Advisory Board
ROSS HAWLEY
JOSEPH HUGHES
Ross has 20+ years of coaching experience under his belt. Spending most of his adult life in and around the game of baseball, Ross has mentored a countless number of baseball players on to the collegiate and professional ranks. Known for his high-energy and passion, Ross prides himself in motivating young men to reach their potential, both on and off the field.
During his playing career, Ross was a 3-year starter and captain who played SS/RHP for Augustana University. He was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers after his junior season. He transferred his senior year to Kansas State University where he was elected as a team captain and pitched on Friday nights for the Wildcats. Ross was drafted and signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers following his senior campaign where he played parts of two seasons in the Dodgers' farm system.
Since 2006, Ross has coached and instructed baseball in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. He spent the majority of his time as a coach at the Parish Episcopal School in Dallas and with DBAT Elite, in the summers. In addition to Baseball Forward, Ross founded and runs College Recruit Prep (operating since 2013), a company dedicated to assisting baseball players through the ever-changing college recruiting process. Ross has an entrepreneurial spirit with a true love for the game of baseball. He also hosts the popular Baseball Forward Podcast.
Joe Hughes finished his 12th season as the assistant coach at Texas Tech in 2024.
With Tech’s rise in recruiting on the national level as the Red Raiders have owned 11-straight Top 25 recruiting classes, including three of the highest-ranked recruiting classes in school history (2014, 2015, 2018). The 2018 class was the best in school history, a group that ranked as high as No. 6 by Perfect Game. Most recently, Texas Tech earned a No. 8 ranking by Perfect Game for its 2023 class. In addition to it being the eighth-best ranking in the nation, it was the No. 1 ranking among all Big 12 teams and No. 1 among all teams in the state of Texas.
Hughes played a key role for a program that has been to the College World Series four times in the last eight contested seasons. Tech is one of six schools in the nation to advance to the College World Series four times since 2014, including consecutive trips in 2018 and 2019 for the first time in school history.
A former college baseball player at Oklahoma (2006-07), Hughes played outfield and pitched for the Sooners. He received several honors during his Oklahoma career, including All-Big 12 honorable mention, Academic All-Big 12 first team and Big 12 All-Tournament Team as a senior, and he was named Big 12 Player of the Week during the second week of the season in 2006.
Following his senior season, Hughes signed a free agent contract with the Kansas City Royals where he made 16 appearances during the 2007 season with Idaho Falls in the Pioneer League. Hughes’ playing career came to an end following 2008 spring training due to an arm injury.
Hughes graduated from Oklahoma in 2008 with a degree in human relations. He earned his master’s degree in 2010 with a degree in adult and higher education with an emphasis in intercollegiate athletics administration. Hughes is originally from Plano, Texas, where he played high school baseball at Plano East Senior High School.
Hughes was born in Oceanside, Calif., on Oct. 4, 1984. He is married to his wife, Amy, and they have three daughters.