TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) — A familiar face to Trojan baseball fans has returned to Riddle-Pace Field.
The last time Rush Hixon wore a Trojan jersey was in a loss to Georgia Southern on May 25th, 2019. Now, he returns for the Boys of Troy, but as an assistant coach in what he describes as a dream job.
“You don’t get a chance in your coaching career to always choose where you go,” said new assistant coach Rush Hixon. “It’s a dream job for me to be able to come back.
“There are a lot of special people in this town. I grew up here and then played here for the last two years of my career, so it’s a special chance for me to come back.”
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Before his return to Troy, Hixon spent the last five years as an assistant coach with Chipola College. While it was hard to leave Marianna, Florida, Hixon felt it was time for a chance.
“It was an easy decision, from the stance of the next step of coming here, but I was at Chipola the last few years; it’s a special place to me,” Hixon said. “It’s hard to leave there, but this is one of those opportunities that you couldn’t pass up.”
This will not be the first time Hixon returns to an alma mater to be a coach. Before Chipola, he served as head coach for Pike Lib for the 2021-2022 season.
In his time with the Patriots, he won two AISA state titles with the high school. He would coach a future Trojan, Drew Nelson, and he credits that success to his players.
“Pike [Lib] was awesome to me. I am an alumnus from Pike, so being able to go back there and coach was special to me. I’ll put it this way: I had some good players, and good players make coaches look good”
In his playing career, Hixon was a pitcher. In his two seasons with Troy, he made 50 appearances across 99.2 innings with an ERA of 4.06.
Hixon will be the pitching coach and feels his experience on the mound helps the players understand what he is trying to teach.
“There is a piece to if you have done it, you can explain it a little bit better, which is not always the case,” Hixon said. “People want to hear from people who have done stuff and you can go out there and show them examples physically of how to do certain things.
“Now, these guys are a lot better than I was. I wouldn’t recruit myself to Troy nowadays.”
This connection he can build with players is what Hixon thinks his greatest strength as a coach is.
“Anybody can Google information, it is how relay that information to players,” Hixon said. “I think I do a good job of connecting with people, and nobody really cares what you say unless they trust what you’re saying.”
Joining a team fresh off a run to Omaha, Hixon hopes to help the Trojans back to the postseason.
