Staff Directory
Gaines, Bryant
Bryant Gaines
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach / Pitching Coach
- Email:
- Phone:
- 919-962-2351
Bryant Gaines enters his fifth season as assistant head coach and sixth as pitching coach for the Tar Heels in 2025. Gaines also served as recruiting coordinator from 2021-2024.
Carolina has won over 65 percent of its games with Gaines manning the dugout and has reached the NCAA tournament seven times in that span. In his tenure as assistant head coach, the team has racked up 154 wins, captured a pair of ACC titles, made four NCAA tournament appearances (each year), and earned a trip to the 2024 College World Series.
A four-year letterman and two-time captain for Carolina from 2007-11, Gaines has now spent a total of 15 seasons with the program after previously serving on Hall of Fame head coach Mike Fox’s staff from 2012-15. He has been a part of half of the team’s trips to the College World Series, four as a player and two as an assistant.
Since 2020, eight UNC pitchers have been taken in the MLB Draft, with 2021 First Team All-ACC honoree Austin Love being the highest selection. Love came to Chapel Hill as an unranked prospect whom Gaines developed into a third-round pick. Davis Palermo (8th), Brandon Schaeffer (18th), Shawn Rapp (20th), Max Carlson (12th), Dalton Pence (11th), Shea Sprague (13th), and Aidan Haugh (16th) round out the list, none of which were previously drafted out of high school or junior college.
After taking over as recruiting coordinator in the summer of 2020, the Tar Heels signed three top 15 recruiting classes according to Perfect Game. The 2023 group lead the way, ranking ninth nationally and second in the ACC.
2024 was a banner year for the program on its way to Omaha and Gaines’ arsenal of arms played a huge role in propelling the team to the CWS. Under his guidance, Carolina posted the lowest ERA (4.30) and issued the fewest walks per nine innings (4.01) in the ACC. The team’s ERA was the 15th best in the country.
Matthew Matthijs won an ACC-best 12 games, third-most nationally, and tied with teammate Dalton Pence for the second-most appearances in Division I. Matthijs and Pence earned All-America honors while Jason DeCaro was named a Freshman All-American. Shea Sprague joined the trio on the All-ACC squad. Sprague ranked among the top six in the conference in fewest walks per nine innings (2nd), strikeout-to-walk ratio (4th) and WHIP (6th), while DeCaro posted the league's sixth-lowest ERA (3.81).
The Tar Heels' 2023 pitching staff ranked among the top 50 nationally in ERA (47th) and fewest hits allowed per nine innings (50th). In three postseason games, UNC hurlers posted a 3.30 ERA and a .198 opponent's batting average.
A year earlier, the Tar Heels posted the 21st lowest ERA (among 293 teams) in NCAA Division I in 2022 and the 17th most shutouts. UNC ranked third in the ACC with a 4.16 ERA and second in total shutouts (5). In their run to the 2022 ACC Baseball Championship, UNC pitchers compiled a 1.75 ERA, holding opposing hitters to a .231 batting average with a 3:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The 2021 pitching staff was highlighted by First Team All-ACC pitcher Austin Love. Love finished the season with 129 strikeouts, the second-highest single-season total in program history. He ranked second in the ACC in strikeouts and led the conference in innings pitched (102.0). The Tar Heel pitching staff averaged 9.56 strikeouts per nine innings in 2021 with a 2.5 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
His first season as the pitching coach in 2020 was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but in 19 games played his hurlers combined for a 3.60 ERA with 172 strikeouts. Batters hit just .207 against the Tar Heels and drew only 83 walks.
