July 1, 1999

Lafayette College has named Joe Kinney head baseball coach, as announced by Director of Athletics Dr. Eve Atkinson.

The top assistant on the U.S. Naval Academy squads since 1992, Kinney becomes the 24th head coach in the storied history of Lafayette baseball. While at Navy, Kinney helped guide the Midshipmen to four Patriot League titles and two appearances in the NCAA Baseball Tournament East Regional.

His responsibilities included serving as the hitting and defensive coach, facility manager for the baseball complex, equipment manager, and director of the Navy Baseball Camp.

Prior to coaching at Navy, Kinney was an assistant coach at Lehigh where he was the hitting, defense, and conditioning coach from 1990 to 1992. During that time, he completed his master's degree in secondary education.

Kinney's coaching experience at Lehigh followed stints as an assistant at the New Jersey Garden State Games in 1990 and 1991 and head coaching experience at Columbia High School in Maplewood, NJ where he was the head junior varsity baseball coach and head freshman football coach.

Kinney graduated from Lehigh in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in economics. While there, he enjoyed a four-year career on the Engineers baseball team and served as captain of the 1987 and 1988 squads. Kinney was a lifetime .287 hitter for Lehigh and hit .338 in his senior year while holding down a starting spot in the outfield.

"We are excited to welcome Joe Kinney as a member of the Lafayette athletics coaching staff," said Atkinson. "Coach Kinney brings a wealth of recruiting and coaching experience on the Division I level to the Lafayette baseball program, and his unique knowledge of the Patriot League, its institutions, and the Lehigh Valley will be valuable assets to our program."

Kinney replaces Lloyd Brewer who was the acting head baseball coach in 1998 and led Lafayette to a 8-32 overall record and a 4-16 mark in Patriot League action.

"I'm genuinely excited to be taking over the Lafayette College baseball program," Kinney said, "and grateful for the opportunity that President Rothkopf and Dr. Atkinson have afforded me."

"I think there is a vast potential for improvement in this program," Kinney stated. "I know that it has endured some tough years in the recent past, but I feel with successful recruiting efforts of the right kind of student-athletes, Lafayette will earn the opportunity to better compete with the rest of the teams in the Patriot League."