Auburn baseball adds new assistant

Bill Mosiello, regarded as one of the top assistant coaches in the country, has been named an assistant baseball coach at Auburn, announced head coach Tom Slater on Thursday. Mosiello comes to Auburn from Southern California, where he was the hitting coach for the Trojans this past season.

"I am excited to add Bill Mosiello to our staff. He is a great baseball man with a lot of experience in both the SEC and professional baseball," Slater said. "I have known Bill for a long time and we are lucky to have an individual as good as him join our program. He brings a lot of energy and a great passion for the game."

Mosiello spent the past year at USC after spending four years in the New York Yankees organization, including two as the manager for the Charleston RiverDogs, the Yankees' single-A affiliate of the South Atlantic League

"When Coach Slater called to see if I was interested, without question, because of the type of guy he is, I was really interested," "Mosiello said. "I feel like I am very fortunate to come in at a time when there are great players here. I thought it was a great opportunity for me and my family and we are just so excited to be able to come to such a special place with special players and people who believe in the same things I believe in."

In just one year at USC, Mosiello helped shortstop Grant Green earn Freshman All-America honors as he hit .316 with 14 doubles, 10 triples, two home runs, 24 RBI and six stolen bases to go along with a .966 fielding percentage.

During his time as the manager of the RiverDogs, Mosiello posted a two-year record of 129-98 (.568). He also managed the Battle Creek Yankees in 2004 and spent a season as the hitting instructor for the Trenton Thunder (AA) in the Yankees system.

Prior to his minor league experience, Mosiello, 42, spent 15 seasons in the collegiate coaching ranks. After graduating from Fresno State in 1986, he began his coaching career at Cerritos College and posted a 163-34 record in four seasons (1987-90). He won four South Coast Conference titles and two California state junior college championships.

Mosiello made the move to the Division I level in 1991, joining Augie Garrido's staff at Cal State Fullerton where he spent two seasons (1991-92). In 1992, the Titans advanced to the College World Series championship game, featuring Golden Spiked Award winner and No. 1 overall draft selection Phil Nevin.

In 1993 and 1994 he served as Rod Delmonico's assistant at Tennessee, where the Volunteers claimed consecutive Southeastern Conference championships. Future major leaguers R.A. Dickey and Todd Helton earned All-America recognition and were first-round draft picks.

After one season as pitching coach at Mississippi in 1995, Mosiello spent five seasons (1996-2000) at Oklahoma with part of his tenure as associate head coach. At Oklahoma, the Sooners posted several top finishes in the final national and conference fielding rankings, including a streak of three straight first-place finishes in the Big 12 Conference. Offensively, none of his teams at Oklahoma hit worse than a .309 clip.

He was a volunteer assistant coach at Arizona State in 2001 before joining the Yankees.

He was tabbed by Baseball America as one of the nation's top assistant coaches after guiding 24 All-Americans and 12 first-round major league baseball draft picks. He has managed or coached over 50 players during his career who have played in the majors, including Nevin, Helton, Sean Casey, Craig Counsell and David Dellucci.

Moseillo has earned Manager of the Year honors twice in the Alaska Summer League (1990, 1991) and once in the Cape Cod Baseball League (1998).

Mosiello and his wife, Janelle, have three sons; Shane (10), Gehrig (7) and Helton (four months old).

Further quotes from Bill Mosiello...

"When we were at the University of Tennessee (1993-94) and at Ole Miss (1995), we had huge success and anytime you have success you have fond memories. We won a couple of SEC championships at Tennessee and in 1994 we went 24-5 and then at Ole Miss we broke the school record for wins at the time, so it was a real special time to be a part of both programs."

"The SEC has always had a special place in my heart and my wife's heart. Auburn was always a little special to me. In those three years (1993-95), we were 20-4 in three-game series and of the four series we lost, two of them were against Auburn."

"I was always a huge Hal Baird fan and Coach Slater was at Auburn at that time, and I always liked the way they went about things. They hit with two strikes, they bunted and played real-good baseball. They could always pitch and did everything I believed in, which is why they were always such a good match-up for my club."

"I have always been impressed with the athletes they have at Auburn. They have great kids, they play hard and are good players."

"When I went to the pro game, that was always something I wanted to do and I loved and I had a great time, but it was a family decision to get back into college. When we first got back into the college game my wife said, `we need to get back in the SEC.'"

"I thought it was a great opportunity to come here and work with Coach Slater and to be in a special place with special players."

"Butch (Thompson) has a track record that speaks for itself. I have heard great things about him and that is huge for me. I knew I wanted to be at a place where I knew we were going to be able to pitch because that's how we win."