PROVO, Utah — BYU head baseball coach Trent Pratt announced Tuesday the hiring of assistant coaches Adam Law and Tyler Coolbaugh. Law, who has been working for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Coolbaugh, who comes from the University of Arizona, will assist with recruiting, player development, team defense, hitting and mental performance training.
A member of the Cougar baseball team from 2009-13, Law returns to BYU after spending the previous four years working for the Los Angeles Dodgers in international operations and as a mental performance coach.
Following a six-year playing career in professional baseball (2013-19), Law joined the Dodgers organization in international operations in 2019. He assisted in player procurement, practice design and coached the mental and physical components of baseball throughout Africa.
In 2021, he was promoted to mental performance coach where he worked closely with players, coaches, and staff members to incorporate mental skills application in the training environment, allowing players to improve faster and perform better than the competition.
Law played in 86 games over three seasons for BYU in 2009 and 2012-13. The Cougar infielder was selected Academic All-Conference three times and was named to the WCC Commissioner’s Honor Roll as a junior in 2013.
Following his junior season, Law was named All-West Coast Conference First Team after leading BYU in hits (70), stolen bases (13), batting average (.365) and on-base percentage (.422). The Cougar co-captain was also named to the Brooks Wallace Classic All-Tournament Team and the Rawlings WCC Player of Week for his play versus Creighton and Seattle.
Law was selected in the 12th round of the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft by the Dodgers. He spent three seasons (2013-16) in the Dodgers organization before being traded to the Seattle Mariners in 2016. Following three seasons with the Mariners organization (2016-19), Law retired from professional baseball in 2019.
Law graduated from BYU in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. He later earned a master of arts degree in performance psychology from National University in La Jolla, California in 2021. He is also a certified mental performance consultant through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. In addition, Law is also the owner of, and mental performance specialist for, Mojo Lab, where he works one-on-one with elite athletes to learn and apply mental skills that will help them consistently perform at peak levels.
Following his freshman season, Law served a two-year volunteer mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Zimbabwe, Africa, from 2009-11. He married Hanna Larson Law in 2019. The couple has a son, Charles.
Law is the son of Vance Law, who played baseball and basketball for BYU before playing MLB for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics from 1980-91. He is also the grandson of Cy Young Award winner Vern Law, who played 16 seasons (1950-51, 1954-67) for the Pirates. Vance served as the head baseball coach at BYU for 13 seasons (2000-12) where he led the Cougars to 397 wins. Vern was an assistant coach at BYU for nine seasons, where he mentored future Hall of Famer Jack Morris, among others.
Trent Pratt on Law: “We are thrilled to have Adam back at BYU. I had the opportunity to coach him and know first-hand his love for the game and his passion for BYU. Having worked in Major League Baseball, Adam brings a wealth of knowledge that will help develop our student-athletes both on and off the field. He has unique experiences and perspectives on the importance of the mental side of the game and will be a huge asset in our future recruiting.”
Coolbaugh joins the BYU baseball staff having spent the previous two seasons as the director of player development at the University of Arizona. While at Arizona, he was instrumental in developing an array of cutting-edge player development tools and emerging technology such as TrackMan, TruMedia, Blast Motion and Rapsodo.
Prior to joining the Arizona baseball staff in 2021, Coolbaugh worked for the Texas Rangers in player development and was the hitting coach for the Rookie Dominican Summer League Rangers.
Coolbaugh also spent time coaching at Abilene Christian University in 2020-21, where he worked with infielders, assisted with the offense, oversaw campus recruiting and coordinated camps. In addition, he was the director of player development at Nicholls State University in 2020 and also coached the Sod Squad in the Amarillo Texas League in 2020.
As a player, Coolbaugh spent three seasons at the University of Oklahoma (2013-15), where he played all four infield positions, before transferring to Angelo State. In two seasons with the Rams (2016-17) Coolbaugh played in 107 games and was twice named First Team All-Lone Star Conference. As a senior in 2017, he led Angelo State with a batting average of .374 and earned First Team ABCA All-Region honors.
Following a senior campaign, Coolbaugh was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 36th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft. He went on to play three years as an infielder in the Orioles organization before retiring in 2019.
Coolbaugh majored in communications and media studies at Angelo State and eventually earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and sciences from Oklahoma in 2018.
He is the son of Scott Coolbaugh, who played third base for the Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres and the St. Louis Cardinals from 1989-94. Scott is currently the assistant hitting coach for the Padres.
Trent Pratt on Coolbaugh: “We are excited to have Tyler join our program. He comes from a baseball family has been around the game his whole life. He really understands the game and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will help us in areas of hitting, analytics, technology and recruiting. His connections through Major League Baseball and other places he’s worked will help us expand our recruiting footprint.”
Law and Coolbaugh join pitching coach Abe Alvarez and director of baseball operations Tuckett Slade to complete Pratt’s coaching staff for the upcoming 2023-24 baseball season.