Prior to returning to Carolina, Gaines was the pitching coach at Liberty from 2017-19 under fellow assistant Scott Jackson. The Flames' pitching staff quickly became one of the nation’s best under their leadership. In 2017, Liberty allowed the fewest runs and finished second in ERA in the Big South. Liberty led the conference in the 2018 season and were 20th nationally with a 3.63 ERA. The Flames set school records with 557 strikeouts and 19 saves, leading the league in both categories as well as wins, innings, and opponent batting average. In 2019, they tied the school record with 43 wins, won the ASUN championship in its first year in the conference and made the program’s first NCAA regional appearance in five years. The Flames' staff finished the 2019 season with a 3.63 ERA, which ranked 21st in the country and went 11-5 against ACC and SEC opponents.
While at Liberty, Gaines had five pitchers taken in the MLB Draft, none of which we’re previously drafted out of high school. Evan Brabrand led the group as a ninth-round pick after Gaines coached him to All-America honors after leading the ASUN in saves with a 1.56 ERA.
During his first stint as an assistant coach at Carolina from 2012-15, Gaines was part of 162 victories, including a school-record 59 wins and a trip to Omaha in 2013. UNC won ACC Coastal Division titles in 2012 and 2013.
Gaines worked with several standout pitchers during his first coaching tenure with the Tar Heels, including: Kent Emanuel (first-team All-America, ACC Pitcher of the Year and third-round draft pick in 2013); Trent Thornton (Freshman All-America in 2013, first-team All-ACC in 2014 and fifth-round draft pick in 2015); Reilly Hovis (first-team All-ACC in 2014 and ninth-round selection in 2015); Zac Gallen (a two-time All-ACC honoree and a third-round choice in 2016); A.J. Bogucki (eighth-round pick in 2016); and J.B. Bukauskas (all-region selection and U.S. National Team player in 2016).
Gaines’s first head coaching stint was in the summer of 2015 with the Wilson Tobs of the Coastal Plain League.
As a player, Gaines made 35 career appearances, posted a 5-0 record, and struck out 75 hitters over 69 innings for the Tar Heels. He battled back from Tommy John surgery twice, once in 2004 and once in 2009. He was named team captain in both 2010 and 2011, and won both the Athletic Director's Scholar-Athlete Award and the John Lotz Scholar-Athlete Award. He earned his degree in sports administration with a minor in coaching.
He is married to the former Riley Foster, who played field hockey at UNC. The couple has two daughters.
Carolina has won over 65 percent of its games with Gaines manning the dugout and has reached the NCAA tournament seven times in that span. In his tenure as assistant head coach, the team has racked up 154 wins, captured a pair of ACC titles, made four NCAA tournament appearances (each year), and earned a trip to the 2024 College World Series.
A four-year letterman and two-time captain for Carolina from 2007-11, Gaines has now spent a total of 15 seasons with the program after previously serving on Hall of Fame head coach Mike Fox’s staff from 2012-15. He has been a part of half of the team’s trips to the College World Series, four as a player and two as an assistant.
Since 2020, eight UNC pitchers have been taken in the MLB Draft, with 2021 First Team All-ACC honoree Austin Love being the highest selection. Love came to Chapel Hill as an unranked prospect whom Gaines developed into a third-round pick. Davis Palermo (8th), Brandon Schaeffer (18th), Shawn Rapp (20th), Max Carlson (12th), Dalton Pence (11th), Shea Sprague (13th), and Aidan Haugh (16th) round out the list, none of which were previously drafted out of high school or junior college.
After taking over as recruiting coordinator in the summer of 2020, the Tar Heels signed three top 15 recruiting classes according to Perfect Game. The 2023 group lead the way, ranking ninth nationally and second in the ACC.
2024 was a banner year for the program on its way to Omaha and Gaines’ arsenal of arms played a huge role in propelling the team to the CWS. Under his guidance, Carolina posted the lowest ERA (4.30) and issued the fewest walks per nine innings (4.01) in the ACC. The team’s ERA was the 15th best in the country.
