Mizzou trip special to Hogs' pitching coach Hobbs

Arkansas pitching coach Matt Hobbs speaks Saturday, March 5, 2022, with starter Hagen Smith and catcher Michael Turner during the fourth inning of the Razorbacks' 4-2 win over Southeastern Louisiana at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ trip to Missouri this week will be a homecoming of sorts for fourth-year Razorbacks pitching coach Matt Hobbs. 

Hobbs, a Southern California native, played and coached at Missouri for a combined eight seasons. He was a pitcher for the Tigers from 1999-2002 and was the team’s pitching coach from 2011-14. 

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn hired Hobbs prior to the 2019 season, but this week’s series will be the Razorbacks’ first in Columbia, Mo., since 2017. Hobbs said it will be his first non-recruiting trip back since he left Mizzou for a job at Wake Forest following the 2014 season. 

“It’s always cool going back there,” Hobbs said. “For me it’s about the city, it’s about the people and it’s about what that place means to me and my family more than playing the Tigers. Two of my children were born there; that will always be a special thing for me and my wife. My wife and kids are actually going to be at the game because they still have a ton of friends in Columbia.”

Hobbs went 13-9 in 57 appearances and 17 starts during his Missouri playing career. He twice set a Big 12 record by striking out seven consecutive batters in a single game. 

“He was a pretty solid left-handed pitcher,” former Missouri coach Tim Jamieson said. “He was from San Diego and during that time we had kind of a run with California kids, and he was one of them.”

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After one season coaching in San Francisco, Hobbs returned to Columbia before the 2011 season as Jamieson’s pitching coach. He was on staff when the Tigers transitioned into the SEC for the 2013 season. 

“I had Matt at a different stage in his learning curve than where he is right now,” Jamieson said. “He was still evolving as a pitching coach. From his perspective, I think it was huge to give him a taste of what the SEC was like and helped prepare for what he’s doing now at Arkansas.”

Hobbs said it was while coaching at Missouri that he was first exposed to the Razorbacks’ baseball program. Arkansas defeated the Tigers twice during a 2012 midweek series at Baum-Walker Stadium. 

“We were just an OK Big 12 team at the time and Arkansas was what Arkansas is, which is a really good SEC team,” Hobbs said. “It was packed in here and there was a lot of energy in the building, and you look around and think, ‘God, someday I’d love to coach at a place like this.’” 

Hobbs is one of two assistants Van Horn has hired at Arkansas with ties to Missouri’s program. Tennessee coach Tony Vitello, who served as the Razorbacks’ hitting coach and recruiting coordinator from the 2014-17 seasons, was also a former Mizzou player and assistant. 

Vitello and Hobbs were teammates and coached under Jamieson, who Van Horn knew well from their days coaching against each other in the Big 12 and the SEC. Van Horn and Jamieson also worked together while coaching the USA Collegiate National Team in the summer of 2011. 

Vitello and Hobbs had left Missouri for other jobs by the time they were hired at Arkansas. Van Horn said there is some coincidence that he hired two of Jamieson’s former players and assistants, but he said there was also a trust factor that Jamieson would give him a “straight answer” when he called to check on Vitello’s and Hobbs’ credentials during the hiring process. 

“I was blessed to have two very talented people and Dave recognized their talent level,” Jamieson said. 

Van Horn said Hobbs has done “a tremendous job” in his time at Arkansas. He was hired after the conclusion of fall practice, less than three months before the 2019 season began. He also had parts of two other seasons or offseasons disrupted because of the covid-19 shutdown in 2020. 

Once the 2022 season is complete, it will be Hobbs’ first uninterrupted cycle with an Arkansas pitching staff. The Razorbacks enter the series at Missouri ranked third in the SEC in ERA (2.95), opposing batting average (.208) and fewest hits allowed (124).

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“He’s getting more of his guys in here, but he’s done a great job with the guys that were already here,” Van Horn said. “Obviously he’s more of a modern style of pitching coach, but with some feel. There are some guys that know all the numbers and the calculations and what you’re looking for, but can they coach? You still have to be able to coach these kids and work on a grip or pick something out that can help them develop a pitch or just make a change. 

“Matt has the confidence to talk to the players about that and tweaking things. He has a good feel. I think he does a great job. He works hard now. The future is bright. We’ve got some good, young pitchers coming down the pike and some in here right now that I think are getting ready to take off. He’s one of the big reasons why.”

Jamieson retired at Missouri in 2016, but remained as a color analyst for the team’s SEC Network-Plus broadcasts until he was hired to coach pitchers at Southern Illinois in 2020. 

“I’m sure it’s like Fayetteville, but Columbia kind of gets in your blood,” Jamieson said. “It becomes a second home….He’s a Mizzou alumni and that gets in your heart. I’m sure it’ll be a little bit of mixed emotions for him this weekend.” 

Hobbs said many of the people he knew at Mizzou are gone now, but he hopes to see some familiar faces in a familiar surrounding. 

“I’m not going to say it’s just another game because it means something to me because I spent a decade of my life there,” Hobbs said. “It’s more about potentially running into some old friends and seeing some people…in the athletic department I still know.

"I’ll try to take myself out of the equation as much as possible while I’m there.”