Loyola University New Orleans head baseball coach Jeremy Kennedy announced on Tuesday, August 12, the promotion of Steven Bruce to Associate Head Coach, solidifying a key piece of the Wolf Pack's leadership as the program builds on recent historic success.
"I'm beyond grateful to step into the role of Associate Head Baseball Coach for the Wolf Pack," Bruce said. "Huge thanks to our athletic director Brett Simpson and head coach Jeremy Kennedy for their trust and support, and a big shout out to our players and staff — excited for where this program is headed.
Bruce, who returned to Loyola ahead of the 2024-25 season, played a major role in the program's most successful year to date and helped guide the Wolf Pack to their first-ever NAIA World Series appearance. His promotion marks a continued investment in the long-term growth and stability of Loyola baseball. Bruce originally joined the Loyola staff alongside Kennedy in 2020, laying the foundation for the program's rise before stepping away for two seasons.
"Getting Coach Bruce back in the fold was a big step forward for the program last year," Kennedy said. "The impact that he has had on the program speaks for itself. It is no coincidence that his first year back at Loyola, we were able to take our first trip to the NAIA World Series."
In his new role, Bruce will continue to develop the Wolf Pack's pitching staff, lead recruiting efforts, scouting, and overall program strategy.
"He's such an integral part of the growth of the program from when we both came in together in 2020," Kennedy added. "His presence was missed tremendously when he stepped away for a couple of years, and I'm thrilled to have him back as the Associate Head Coach. It's a promotion for him that has been earned."
Bruce and the Wolf Pack reached unprecedented heights in 2025. They made their first-ever trip to the NAIA World Series and won their first-ever SSAC Championship tournament with a program record in wins (42), hits (597) and runs (516). The team finished No. 7 in the final NAIA Top 25 rankings.
Bruce coached under Kennedy at Loyola from 2020 to 2022, helping the Wolf Pack to an 89-48 record, an SSAC Regular-Season title, and two NAIA National Championship Opening Round appearances during those three seasons. The 2020 season was canceled after 28 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so Loyola made the NAIA National Championship field in both years the tournament was held.
The pitching staff was strong during Bruce’s three seasons, too. In 2020, the Wolf Pack posted a 2.94 ERA, then the staff had a 3.52 ERA in 2021 and a 5.65 ERA in 2022. Because of Bruce’s recruiting efforts heading into the 2021 season, recent Loyola graduate Stephen Still entered the program for the 2021 season and would go on to break three career school records and set two more single-season records before signing to play professionally earlier this month.
“I am thrilled to return to the Wolf Pack baseball program as their pitching coach,” Bruce said. “I am greatly looking forward to working with a very talented and dynamic group of pitchers, as well as coach Kennedy and the staff. It is evident that this program is heading in the right direction and I can't wait to be part of it.”
Several Loyola pitching records were broken during the 2022 season, Bruce's third with the program. Stephen Still threw the most strikeouts (95) in a season in school history while Brett Fisackerly tied the school record for strikeouts per nine innings (11.75). A First-Team All-SSAC selection, Still also had a 2.75 ERA, one of the best marks in the conference and the ninth-best in a season in school history. For the second year in a row, the team broke the program strikeouts record, as Loyola's pitching staff combined to strike out 470 batters during the season. The Wolf Pack finished the season ranked No. 23 in the nation, winning three games in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round.
Under Bruce in 2021, the Wolf Pack pitching staff put together a 3.52 team ERA, which ranked seventh in the NAIA. Weekend starters Brenden Taravella (2.77), John Blanchard III (2.62) and Stephen Still (2.39) all etched their names in the Loyola baseball record book for ERA in a single season, and Still’s 62 strikeouts was the eighth-best by a Wolf Pack pitcher in a single season as well. The pitching staff’s 387 strikeouts was a school record, too, and nine pitchers who logged at least 10 innings this season had an ERA better than 4.00.
Behind the stellar pitching staff, Loyola won its first-ever Southern States Athletic Conference championship in 2021, appeared in the NAIA Top 25 for the first time ever, and the program hosted its first NAIA Opening Round tournament.
In his first season at Loyola, the Wolf Pack pitchers saw tremendous improvement from the 2019 season, dropping from a 6.95 ERA in 2019 to 2.94 in 2020. Loyola put together the fifth-best earned run average in the NAIA with its 2.94 mark, and prior to 2020, Loyola's best ERA in the last 16 years was set in 2014 with a 3.42 ERA. The Wolf Pack recorded 177 strikeouts in the 26 games while walking only 59, as they were on-pace for more than 300 strikeouts and less than 160 walks before the COVID-19 pandemic shortened the season. In the last 16 seasons, Loyola never tallied more than 300 strikeouts in a season and it only had one season with less than 160 walks.
Bruce comes back to Loyola after beginning a career outside the coaching profession. Prior to his first season in 2020, he played three seasons in the Texas Rangers farm system. While playing professionally, Bruce helped the Rangers' Class A-Advanced affiliate Down East Wood Ducks win their first Carolina League Championship, and he also represented the Texas Rangers as a starting pitcher in the Arizona Fall League in 2017. During his professional stint, Bruce made history by throwing the first-ever complete-game shutout for the Down East Wood Ducks.
Prior to playing professional baseball, Bruce played under Coach Kennedy at Keiser University, where he helped the Seahawks win the Sun Conference Regular Season Championship in 2015. He was named Sun Conference Pitcher of the Year in 2016, when Keiser won their first Sun Conference Baseball Tournament championship. Before joining the Seahawks, Bruce pitched at the University of Oklahoma for his Freshman and Sophomore campaigns. Bruce finished his college career with a remarkable undefeated record of 25-0.
