NORMAN – New York Yankees assistant coach and University of Oklahoma alumnus Reggie Willits will join the OU baseball program as volunteer assistant coach, head coach Skip Johnson announced Thursday. He will join the Sooners full time after fulfilling his contract with the Yankees.
Willits with the Angels
Willits, who played at Oklahoma from 2002-03, has been a member of the Yankees organization since 2015, including the last four seasons as the major league first base coach and outfield instructor. He also serves as the club's baserunning coordinator. During his stint with the Yankees, the team averaged 98 wins per season and reached the MLB postseason in all four years.
Britt Bonneau, who has served on the OU staff as volunteer assistant coach since 2018, has moved into a full-time role as the program's director of player development.
"We're excited to welcome Reggie back home," Johnson said. "He brings vast experience in player development, and the knowledge he has gained while working with the New York Yankees for the past seven years will be a valuable asset to our program. We're thrilled to have Reggie as part of our coaching staff."
A former major league outfielder, Willits joined the Yankees organization as a minor league outfield and baserunning coordinator in 2015 and was promoted to major league first base coach and outfield instructor in 2018.
Willits was selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the seventh round of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft. He played six seasons with the Angels, batting .258 with 146 runs scored and 40 stolen bases in 414 major league games. He finished fifth in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2007 after batting .293 and registering 20 doubles, 27 steals and 74 runs scored.
Following his major league playing career, Willits served as head baseball coach at Binger-Oney High School in Binger, Okla., from 2012 through '15. During his four-year stint, he led the Bobcats to two state championships, including the Class A state title in 2014.
Willits at OU
In his two-year playing career at Oklahoma, Willits compiled a .335 batting average and .438 on-base percentage, and totaled 144 hits, 105 runs scored, 28 doubles, 54 steals and 63 walks. He hit .295 with 12 doubles, 32 walks, 17 steals and 50 runs scored in 2002, and in 2003 batted .379 with team highs of 55 runs scored, 16 doubles, 31 walks (tied) and a .472 OBP.
Willits earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors with the Sooners in 2003 when he led the conference with 37 stolen bases, a figure that still ranks sixth in program history. His 54 steals over the 2002 and '03 seasons are tied for 10th in program history while his .472 on-base percentage in 2003 is the fifth-highest average of the last 25 years and highest in the last 18 seasons.
A Chickasha, Okla., native, Willits graduate from Fort Cobb High School and transferred to Oklahoma after spending his first two collegiate years at Seminole State College. He received his bachelor's degree in multidisciplinary studies from Oklahoma in 2014.
