DIAMOND VISION: Ryan Forrest, right, views the action at Fenway Park during his tenure as the pitching coach for the Boston College baseball team. Earlier this summer, Forrest was named as the head coach of the Princeton University baseball team. Forrest is the 17th head coach in the history of Princeton baseball, a program that dates back to 1897. He succeeds Scott Bradley, who was let go in June after guiding the Tigers for 28 seasons with Princeton going 27-58 overall and 16-26 Ivy League in the last two seasons. (Photo provided courtesy of Princeton Athletics)
By Justin Feil
Ryan Forrest was confident that he would get the chance to be a head coach of a college baseball team at some point, but he was selective about where he applied.
When the Princeton University baseball job opened up, Forrest went for it. He was named the Tigers head coach on July 20 after a national search was conducted to succeed Scott Bradley.
“When John Mack (Princeton director of athletics) gave me the call and told me that he wanted me to be the next head baseball coach here, honestly, I was taken aback,” said Forrest. “I still pinch myself every day that I’m here, thinking that this is a dream. And it’s just a dream come true to be completely honest.”
Forrest has enjoyed success as a pitching coach most prominently at Boston College and Air Force. He started his coaching career at his alma mater, Maine, coached at Division II Millersville before moving onto Air Force, and coached a season at Division II Mississippi College before coming to Boston College. Princeton felt like the perfect next stop.
“We were extremely picky on jobs in which we were pursuing,” said Forrest. “And when this one came about, it was just like, this is right for us in terms of the things in which we value as a family, the academic component is huge. The second thing is the overall student-athlete experience, meaning the kids are going to actually be in class and having an experience with a professor in class. And so when this one came about, it was just kind of a no-brainer.”
Forrest has never crossed paths on the playing field either as a player or a coach with the Princeton program, but the school’s sparkling reputation and the program’s history of success and production of professional players were a draw. The University also has a history of retaining coaches for a long time. He’s looking at a long tenure like his two predecessors had. Tom O’Connell served as coach for 15 years and then Bradley was coach since 1998.
“With where we are at as a family, we have a 7-year-old and a 4-year-old, two boys, I would love to say that this is going to be home forever, to be completely honest,” said Forrest. “For us as a family, the older our kids get, the harder it gets to uproot our family. and I just think that I believe in this institution. In the short time in which I’ve been here, I believe that that this place is truly a sleeping giant.”
Princeton was 15-27 overall last year and 8-13 Ivy League as they placed sixth in the league standings. Brady Kaufman was the Tigers’ lone first team All-Ivy League selection. Catcher Will Robbins and utility Bennett Crerar both were second team picks and shortstop Tommy Googins was an honorable mention selection. All are returning, and Princeton graduated only four players. Forrest has familiarized himself with the team and what’s back and is excited about the potential.
“Just doing a little dive through TruMedia and looking at some data and whatnot, I do believe that this roster has a chance to be really good,” said Forrest. “So I do not think it is going to be a complete rebuild. And then the other thing too I’ve heard a lot about from other colleagues is that the young guys that are on this team right now are really good. So I think that there’s a really good base. I think that there’s a really good foundation that is currently here right now. And it’s our job to maximize the potential for those guys.”
Forrest’s track record of development is certainly a reason that Princeton is bringing him in. At Millersville, he helped develop pitcher Chas McCormick, a 2017 draft pick of the Houston Astros who helped them win the 2022 World Series. He also recruited Paul Skenes to Air Force and coached the eventual 2025 Cy Young Award winner for two seasons. They are two of the 11 professional pitchers that he has worked with in college.
“It’s proud dad moments,” said Forrest. “It’s super exciting to see those guys go out and have success because first and foremost they do it the right way and just to be small part of those individual lives, honestly I’m just through the roof. The bigger one is the relationship that I’ve kept with those guys that are obviously having success at the next level is what means more to me because at the end of the day they’re good people and there’s no better role models and mentors for my kids than those individuals.”
The players have been just a few of the ones that he has gained plenty of experience coaching over his 13 seasons as an assistant coach. Now Forrest is cultivating more relationships while at Princeton. It’s his first chance to run his own team.
“I’ve been fortunate over the past nine, 10 years to where I have been given a lot of freedom to kind of do what I want, what I want from a recruiting standpoint, from a development standpoint,” said Forrest. “So I am running my own program now, but also I’ve been given a lot of autonomy and a lot of freedom to kind of do what I want at my previous institution. So honestly, it’s kind of been like a pretty seamless transition. I’m sure there’s going to be challenges. I’m sure there’s going to be things that come up over the next week, over the next weeks, months, year, that I’m going to have to try to figure out. But so far, it’s been just an unbelievable transition.”
He’s brought in Dan Tischler, a former Columbia assistant coach who won five Ivy League titles with the Lions, as an assistant coach. The Tigers will tap into his strong recruiting. He also retained Kyle Bonicki, an assistant from Bradley’s staff who showed tremendous knowledge of the Princeton players and the game in interviews with Forrest and had continued on the road recruiting through the summer before Forrest was hired. A third assistant from a Division I program is completing the hiring process. Forrest will oversee the program while continuing to put a lot of his energy into coaching the pitching at Princeton.
“That’s one thing that some of my mentors have told me is when you are going through this transition, you need to stick with your strengths,” said Forrest. “And that’s one thing in which I know I am very comfortable doing is, developing pitchers, getting guys better, and getting guys to the next level. But also too, making sure that those guys are in positions in which they can have success. That’s going to be something that’s going to go a long way with the success of our team moving forward is just me having oversight to all the pitchers and then giving our assistants oversight of the hitters and then their defensive positions in which they’re coaching.”
Forrest would like to see his contributions help the Tigers have the same sort of success that he’s been a part of in other programs. His experiences at Boston College and Air Force give him confidence.
“They’re both extremely difficult places to win and I think that we’ve been able to do it certainly this past year at BC and then we were able to do it at Air Force,” said Forrest. “And it’s recruiting a very similar kid that is high academic that wants something more. But also we want guys that are baseball players, and guys that have aspirations of playing professional baseball and making it to the next level while also receiving an unbelievable degree.”
At his last stop at Boston College, the Eagles went from 22 wins his first year, to 28 wins his second year, to a program second-best 37 wins last spring. He was a part of a 26-win season at Air Force in which they set a program record for Mountain West conference wins and then a year later won the conference and advanced to their first NCAA Regional since 1969. Princeton was last Ivy League champion in 2016.
“The expectation here is that we are going to compete for Ivy League championships every year,” said Forrest. “And there’s no reason why we shouldn’t. I think just from a recruiting standpoint, obviously you’re recruiting a very similar student-athlete that’s high academic and they just want more. And then also too, with the fact that we are getting a brand new stadium, you pair that with the unbelievable academic experience that they have here, you’re gonna have a world class student-athlete experience while they’re here.”
The logistics of setting up everything in his new role while navigating a move of his family has been a lot, but Forrest is settling in. He’s quickly grown accustomed to what he can offer with the school’s reputation, potential and his fresh outlook. He feels he’s in the perfect spot.
“It’s something that has been a lifelong goal of mine,” said Forrest.
“And honestly, it’s been a dream come true to be a part of such a prestigious institution with so much history and an unbelievable baseball program.”