University of Jamestown promotes Hager, names Iliff baseball coach
Tom Hager moved into a new athletics leadership role as Ryan Iliff took over Jimmie baseball, ending Hager’s 27-year run and resetting the program’s future.
The University of Jamestown moved Tom Hager into a new athletics leadership post and named Ryan Iliff its next head baseball coach on June 29, ending Hager’s 27-year run at the top of Jimmie baseball. The change keeps one of the school’s most visible athletics figures inside the department while handing the program to a longtime assistant with deep ties to the Jimmies.
Hager was promoted to deputy athletic director of development and leadership after building the baseball program into the winningest stretch in school history. A Jamestown College graduate in 1996, he returned four years later to lead the team in 2000 and went on to win 869 games. Over that span, his teams captured eight regular-season conference championships, six conference tournament titles and three Region 3 championships, while making 11 national tournament appearances, reaching the NAIA World Series twice and earning one Super Regional Championship.
The record behind those seasons also reached beyond the standings. Hager was named Conference Coach of the Year five times and also earned Region III Coach of the Year and ABCA Regional Coach of the Year honors. The university said 18 former Jimmies signed professional baseball contracts during his tenure, a number that gives his run significance far beyond Jamestown’s roster card each spring.
Iliff steps in with his own built-in familiarity with the program. The University of Jamestown identified him as an alumnus and longtime assistant coach who played for the Jimmies from 2008 to 2011 as a left-handed pitcher. He was part of the 2008 team that reached the NAIA College World Series and earned Dakota Athletic Conference all-conference honors in 2011.
His résumé also shows a broader baseball footprint in the region. The university’s staff directory says Iliff is in his 12th season coaching the Jimmies and that he also spent six seasons coaching the Gillette Roughriders American Legion team. That combination of continuity and outside experience gives Jamestown a transition that preserves familiarity while putting the baseball program under a new title.
The timing underscores how the university is handling the shift. Jamestown also named Hager as its 2026 Athletic Hall of Fame honoree, with recognition set for Homecoming festivities this fall. By elevating Hager into development and leadership while turning the baseball program over to Iliff, the school has tied one of its most successful coaching eras to the next stage of Jimmie athletics in Jamestown.
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