Well, our meet the coaches event has come and gone, but for those of you that couldn’t make it, our Commodores coaches profile series is still going strong. Today, the man of the hour is Falmouth’s hitting coach Jack O’Reilly. He’s the first of the younger half of our coaching staff, so unlike guys like Salty, Beau McMillan, or Todd Carroll who already have a solid coaching foundation built, the former Villanova Wildcat is on the cape for the first time to try and lay his own. At just 24, O’Reilly is already starting to piece together a strong start to his baseball career.
The Philadelphia native came out of high school not just wanting to succeed on the field but put a lot more focus than others into wanting to succeed off the field as well. O’Reilly credits his parents for his academic drive growing up, saying “it was always important to get good grades, so that hard work ethic just translated into college.” So, when it came time to pick a school, he settled on South Bend, Indiana and attended Notre Dame, until his freshman season was cut short due to covid-19, that is. Upon wanting a change of scenery, the Philly kid went back home where he was a four-year starter at Villanova. O’Reilly also spent a summer in the Appalachian league.
O’Reilly remained a part of the program after graduating in 2024, taking a job as a graduate assistant. However, once the summer is over, he will take his talents down to the Florida panhandle, as he recently accepted the same role at Florida State University, one of the predominant baseball programs in the country. He credits the networking abilities of the Cape League, saying that the opportunity came along when a Seminole assistant coach was in Falmouth scouting for talent.
What he lacks in experience, he makes up for with an ability to generate camaraderie between the players and the coaching staff. 12 years in the big leagues gives Salty his credibility but being a coach that gives his players leadership from a similar perspective as them goes a long way toward building a winning team, saying that “part of being successful is understanding the guys.” But the Cape League is about long-term development more so than winning big-picture wise, and that goes for the coaches just as much as it does the players and even our interns. As a young coach, he has yet to develop a “blanket-style of coaching philosophy,” and as a hitting coach in a league full of draft-caliber talent, he says his job as a coach is more mental support than it is physical coaching. “As a young coach, it’s my job to be a sponge to new information,” the drive to become a better coach every single day was evident to me in my discussion with the coach, and he’ll only get better as the season progresses.
Although, baseball’s just a game, and at the end of the day this is also O’Reilly’s first summer on the cape, much like many of his players. So for him, his memories off the field building a relationship with this staff will be just as memorable as the ones on the field. He lives with Beau, Todd, and bullpen coach Anthony DeFabbia, therefore he’s with them almost 24/7. If they all aren’t best friends by the end of the summer, I’m not sure there’s anything on earth that can make it happen.
To wrap up our Jack O’Reilly profile, it’s his turn to offer up his advice to those looking to succeed in life, be it on the field, in the classroom, or in the workforce. For him, it’s to be uncomfortable with uncertainty. You never know which direction life will steer you in, and it’s up to you to make the best of whichever direction it is that you go. Be on the lookout for our next coach profile, and we’ll see you at the Guv as the Commodores look to gear up for a playoff push.
