# List of Nashville Sounds coaches

The Nashville Sounds Minor League Baseball team has played in Nashville, Tennessee, since being established in 1978 as an expansion team of the Double-A Southern League. They moved up to Triple-A in 1985 as members of the American Association before joining the Pacific Coast League in 1998. With the restructuring of the minor leagues in 2021, they were placed in the Triple-A East, which became the International League in 2022. In the 2025 season, the Sounds' coaching staff is led by manager Rick Sweet and includes Eric Bunnell (general), Tim Doherty (hitting), Zack Jones (hitting), Bryan Leslie (pitching), Justin Meccage (pitching), and David Tufo (bench).
Six former Sounds players later served as coaches for the team. Wayne Garland of the 1982 starting rotation returned as pitching coach from 1987 to 1988. Don Cooper, who pitched out of the bullpen in 1980, served as pitching coach from 1994 to 1996. Reliever Steve Wilson retired from the Sounds during the 1995 season and became the team's pitching coach. Fred Dabney, a reliever on the 1993 team, returned to coach pitchers from 2012 to 2014. Éric Gagné, who made two major league rehabilitation starts in 2008, served as bullpen coach in 2019. Jim Henderson, a reliever from 2011 to 2012 and in 2014, returned to the Sounds as pitching coach in 2021. Outfielder Gene Roof (1986) and catcher Buddy Pryor (1987) were player-coaches who coached hitting while also playing on the team. Two coaches also managed the Nashville club. Pitching coach Wayne Garland filled in as interim manager for three games in 1988 after the dismissal of manager Jack Lind. Richie Hebner, who was the hitting coach from 1998 to 2000, became the team's manager for the second half of the 2000 season when Trent Jewett was hired as the Pittsburgh Pirates' third base coach. Four coaches have been selected to participate in the Triple-A All-Star Game: Stan Kyles (2006), Rich Gale (2011), Bob Skube (2014), and Rick Rodriguez (2017).
Pat Dobson's 1980 to 1981 pitching staffs had a 3.18 earned run average (ERA), the lowest recorded under all pitching coaches. Darold Knowles (2001–2004) and Stan Kyles (2005–2008) are the longest-tenured pitching coaches, having each served four full seasons. Hitting coaches Jeff Livesey (2001) and Sandy Guerrero (2009–2011) led their hitters to batting averages of .276, the highest under all hitting coaches. Al LeBoeuf (2012, 2021–2024), who coached hitting for five seasons, is the longest-serving hitting coach.

## Coaches

Key :
| No. | A running total of the number of Sounds coaches. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms is only counted once. |
| W% | Team winning percentage: number of wins divided by number of games coached in the regular-season |
| ERA | Team earned run average: earned runs divided by innings pitched times nine |
| SO | Team strikeouts |
| BA | Team batting average: hits divided by at bats |
| HR | Team home runs |
| RBI | Team runs batted in |
| * | Player-coach |
| † | All-Star while coaching the Sounds |

### Pitching

Pitching coaches :
| No. | Coach | Season(s) | Wins | Losses | W% | ERA | SO | Stat ref(s). |
| — | None | 1978–1979 | 147 | 138 | .516 | 3.32 | 1,630 | |
| 1 | Pat Dobson | 1980–1981 | 178 | 108 | .622 | 3.18 | 1,804 | |
| 2 | Hoyt Wilhelm | 1982–1984 | 239 | 198 | .547 | 3.73 | 2,357 | |
| 3 | Roger Craig | 1985 | 71 | 70 | .504 | 3.84 | 783 | |
| 4 | John Hiller | 1986 | 68 | 74 | .479 | 4.25 | 755 | |
| 5 | Wayne Garland | 1987–1988 | 137 | 145 | .486 | 3.89 | 1,833 | |
| 6 | Ray Rippelmeyer | 1989–1990 | 160 | 133 | .546 | 3.52 | 1,784 | |
| 7 | Don Gullett | 1991 | 65 | 78 | .455 | 3.77 | 886 | |
| 8 | Frank Funk | 1992 | 67 | 77 | .465 | 3.82 | 1,033 | |
| 9 | Rick Peterson | 1993–1994 | 164 | 123 | .571 | 3.70 | 1,951 | |
| 10 | Kirk Champion | 1994 | 83 | 61 | .576 | 3.53 | 1,041 | |
| 11 | Don Cooper | 1994 | 83 | 61 | .576 | 3.53 | 1,041 | |
| 12 | Dewey Robinson | 1994 | 83 | 61 | .576 | 3.53 | 1,041 | |
| — | Don Cooper | 1995 | 68 | 76 | .472 | 4.04 | 931 | |
| 13 | Steve Wilson | 1995 | 68 | 76 | .472 | 4.04 | 931 | |
| — | Don Cooper | 1996 | 77 | 67 | .535 | 3.77 | 880 | |
| — | Kirk Champion | 1997 | 74 | 69 | .517 | 4.64 | 881 | |
| 14 | Bruce Tanner | 1998–1999 | 147 | 136 | .519 | 4.73 | 1,894 | |
| 15 | Jim Bibby | 2000 | 63 | 79 | .444 | 4.80 | 854 | |
| 16 | Darold Knowles | 2001–2004 | 280 | 289 | .492 | 4.32 | 3,961 | |
| 17 | Stan Kyles$^†$ | 2005–2008 | 299 | 273 | .523 | 4.13 | 4,327 | |
| 18 | Chris Bosio | 2009 | 75 | 69 | .521 | 4.25 | 882 | |
| 19 | Jim Rooney | 2009 | 75 | 69 | .521 | 4.25 | 882 | |
| 20 | Rich Gale$^†$ | 2010 | 77 | 67 | .535 | 4.27 | 938 | |
| 21 | Bill Castro | 2010 | 77 | 67 | .535 | 4.27 | 938 | |
| — | Rich Gale$^†$ | 2011 | 71 | 73 | .493 | 4.27 | 1,003 | |
| — | Bill Castro | 2011 | 71 | 73 | .493 | 4.27 | 1,003 | |
| — | Chris Bosio | 2011 | 71 | 73 | .493 | 4.27 | 1,003 | |
| 22 | Fred Dabney | 2012–2014 | 201 | 231 | .465 | 4.22 | 3,353 | |
| 23 | Don Schulze | 2015 | 66 | 78 | .458 | 3.95 | 1,037 | |
| 24 | Rick Rodriguez$^†$ | 2016–2018 | 223 | 198 | .530 | 3.92 | 3,279 | |
| 25 | Brian Shouse | 2019 | 66 | 72 | .478 | 5.48 | 1,158 | |
| — | Brendan Sagara | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 26 | Jim Henderson | 2021 | 65 | 56 | .529 | 4.16 | 1,108 | |
| 27 | Jeremy Accardo | 2022–2024 | 252 | 191 | .569 | 4.30 | 4,216 | |
| 28 | Patrick McGuff | 2024 | 78 | 68 | .534 | 4.40 | 1,286 | |
| 29 | Bryan Leslie | from 2025 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 30 | Justin Meccage | from 2025 | — | — | — | — | — | — |

