The University of Mississippi Athletics
Staff Directory
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Year at Ole Miss:
- First
- Email:
- Phone:
- 662-915-7186
- Alma Mater:
- Auburn (2017)
Damon Haecker completed his first season as an assistant coach at Ole Miss in 2020, working with the Rebel catchers while also assisting with the Rebel offense.
During Haecker's first season in Oxford, a campaign cut short after just 25 games, the Rebels saw dramatic offensive improvement from several players, including Mikayla Allee, Autumn Gillespie, Jessica Puk and Sydney Gutierrez. Already considered one of the top defensive catchers in the nation, Gillespie demonstrated as much offensive improvement as anyone, likely representing the Rebels' top all-around offensive threat. The senior boasted a .349 average, leading the Rebels with 21 runs scored while also driving in 13 runs. Gillespie also tied for the team-lead with five homers among her eight extra-base hits and paced the team with 17 walks while going 9-for-11 on steal attempts.
A former standout baseball player at the Auburn University, prior to joining the Rebel staff, Haecker had spent the previous three years cutting his teeth in the coaching ranks at various levels of baseball.
After starting out in 2017 coordinating and instructing lessons at Sports Academy in Opelika, Alabama, Haecker became the general manager and coordinator for Diamond Impact Baseball, a travel team in Auburn, Alabama in 2018. At the same time, Haecker also added another notch to his coaching belt as a varsity assistant coach for both baseball and football at Lee Scott Academy in Auburn.
A few months later, Haecker took on even more responsibility during the summer, taking the reins as the head coach of the Grand Lake Mariners, a collegiate summer league team in Celina, Ohio.
A true jack-of-all-trades during his college career, Haecker started 168 games at Auburn, competing at shortstop, second base, third base, catcher, left field and right field. He started every game of his freshman and sophomore years and cracked the starting lineup in all four opening days at four different positions.
A career .258 hitter with a .399 on-base percentage, Haecker served as catcher for Casey Mize, the eventual No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft. He was also a representative for the baseball team with the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, while landing on the 2013-14 SEC Academic Honor Roll.
Haecker, a native of Altamonte Springs, Florida, is married to the former Danielle Brewer, who played under interim head coach Ruben Felix at UCF. Brewer is also a member of the softball coaching ranks, having served as a graduate assistant at Auburn and an assistant coach and head coach at Division II Shorter University.