Matthew Matthijs won an ACC-best 12 games, third-most nationally, and tied with teammate Dalton Pence for the second-most appearances in Division I. Matthijs and Pence earned All-America honors while Jason DeCaro was named a Freshman All-American. Shea Sprague joined the trio on the All-ACC squad. Sprague ranked among the top six in the conference in fewest walks per nine innings (2nd), strikeout-to-walk ratio (4th) and WHIP (6th), while DeCaro posted the league's sixth-lowest ERA (3.81).
The Tar Heels' 2023 pitching staff ranked among the top 50 nationally in ERA (47th) and fewest hits allowed per nine innings (50th). In three postseason games, UNC hurlers posted a 3.30 ERA and a .198 opponent's batting average.
A year earlier, the Tar Heels posted the 21st lowest ERA (among 293 teams) in NCAA Division I in 2022 and the 17th most shutouts. UNC ranked third in the ACC with a 4.16 ERA and second in total shutouts (5). In their run to the 2022 ACC Baseball Championship, UNC pitchers compiled a 1.75 ERA, holding opposing hitters to a .231 batting average with a 3:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The 2021 pitching staff was highlighted by First Team All-ACC pitcher Austin Love. Love finished the season with 129 strikeouts, the second-highest single-season total in program history. He ranked second in the ACC in strikeouts and led the conference in innings pitched (102.0). The Tar Heel pitching staff averaged 9.56 strikeouts per nine innings in 2021 with a 2.5 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
His first season as the pitching coach in 2020 was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but in 19 games played his hurlers combined for a 3.60 ERA with 172 strikeouts. Batters hit just .207 against the Tar Heels and drew only 83 walks.
Prior to returning to Carolina, Gaines was the pitching coach at Liberty from 2017-19 under fellow assistant Scott Jackson. The Flames' pitching staff quickly became one of the nation’s best under their leadership. In 2017, Liberty allowed the fewest runs and finished second in ERA in the Big South. Liberty led the conference in the 2018 season and were 20th nationally with a 3.63 ERA. The Flames set school records with 557 strikeouts and 19 saves, leading the league in both categories as well as wins, innings, and opponent batting average. In 2019, they tied the school record with 43 wins, won the ASUN championship in its first year in the conference and made the program’s first NCAA regional appearance in five years. The Flames' staff finished the 2019 season with a 3.63 ERA, which ranked 21st in the country and went 11-5 against ACC and SEC opponents.
While at Liberty, Gaines had five pitchers taken in the MLB Draft, none of which we’re previously drafted out of high school. Evan Brabrand led the group as a ninth-round pick after Gaines coached him to All-America honors after leading the ASUN in saves with a 1.56 ERA.
During his first stint as an assistant coach at Carolina from 2012-15, Gaines was part of 162 victories, including a school-record 59 wins and a trip to Omaha in 2013. UNC won ACC Coastal Division titles in 2012 and 2013.
Gaines worked with several standout pitchers during his first coaching tenure with the Tar Heels, including: Kent Emanuel (first-team All-America, ACC Pitcher of the Year and third-round draft pick in 2013); Trent Thornton (Freshman All-America in 2013, first-team All-ACC in 2014 and fifth-round draft pick in 2015); Reilly Hovis (first-team All-ACC in 2014 and ninth-round selection in 2015); Zac Gallen (a two-time All-ACC honoree and a third-round choice in 2016); A.J. Bogucki (eighth-round pick in 2016); and J.B. Bukauskas (all-region selection and U.S. National Team player in 2016).
Gaines’s first head coaching stint was in the summer of 2015 with the Wilson Tobs of the Coastal Plain League.
As a player, Gaines made 35 career appearances, posted a 5-0 record, and struck out 75 hitters over 69 innings for the Tar Heels. He battled back from Tommy John surgery twice, once in 2004 and once in 2009. He was named team captain in both 2010 and 2011, and won both the Athletic Director's Scholar-Athlete Award and the John Lotz Scholar-Athlete Award. He earned his degree in sports administration with a minor in coaching.
He is married to the former Riley Foster, who played field hockey at UNC. The couple has two daughters.
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