### Hitting

Hitting coaches :
| No. | Coach | Season(s) | BA | HR | RBI | Stat ref(s). |
| — | None | 1978–1979 | .256 | 108 | 977 | |
| 1 | Ed Napoleon | 1980–1982 | .270 | 273 | 1,922 | |
| 2 | Dick Sisler | 1983 | .272 | 100 | 650 | |
| 3 | Jim Saul | 1983–1984 | .268 | 199 | 1,244 | |
| — | None | 1985 | .252 | 96 | 521 | |
| 4 | Gene Roof$^*$ | 1986 | .274 | 85 | 600 | |
| 5 | Jim Lett | 1987 | .257 | 75 | 535 | |
| 6 | Buddy Pryor$^*$ | 1987 | .257 | 75 | 535 | |
| — | None | 1988–1990 | .253 | 246 | 1,594 | |
| — | Jim Lett | 1991–1992 | .255 | 199 | 1,086 | |
| 7 | Roger LaFrancois | 1993–1996 | .264 | 527 | 2,482 | |
| 8 | Von Joshua | 1997 | .269 | 153 | 659 | |
| 9 | Richie Hebner | 1998–2000 | .273 | 482 | 2,049 | |
| 10 | Dave Clark | 2000 | .258 | 138 | 639 | |
| 11 | Jeff Livesey | 2001 | .276 | 130 | 616 | |
| 12 | Curtis Wilkerson | 2002 | .262 | 110 | 608 | |
| 13 | Jay Loviglio | 2003 | .266 | 116 | 585 | |
| — | Jeff Livesey | 2004 | .272 | 180 | 642 | |
| 14 | Gary Pettis | 2005–2006 | .269 | 272 | 1,279 | |
| 15 | Harry Spilman | 2007–2008 | .267 | 278 | 1,267 | |
| 16 | Sandy Guerrero | 2009–2011 | .276 | 394 | 1,978 | |
| 17 | Al LeBoeuf | 2012 | .259 | 119 | 507 | |
| 18 | Bob Skube$^†$ | 2013–2014 | .260 | 249 | 1,145 | |
| 19 | Webster Garrison | 2015 | .265 | 84 | 548 | |
| 20 | Eric Martins | 2016–2018 | .261 | 408 | 1,864 | |
| 21 | Howard Johnson | 2019 | .261 | 179 | 658 | |
| — | Chase Lambin | 2020 | — | — | — | — |
| — | Al LeBoeuf | 2021–2024 | .254 | 621 | 2,778 | |
| 22 | Eric Theisen | 2024–2024 | .244 | 133 | 688 | |
| 23 | Tim Doherty | from 2025 | — | — | — | — |
| 24 | Zack Jones | from 2025 | — | — | — | — |

### Bench coaches

Bench coaches :
| No. | Coach | Season(s) | Ref. |
| 1 | Geno Petralli | 2019 | |
| 2 | David Tufo | 2024–present | |

### Bullpen

Bullpen coaches :
| No. | Coach | Season(s) | Ref. |
| 1 | Éric Gagné | 2019 | |
| 2 | Patrick McGuff | 2023–2024 | |

### General

General coaches :
| No. | Coach | Season(s) |
| — | Tyler Graham | 2020 |
| 1 | Ned Yost IV | 2021–present |
| 2 | Liu Rodríguez | 2023 |
| 3 | Eric Bunnell | from 2025 |

### Former roles

Former roles :
| Coach | Season(s) | Role | Ref. |
| Sean Isaac | 2022 | Development coach | |