Jayson King returns to Dayton after a year as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt. In his lone season with the Commodores, King helped Vandy reach the No. 1 overall seed in the 2025 NCAA postseason after winning the 2025 SEC Championship. In his seven years as the Flyers head coach, King amassed 165 overall wins, made the Atlantic 10 Championship on four occasions, playing in the title game twice, and had four draft picks in Major League Baseball.
In July 2024, King had closer Nick Wissman selected in the eighth round of the MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres. The Dayton native was the highest selection in program history and the fourth under King to be drafted.
The 2024 Flyers went 33-22 with Nick Wissman earning Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year and David Mendez receiving Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year. The team had a .413 on-base percentage, good for second in program history.
In July 2023, King had 2023 ace Mark Manfredi selected in the ninth round of the MLB Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. Two others, Riley Tirotta and Mariano Ricciardi, were selected in 2021 under King’s tutelage, becoming the first FlyBoys drafted since Mike Hauschild in 2012, and the first time a pair of Flyers were picked since Cameron Hobson and Cole Tyrell in 2010.
The 2021 season saw the Flyers hit 69 home runs, the third-most in a season in program history and strike out 436 opposing hitters, the second-highest total from a UD team.
In July 2021, King had two selected in the MLB Draft, with Riley Tirotta and Mariano Ricciardi each getting selected, marking the first time Dayton has had anyone drafted since Mike Hauschild in 2012, and the first time a pair of Flyers were picked since Cameron Hobson and Cole Tyrell in 2010.
In 2019, the Flyers went 32-26-1 and advanced all the way to the championship game in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. The team's 32 wins were also the program's most since the 2011 season. Dayton also set the program record with 491 strikeouts by Dayton pitchers.
Dayton saw its conference winning percentage improve by 30.42 percent from the 2017 and 2018 combined seasons to the 2019 and 2021 seasons, the sixth-highest increase of any school in Division I.
His first full recruiting class at Dayton was ranked in the top 100 in the nation by perfect game and No. 2 in the Atlantic 10 Conference. King has significantly expanded the recruiting footprint of Dayton Baseball by bringing in players from 12 different states in the 2018 recruiting class including areas outside of the Midwest pipeline such as Texas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts and Virginia.
King led the Flyers to the program’s most wins, both overall (21) and in conference (10), since 2014 in his first season at the helm. The Flyers also made an 85-spot jump in the RPI rankings from the 2017 season to his first season in 2018.
King was most recently the Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Army after spending the previous 18 seasons as head coach at NCAA Division II Franklin Pierce. In his first season in Division I, King produced the No. 33 overall recruiting class as ranked by Perfect Game, with 24 high school commitments from 14 states.
In his 20-year career as a head coach, King has amassed a record of 675-338-3 (.610) at Franklin Pierce University and UMass-Boston. His success in his 18 years at Franklin Pierce left him in a class of his own in Division II, as he led the Ravens to 10 NE-10 Conference Championships, seven NCAA Northeast Regional appearances, and seven trips to the NCAA Division II College World Series. King's teams also won at least 31 games in every season since 2002.
King earned the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Northeast Region Coach of the Year honor on seven occasions, most recently in 2016. He was also selected the Division II Coach of the Year by the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) seven times. In his time at Franklin Pierce, 25 of his student-athletes were drafted in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. He was celebrated as one of Franklin Pierce University Athletics All-Time Top 50 Most Important Figures during the institution's 50th Anniversary in 2012, and was inducted into the FPU Hall of Fame in 2015.
The Westminster, Mass., native also has experience with USA Baseball, serving as an advisory staff member and an assistant coach for the 18U National Team. King also coached in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League as well as working a season with the Lowell Spinners, the short-season affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.
A 1993 graduate of Framingham State College, King received a bachelor's degree in sociology while playing four seasons for the Rams. He went on to earn his master's degree in physical education in 1996 from Springfield College. King and his wife, Missy, have one daughter, Katie, and one son, Justin.
What others are saying about Coach King:
Athletics Director Neil Sullivan
"We are extremely pleased to announce that Jayson King is our new baseball coach. He is a proven winner, a proven recruiter and a proven teacher of the game. Coach King shared a vision of excellence, on and off the field, that meets our standards at the University of Dayton. Â He is a great fit to be a part of University of Dayton athletics."
Vanderbilt Head Coach Tim Corbin
"Jayson attracts positive energy because he gives so much energy himself. Jayson is an all-star in the industry and I'm very excited for Dayton baseball."
Former Toronto Blue Jays GM JP Ricciardi
"Jayson's teams are disciplined, organized and tough. Coach King is a winner on and off the field.. His kids love playing for him."
