There is a new sheriff in town for the baseball team. Jason Eller is the new head baseball coach for the Chiefs going into the 2021 season. Coach Eller is looking to bring new life into the baseball program. The expectations are high for the new coach, as his track record so far has been successful.  

Eller’s appointment brings lots of experience to Sequoyah. The upcoming 21-22 season will be his 22nd year coaching baseball. Eller’s last job was Georgia College, where he was the pitching coach. Prior to coaching at Georgia College, he was an assistant coach at the University of Georgia for 13 years.  

Coach Eller’s coaching career started off rocky. He coached at three different colleges in his first three years. In 2000, he coached at Martin Methodist College, in 2001, he was at Wofford College, in 2002, he was at Georgia State, and in 2003, he got the opportunity to coach at the University of Georgia.  

“I told the head coach [at UGA] when he hired me that if I took the job, I wanted to stay there because I moved around so much. He said that as long as I’m the head coach, you can stay,” Eller said. 

Eller faced a major setback in 2013 when the University of Georgia fired their baseball staff. Eller then brought his talents to Augusta State University, where he became the head coach. After three years in Augusta, he joined Georgia College as the head coach. He spent 4 years in Milledgeville at Georgia College before taking his current job at Sequoyah. Coming to Sequoyah fulfilled one of his coaching dreams. 

“I wanted to raise my children where I was raised,” Eller said. “I have always wanted to coach high school ball. I’m thankful for the opportunity, and I want to see if we can win a state championship.” 

Eller attended Sprayberry High School, where he played football, baseball, and basketball. His main sport in high school was not baseball, rather, it was basketball. He still went on to play college baseball at Georgia State in Atlanta.  

The defining moment that inspired Coach Eller to coach back when he was 12 years old is seeing a famous Hall–of–Fame college football coach, known for the visor he wears, in action. 

“My dad and I moved to Tampa when I was young, and he worked in downtown Tampa next to the football stadium. After school every day, I would have to go to his work. It’s there where I would go watch the Tampa Bay Bandits, who had this young and fiery coach that wore a visor. He would throw his visor and yell at the players; it was a young Steve Spurrier,” Eller said. “I would watch Coach Spurrier every day, and ever since then, I kind of blame getting into this coaching mess on him.” 

Eller also met and watched Vince Dooley, who was the athletic director while Eller was at UGA, and Mark Richt, who was the head football coach during Eller’s tenure at Georgia. Dooley and Richt are two of the most successful head football coaches at UGA, with a national championship and eight South Eastern Conference titles collectively. 

Surrounded by elite company his whole career, Coach Eller brings experience and vision to Sequoyah Baseball, where he hopes to change the program for the better.