Kirby McGuire

Kirby McGuire joined Charleston Southern as an assistant coach in the summer of 2024 and will have the 2026 season mark his second year with the Buccaneers. He joined CSU after spending three seasons at Ohio University.
 
In his first spring with the Buccaneers, he helped engineer the most productive offense in the history of Charleston Southern baseball. During the year, they broke the team single-season school records in home runs (68), RBIs (447), runs scored (491), walks (301), hit by pitches (110), slugging percentage (.483) and on base percentage (.426) with many getting eclipsed by a wide margin. The team’s RBIs and runs scored previous records were broken by over 100 apiece. In the single-game categories, almost every statistic has multiple team and individual outings that rank inside the school’s all-time top 15 now along with multiple individual single season records being littered with players from the 2025 season.
 
In total, they finished the spring with 31 wins, their most in over a quarter century and became the second-winningest year in CSU history. The Buccaneers got out to a fast start on the season, jumping out to 8-1 for the first time in school history. They entered the Big South Championships as the #3 seed, their highest seeding since 2011 and finished as the Tournament Runner-Up. At the end of the tournament, Charleston Southern had four players earn All-Tournament honors.
 
McGuire played a key role in many of the squad’s individual successes for national and league awards. Kaden Smith was named Second-Team All-Conference and Second-Team All-Region, to become the third Buccaneer to earn All-Region distinction. During the season he tied the NCAA Division I record for doubles in a single game with five and broke the school single season records in RBIs, sacrifice flies, slugging percentage and total bases. He ended the year as the NCAA leader in RBIs per game with 1.58. Additionally, AJ Martin earned Honorable Mention All-Conference and Aidan McAskie was named the Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year for his exemplary performance in the classroom  and on the diamond. He also coached the Bucs’ starting catcher, Lucas Pringle, who became the first CSU player to ever be named to the Buster Posey Award Midseason Watch List.
 
At the end of the year, they had four players that ended the year with a batting average over .300 and eight of the nine players in the starting lineup with an on base percentage over .400. Charleston Southern was all over the national leaderboards, ranking among the NCAA’s best in multiple offensive statistics. The Bucs averaged 9.3 runs per game to rank 6th, an on base percentage of .426 for 12th, a batting average of .305 for 31st, 1.83 stolen bases per game for 56th and a slugging percentage of .483 for 59th. Defensively, they turned .87 double plays per game for the 23rd highest mark in the nation.

During McGuire's time with the Bobcats, they posted some of the top offensive numbers in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). During the 2022 and 2024 season, a quartet of players ended the season with batting averages over .300. In 2022, he worked with Colin Kasperbauer who finished the year top of the MAC in batting average and ranked in the top-50 nationally in the category. Additionally, during that season, a pair of his players were on the national leaderboards in doubles per game with Mason Minzey at .41 for 28th and Kasperbauer at .38 at 48th.

Before going to Ohio, McGuire coached at Southern Illinois where he was the Director of Player Development for two seasons. In his second and final year, the Salukis had a 40-21 record, the best year for the program in 31 years. The Salukis were one of the best offensive teams in the nation, ranking in the top-20 nationally in hits (10th), slugging percentage (10th), home runs (15th), and runs scored (16th). 
 
Southern Illinois hit several milestones with McGuire on staff. Starting in the 2020 season and carrying on into 2021, the Salukis won 19 consecutive games, marking the longest winning streak SIU recorded since 1974. SIU's 14-0 start in 2021 was the best start in program history. In 2021, the Salukis hit 84 home runs, which shattered the previous program record of 75 homers set in 1998. SIU also finished the 2021 season with an RPI of 82, the best for the program since 2007. SIU collected five wins over teams in the top-50 of RPI rankings, six wins over teams that made the NCAA Tournament, and nine wins over the in the top-100 of RPI rankings, including a four-game series split with Dallas Baptist, who went on to advance to a Super Regional.

In 2019, McGuire joined the coaching staff at the University of The Incarnate Word as the graduate assistant where he helped the program set a school record for wins with 37. He worked extensively with UIW hitters on pitch recognition and plate discipline, as the Cardinals led the Southland conference in almost every offensive category in 2019.

McGuire's coaching career started in 2018 at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri under head coach Mike Stockton. He worked with outfielders and hitters in his time at Jewell.

McGuire, a Round Rock, Texas native, graduated from the University of Missouri where he led the Tigers in hitting during conference play in 2017 as an outfielder. Before attending the University of Missouri, McGuire played at McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas. He helped lead the Highlanders to a national runner-up finish in Grand Junction in 2015. 
 
McGuire got married to his wife, Jessica, in November of 2023.