PROVO, Utah — BYU softball head coach Gordon Eakin announced the hiring of assistant coach Ken Brooke today.
"We are excited to add Ken to our softball staff," Eakin said. "He comes highly recommended and has worked with great hitters during his career in baseball and softball. Ken will help our development in all areas but will be instrumental in our offensive output."
Brooke spent the last two seasons with Auburn softball as its hitting coordinator/coach. From 2021 to 2022, the Tigers almost quadrupled their home run total, going from 22 to 86 long bombs on the year.
Auburn also raised its slugging percentage by over 200 points, posting a .557 percentage compared to .338 the year before. He coached SEC freshman of the year Bri Ellis, who tallied 20 home runs during her freshman campaign.
In Brooke’s second season, Auburn recorded 43 wins and finished third in the SEC, winning four postseason games and scoring 33 runs, the Tigers’ highest totals since 2017.
Prior to his time at Auburn, Brooke served as the hitting and outfield coach for Chandler Gilbert College's softball team and the hitting coach for both the varsity and junior varsity baseball teams at Ottawa University in Surprise, Arizona, helping the Spirit see similar results in batting average and slugging percentage from the year prior.
Certified with On Base University, a professional organization dedicated to study how the human body functions in relation to baseball and softball, Brooke has worked with Major League Baseball players and hitting coaches, given hitting talks across the country, written professional baseball and softball swing mechanics books and helped the Texas Rangers with their system-wide hitting guide.
Among the programs he used to track hitters' progress and outcomes are video analysis, functional movement screens, Blast, Rapsodo, Win Reality and K-vest 3D motion. Brooke also has experience as a head baseball coach at both the high school and junior college level.
Brooke played collegiate baseball at Lincoln Junior College and Bradley University. He went on to serve as a player/manager in a semi-professional league, winning four consecutive championships and one batting title. Brooke also competed on a state championship men's fastpitch softball team for six years.