The United States Air Force Academy has a new head baseball coach, tapping a familiar face from within the program to take over one of its most visible athletic posts.
Air Force baseball promoted from within, naming offensive coordinator and hitting coach Drew LaComb as the program's new coach. Interim athletic director Nancy Hixson announced the selection, saying LaComb's "experience, energy, enthusiasm and knowledge of our program truly set him apart during our national search."
LaComb spent the past three seasons on the Falcons staff, helping guide teams that captured a Mountain West regular-season title in 2024 and finished as runner-up this past season. Before arriving at the Academy, LaComb had established himself as a fixture in the Colorado baseball scene after seven years at Regis University, serving as head coach for the Denver-based program from 2019 to 2023. He also played at Regis following a run to the NJCAA Division II national title as team captain for Mesa Community College in Arizona. LaComb was named RMAC coach of the year at Regis in 2022.
"It is a true honor and a blessing to have the opportunity to be the next head baseball coach at our United States Air Force Academy," LaComb said in a press release issued Tuesday. "I truly believe this is the best baseball coaching position in America because what we do here is different. Our mission within our program is to not only win baseball games, but it is also to develop great men, great husbands, and great fathers who are ready to lead as future officers and warfighters for our country."
The head coaching position opened earlier this summer. It became vacated when Mike Kazlausky stepped down in July after 17 transformational seasons that saw the Falcons climb from the bottom of NCAA Division I baseball to a regular contender in the Mountain West — a program that brought in talent like current MLB pitchers Griffin Jax and Paul Skenes and conference players of the year Sam Kulasingam and Jay Thomason. Kazlausky now serves in the role of director of leadership and institutional strategy within the athletic department.
Kazlausky said of the hire that LaComb "is not only an exceptional coach but also understands our mission of developing warfighters," adding that "under his leadership, baseball's trajectory will continue to climb and the mission will remain clear."
Hixson noted that LaComb "played an integral role in building AF Baseball these past few seasons while also building leaders of character for our Air Force and Space Force." The athletic director position itself also remains vacant, with the coaching hire made under Hixson's direction as interim athletic director.
A permanent athletic director has not yet been named, and that search will be one to watch as the Academy moves into a new chapter of leadership across its sports programs.