Cory Hall is entering his first season as the Head Baseball Coach of the New
Mexico Junior College Thunderbirds. Coach Hall was hired to replace long time
coach Ray Birmingham, who was hired to take over the University of New Mexico
Baseball Program. The past two seasons, Hall served as the T-Birds Head-Assistant
Coach and Recruiting Coordinator. In that time, NMJC had a combined record of
104-16, won back to back conference titles, were ranked the #1 team in the nation
both seasons, and finished as the 2007 national runners-up at the JUCO World
Series.
Prior to joining the New Mexico Junior College Coaching Staff, Hall spent four seasons at Clarendon College. During the 2002-2003 seasons, he served as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. He was hired as the head coach for the 2004-2005 seasons. In his first year as the head coach, his club finished 43-13, the most wins in school history; won the division; were ranked in the top 10 in the nation, the first national ranking in school history; and led the nation in hitting with a team batting average of .374. During his two seasons as head coach at Clarendon, Coach Hall had 21 players sign to play at the university level, eight of which were Division I schools. He also had eight players drafted or sign professional contracts during this time.
Prior to Clarendon College, Coach Hall started his career at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. While at Northwestern, he served as the pitching coach for three seasons, from 1999-2001. Hall played an instrumental role in turning around a program that had not had a winning season in several years into one that did. During his time at Northwestern, the team put together three winning seasons, with a combined record of 104-53. In his third and final season, the team finished with a 49-12 record and was ranked as high as seventh in the nation. They broke the school record for most wins in a season and qualified for the regional tournament for the first time in the school’s history.
Hall is 32 years old, single, and resides in Hobbs, N.M.
Coach Josh Simpson is entering his first season as Assistant Coach at New Mexico
Junior College. Simpson will serve as the recruiting coordinator, hitting coach,
and will work with the outfielders. Simpson started his coaching career as an
Assistant at Lamar Community College in Lamar, CO, in 2005. During his tenure
at Lamar, the team won the Region IX Championship and finished second at the Western
District Playoffs with an overall record of 51-11 and a final ranking of fourth
in the country. After one year at Lamar, Simpson joined the University of New
Mexico Coaching Staff, where he served as the volunteer coach for the 2006 season.
In 2007, Simpson became the Hitting Coach at Central Arizona College. While at
Central, Simpson helped coach the team to the 2007 Region I Championship and a
second place finish at the Western District Playoffs, with an overall record of
43-21. Coach Simpson spent the summers of 2005 and 2006 as the Hitting Coach for
the Waterloo Bucks of the Northwoods League. This past summer, he helped guide
the Cheyenne Post 6 American Legion to their seventh straight state championship.
Simpson started his playing career at El Paso Community College, where his 2001 team won the conference title. Following EPCC, Simpson moved on to Northwestern Oklahoma State University, where he finished a successful career. While at Northwestern, Simpson earned a B.S. in Wellness Promotion.
The 2008 season will mark Ryan Cougill’s first as a member of the New
Mexico Junior College Coaching Staff and his fourth season as a collegiate coach.
Prior to NMJC, Cougill spent one year as an Assistant at Western Illinois University
in Macomb, IL. There, he was an infield coach for the Western Team that finished
second in the Mid-Continent Conference and one game away from a regional birth.
Following Western Illinois, Cougill spent two seasons at Joliet Junior College
in Joliet, IL. While at Joliet, Cougill helped coach the team to back-to-back
World Series appearances, including a third place finish in 2006 and national
runners-up in 2007. Cougill also spent the summer of 2007 as a hitting coach
for the Little Falls Miners of the New York Collegiate Baseball League.
From 2001-2002, Cougill played at Joliet Junior College, where he was twice named to the All-Conference and All-Region teams. Following Joliet, Cougill had a successful career at Western Illinois University, where he was named to the All Mid-Continent Conference team in 2003 and 2004. While at Western, Cougill earned a B.S. in Exercise Physiology. Cougill is single and resides in Hobbs, NM.
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