ROCHESTER, Mich. - Jared Helmic, Cooper Goen, Mark Whitehead and Kevin Hahn have been added to the Oakland baseball staff, interim head coach Brian Nelson announced.
 
"When assembling our first staff here at Oakland, I prioritized finding high-character coaches that I believed would truly care about our players and their development on and off the field," Nelson said. "Loyal, trustworthy, a desire to be great and a passion for the game were highly sought-after attributes. I am extremely proud of the staff we've been able to put together and I believe our players are very fortunate to have this group of men leading them."
 
ABOUT HELMIC
Helmic returns from last season as the Recruiting Coordinator as he helped the Golden Grizzlies baseball team to a 31-27 overall record, as 31 wins tied a D1 program record for most wins in a season. Helmic also helped the team set more records, with most runs scored (D1) with 475, most hits with 590, most triples with 24, most RBI with 427, most base on balls (D1) with 334, most stolen bases with 158 and the highest fielding percentage in program history with .971.
 
"Coach Helmic was one of the first phone calls I made when assembling our staff," Nelson said. "Making Coach Helmic our Recruiting Coordinator was one of the easiest decisions I've made since taking over the reins at Oakland. Coach Helmic is a tireless recruiter with a great reputation and carries an extensive knowledge of Midwest baseball with him. He has helped raise the bar for the type of player that we bring into the Oakland Baseball program."
 
ABOUT GOEN
Cooper Goen enters his second season with the Oakland baseball staff, first since 2021.

He will coach the hitters, infielders and coach third base on game days. He also handles on and off-campus recruiting. He was the volunteer assistant at Oakland in 2021, where he coached the catchers, assisted with the hitters as well as coordinated camps. Under his guidance, freshman catcher Brandon Heidal landed on the Horizon League All-Freshman Team.

Prior to returning to Oakland, Goen spent three seasons at Murray State University in Murray, KY. He was a part of three, 30-win seasons, including 37 in 2024, the second most in program history. Goen coached the catchers and the hitters at Murray State and helped the Racers to new heights on both sides of the ball. He had two catchers named to the Buster Posey Award Watch List (top collegiate catcher). On offense, he helped create a dynamic Racers attack. In 2022, they led the Ohio Valley Conference and were top-10 nationally with 113 stolen bases. In 2024, the Racers set a school record with 102 home runs. In 2024, the Racers finished in the top 2 of the Missouri Valley conference in batting average, HR, total bases, slugging and runs. He coached 14 all-conference players, two MLB draft picks, one MLB free agent signee and four other professional players.

Goen also spent a season at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas where he coached the hitters, catchers and base runners.

Goen, a native of Austin, Texas, played and served as a Student Assistant at Texas Christian University from 2016-2019 and was a part of two College World Series teams. He earned a bachelor's degree in sports broadcasting with a minor in Spanish. Prior to TCU, he played baseball, basketball and football at Hyde Park High School.

Goen currently resides in Auburn Hills, Mich.

"Coach Goen was a no-brainer hire for us," Nelson said. "He is an unbelievably awesome human. He has familiarity with Oakland University baseball already having coached here in the past with me as an assistant. He recently comes from Murray State where they have had an extremely successful run and he had the chance to learn from one of the best coaches in the game. Coach Goen will run our offense and develop our hitters. I trust Coach Goen completely, he brings great knowledge of the game to our program and I'm excited for players to learn from him."
 
ABOUT WHITEHEAD
Whitehead enters his first season as an Assistant Coach with the Golden Grizzlies baseball team. He will coach the outfielders, assist with the offense, recruiting and coach first base on game days.
 
A San Antonio, Texas native, Whitehead was a four-year starter in the Southland Conference for the Incarnate Word Cardinals from 2014-2018. Starting over 200 career games in the outfield, Whitehead was a three-time UIW captain, and was named to the First Team All-Southland Conference Academic Team in 2017 and 2018. In 2015, he finished third in the nation totaling eight outfield assists and in 2018, finished the regular season eighth in the nation in quality at bat percentage (0.559). Whitehead is top-10 in the UIW record book in career games played, hits, at bats, runs, stolen bases and walks. He graduated from UIW with a bachelor's degree in marketing before earning his master's degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing, also from Incarnate Word.
 
Prior to Oakland, Whitehead was an Assistant Coach under Nelson in the Texas Collegiate League for the Brazos Valley Bombers. He was then named the interim head coach once Coach Nelson accepted the interim head coaching position at Oakland University.
 
Whitehead coached previously at Brentwood High School in Los Angeles, Calif., where he ran the offense and defense. Under Whitehead, Brentwood saw a jump in every statistical categories on the offensive side.
 
"Adding Coach Whitehead to our staff was very exciting for me," Nelson said. "I had the opportunity to coach alongside Coach Whitehead in the past. He has an infectious personality and brings great positive energy to the ballpark every single day. As a former outfielder from the University of Incarnate-Word, his experience will be essential as he coaches our outfielders, base-running and assists with our hitters. I am certain that we are a better staff and team with Coach Whitehead around."
 
ABOUT HAHN
Hahn enters his first season as the Director of Pitching Development for the Oakland baseball team.
 
Hahn, a San Mateo, Calif., native, graduated from Aragon High School in 2014. During his time at Aragon, Hahn thrived as a two-sport athlete, claiming First Team All-League honors on the baseball field, along with a sectional championship on the basketball court.
 
After high school, Hahn attended De Anza College for two years where he earned an associates degree in Communications, as well as earning First Team All-Conference honors on the baseball field. He finished off his collegiate career at CSU Stanislaus where, as a senior, earned Second Team All-Conference honors and a bachelor's degree in Communications.
 
After graduating from CSU Stanislaus in 2019, Hahn joined the Florence Yalls of the Frontier League where he pitched 130 innings over the course of two professional seasons.
 
After he wrapped up his playing career, Hahn quickly found his way into coaching. Hahn has been a pitching coach for all levels of the game, including youth baseball with Hit Club Baseball Academy (2021-2024), high school baseball with Carlmont High School (2022), junior college baseball at Canada College (2024) and summer collegiate baseball with the Traverse City Pit Spitters (2024).
 
"Kevin Hahn comes to us with professional pitching experience and a passion for the individual development of pitchers," Nelson said. "Kevin will serve as the Director of Pitching Development for our program. Kevin is an integral member of our coaching staff and will lead the collection, analysis and interpretation of video and data to help make sure our pitchers are constantly staying on track to reach their individual goals. Kevin has a bright future in coaching and I consider our program extremely fortunate to have his knowledge and experience."