A former All-American at Texas A&M and well-known baseball name in the state of Texas, John Byington has been with the McMurry Baseball program for two decades. He took over as the War Hawks head coach in 2009.
Prior to taking the reins, Byington was an assistant with the War Hawks’ program for 10 seasons.
Byington, was originally hired at McMurry in June of 1998 as an assistant coach on Lee Driggers’ staff. He served as an assistant coach from 1998-2007 before he was promoted to associate head coach for the 2008 season and took over when Driggers resigned following the 2008 campaign.
In 2022, his final season, Byington and his staff were named the ASC Co-Coaching Staff of the Year following a 24-18 season. His team produced a 15-win improvement this past season, which is the largest growth in win total in program history.
While McMurry has been Byington’s first head-coaching job at the college level, he already had experience when he was head coach of the Athletes in Action Fire, which competed in the summer collegiate Alaska Baseball League. He guided the Fire to a 26-15 record and a championship in the six-team league.
Byington began coaching as a student assistant at Texas A&M University during the 1996 and 1997 seasons. He then moved on to Schreiner University, where he was a volunteer assistant during the 1998 season.
Byington first made his mark during his playing days as an all-American third baseman at Texas A&M from 1986-1989. He is best remembered by Aggie fans for his clutch hitting in the 1989 season when he hit game-winning home runs (a grand slam and a three-run homer) in consecutive games against the University of Texas to lead A&M to the Southwest Conference Championship.
After that famed 1989 season with the Aggies, the Milwaukee Brewers selected Byington in the third round of the Major League Baseball Draft, an organization where Byington spent six seasons. He reached the Triple-A level with the Brewers before closing out his professional career with the Texas Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate, the Oklahoma City 89ers, in 1995. For his seven-year minor-league career, Byington hit .279 with 54 homers, 473 RBI and 177 doubles.
In his first season as a head coach at McMurry in 2009, he guided the program to the longest winning streak in its illustrious history with 12-straight wins from March 21 through April 10. He also saw seven players earn all-ASC recognition while senior second baseman Tre Lips and Mullin earned American Baseball Coaches Association all-West Region honors.
He has a career mark of 260-315-1 through 14 seasons.
Despite a nine-win season in 2021, McMurry highlighted its season with a five game win streak from March 30-April 2 that included a three-game sweep of ASC foe Howard Payne. The series opener went 15 innings and the War Hawks won 8-7 on a walk-off hit-by-pitch to Christian Oliver. Senior Sam Hillyer signed an independent league contract with the Pecos League in the offseason, while he and five others earned all-conference honors. Javier Rosa also earned a spot on the D3baseball.com National Team of the Week on April 27, 2021.
The 2020 season was shortened due to COVID-19, but the War Hawks were able to pull three wins before the season came to a halt. Like 2021, one of those wins came in one of the longest games on record, a 16-inning walk-off win over St. Thomas at Walt Driggers Field. In 2019, McMurry went 10-29.
McM was 13-25 in 2018 and 7-17 in the American Southwest Conference. Among those wins, however, was a signature 3-1 knockout of the then-No. 1 team in the nation, Trinity University, on April 24 on the road. Five players - Nick Hamel, Chris Baker, Matt Chalk, Jordan Speck and Payton Stokes - all received ASC post-season honors, with Hamel selected as the ASC Freshman of the Year.
In 2017, the War Hawks went 13-27 overall. It also marked the team's return to ASC play, going 7-17. Tyler Jenkins earned second team All-ASC accolades.
The 2016 War Hawks were 21-22 and qualified for the NCCAA Central Region championships for the third-consecutive season.
In 2015, McMurry had one of the finest seasons in school history. The War Hawks set a regular-season record with 29 victories and went 31-13 overall. McM was an NCCAA Central Region semifinalist.
Prior to going back to NCAA III affiliation in 2015, the War Hawks competed as an NCAA II program in both 2013 & 2014. The team was a member of the Heartland Conference in those two seasons.
In 2014, McM reached the NCCAA Central Region championship game. The squad went 26-28 overall and had two players - pitcher Joel DePorte and pitcher/thirdbaseman Eric Preuss - sign to play in the independent Pecos League.
In 2013, the team went 23-27 versus a tough slate of competition in its inaugural D-II campaign.
In 2012, Byington led McM to a 24-25 record and an appearance in the American Southwest Conference Tournament Championship Series (reaching the championship finals). Matt Thompson earned both NCAA III All-American and Academic All-American honors, while also leading the club in many statistical categories.
In 2011 he coached Jake Mullin to his third first-team all-American Southwest Conference selection in his remarkable four-year career while Byington also saw six of Mullin’s teammates also garner postseason all-conference awards.
McMurry finished the 2011 season 17-27 overall on the season, and placed fourth in the ASC West Division with an 11-10 record. Then, in perhaps the largest upset in school history, Byington’s War Hawks upended the No. 6-nationally-ranked UT-Tyler Patriots by sweeping them in the first round of the ASC Championship Tournament to advance to the final round of four to end the season on a good note.
In 2010, McMurry finished 21-21 overall with Mullin garnering ASC West Division Player of the Year honors, first-team all-ABCA West Region honors, and D3baseball.com honorable mention all-America honors.
Byington earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M in 1994. He is also a 1986 graduate of Robert E. Lee High School in Baytown, Texas.
Coach Byington is a devout Christian and attends Beltway Park Baptist Church in Abilene.
Byington and his wife, Kimi, have three children -- a daughter, Raegan, and sons Wade and Cason.
