents.
Academically, AU Baseball was recognized by the American Baseball Coaches Association with the Team Academic Excellence Award after another successful year in the classroom. This marks the third consecutive year that AU has received the Team Academic Excellence Award. Additionally, Asbury was the only small college school in the state of Kentucky (NAIA, NCAA DIII, NCAA DII) to receive the award.
In 2019, Asbury created a historic season. A 24-22 record (the most wins since 2011) earned them their first spot in the River States Conference Tournament. Equally important is the number of young men who graduated from Asbury University. In that same period, more than 10 student-athletes have received their degrees. It's about more than just baseball for Coach Cervantes, and it shows.
As a result of the 2019 season, Asbury baseball had five players named to the River States All Conference-Team, the most in the Cervantes era, including being named the River States Coach of the Year. He is the first coach in Asbury Baseball history to be given this award. Probably more impressive than the athletic performance is the academic performance. Nine Asbury players were named to the All-River States Conference Academic Team, and three of those were honored with NAIA Scholar-Athlete status.
The lines of the development of the program run directly through Coach Cervantes. He takes such pride in the development of men of faith, men of character, and winners on the field.
During his tenure at Asbury, the program has had numerous players earn All-Conference recognition, with most of his players graduating with their degrees. The interesting and beautiful thing about Coach Cervantes is the obvious unseen. The job he does daily, making sure he pours into his players, is unique. There is a focus on God, our Savior, as much as there is a focus on academics, and as much as there is a focus on winning. It's this daily consistency that laid the foundation for the program's current success.
2016 was the first year it became clear Coach Cervantes was making the developmental progress he envisioned. The Eagles doubled their win total from the 2015 season, finishing with a 22-29 record. That season included multiple wins against a Top 25-ranked Rio Grande (OH) team, and an impressive 13-4 streak in the middle of the season.
Cervantes, originally from Whittier, Calif., was drafted by the New York Mets in 1987 out of high school, but instead opted to play in college. He played first base at Oklahoma State from 1988 to 1990, during which time the Cowboys made the NCAA tournament three times and reached the national title game in 1990. In April 198,8 he was named as the Big Eight Conference player of the week and was a two-time Academic All-Big Eight Conference selection (1989 and 1990). He transferred to the University of Kentucky for his senior season and earned second-team All-Southeastern Conference honors in 1991 for the Wildcats.
He went on to sign with the Seattle Mariners and played two seasons in the minor leagues before becoming a coach in the Mariners' minor-league system. He later established a private baseball coaching business in Stillwater, Okla., and worked as an assistant coach at Stillwater High School in 2011 and 2012. Before coming to Asbury, Cervantes served as an assistant at Oklahoma Christian University from 2012 until 2014, helping the Eagles finish '14 with a 38-17-1 record.
Coach Cervantes resides in Cookeville, with his wife Jami and their lab, Jackie. They have three grown children, Mikayla, Jacob, and Mia.
