Cumberland University

Ryan Hunt begins his fifth season as the head baseball coach at Cumberland and 19th overall in 2025-26 helping the program win all three NAIA National Championships as an assistant coach. 

Since Hunt rejoined the staff as the head coach in the 2022 season, the Phoenix have gone 109-104-2. Cumberland has had some of the best offensive teams in the NAIA hitting over .330 in three of his first four seasons.

In 2023, Hunt led Cumberland back to the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in his tenure as the team hit .330 on the nose, clubbed 125 home runs (3rd most in the NAIA), and totaled 553 runs, seventh-most, for 10.6 runs per game average. The team had two NAIA All-Americans that season.

In his fourth season at the helm in 2025, Hunt led Cumberland to a 39-18-1 record, a Mid-South Conference Tournament title, and was named MSC Coach of the Year. The Phoenix finished second in the regular season before a remarkable run in the conference tournament to win the title. The Phoenix had 10 players earned All-MSC honors, including four First Team selections. Pitching was a strength of this season's club, highlighted by NAIA All-American Carter Rost’s 10-0 record and All-Conference performers Justin Goldstein and  Quinlan Wiley. Cumberland hit .330 as a team with a .949 OPS, scoring 477 runs with 64 home runs and 430 RBIs. The Phoenix stole 67 bases and posted a .442 on-base percentage, outpacing opponents in nearly every offensive category. Notable moments in the 2025 season also include a combined no-hitter, a SportsCenter Top 10 play by Dalton-Akiwumi, and a walk-off home run by Kuriya.

Hunt has coached four NAIA All-Americans since taking over the helm--First Team All-Americans Nolan Machibroda and Cole Turney, Third Team All-American Carter Rost, and Honorable Mention Tyner Hughes. He has 26 All-Conference players in four seasons and one Mid-South Conference Player of the Year. 

Hunt compiling a 110-100 record spending six seasons at his first head coaching job at Volunteer State Community College. Prior to Vol State, Hunt was a longtime assistant coach under Woody Hunt from 2002-2015.

Cumberland has won four TranSouth Conference and one Mid-South Conference regular-season championships and six TranSouth Conference and one Mid-South Conference Tournament title during his tenure as an assistant. The Bulldogs have also claimed five regional championships, four super regional titles and played in six NAIA World Series, winning national championships in 2004, 2010, and 2014. CU was also the NAIA World Series runner-up in 2006 and finished fourth in the nation in 2005.

Hunt has coached 20 NAIA All-Americans and 22 players who signed professional contracts during the previous 12 campaigns.

During his five years at Cumberland as a player, the Bulldogs claimed five conference championships, four conference tournament titles, and two regional championships, advancing to the NAIA World Series in 1997 and 1998.

Hunt graduated from Cumberland with a bachelor's in Physical Education in 2003 and earned a master's in Education in 2007.

The Lebanon, Tenn., native was a four-year starter at second base at Lebanon High School from 1993-96, earning All-District honors as a sophomore and senior and All-Midstate Honorable Mention as a sophomore.

He has two daughters - Rylee and Lyla Noelle.