Sam Peraza, formerly the associate head coach and pitching coach at San Diego State, has been announced as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for Sun Devil Baseball, as announced by head coach Willie Bloomquist.

Peraza spent the past six seasons with the Aztecs as the program’s pitching coach and was promoted to associate head coach in the summer of 2019.

During his illustrious coaching career, Peraza’s pitchers have earned nine All-America honors, five conference Pitcher of the Year awards and 20 all-conference accolades. Peraza has coached 17 players that would go on the become MLB Draft selections.

With Peraza on the Aztec coaching staff, SDSU captured back-to-back Mountain West tournament titles in 2017 and 2018 and has finished first or second in team earned run average in the league in four of the last six seasons. Peraza was part of a group that won 86 straight games when leading after seven innings – an SDSU school record.

Peraza has been a notable standout on the recruiting trail in his stops at San Diego State and Florida International with highlights including the No. 14 national class in 2017 at SDSU and the No. 8 recruiting class in the country at FIU in 2014. He also produced Top-35 classes in 2019 and 2020 at SDSU, which was consistently at the head of the Mountain West in recruiting under Peraza.

The 2021 Aztec squad was the only team in the MW to reach 30 wins on the season and finished second in a league that came down to the final weekend of action to determine a conference champion.  SDSU was second in the league with two pitchers selected to the All-Conference Team in Tre Brown and Michael Paredes. Brown led the MW with seven victories on the season while also adding four saves. Troy Melton and Paredes were second and third in the league, respectively, in strikeouts with Ricky Tibbett in sixth.

During the shortened 2020 campaign, the Aztecs led the conference with a collective 3.73 ERA, allowing three earned runs or less in eight of their 10 victories. Against a challenging schedule, SDSU rose to the occasion, posting wins over Virginia Tech, Coastal Carolina, Cal State Fullerton, Iowa, Nebraska, Long Beach State, Oregon State (twice), UC Irvine and Oklahoma.

Individually, Peraza coached two all-MW pitchers in Casey Schmitt and Troy Melton. Schmitt tied for the national lead with six saves in just eight relief appearances after earning consensus preseason All-America recognition and earning a spot on the preseason all-conference team.

Meanwhile, Melton went 3-1 as the Aztecs’ Saturday starter, sharing the league lead in victories, which was tied for 23rd nationally. In addition, the right-hander ranked second in the MW with 26 strikeouts and found himself among the conference leaders in several categories, including opposing batting average (3rd – .192), fewest hits allowed (3rd – 15), runs allowed (T4th – 9) and ERA (7th – 3.22).

After leading the Mountain West in ERA during the 2017 and 2018 seasons, Peraza directed an injury-plagued 2019 pitching staff – the only staff in the nation to have all three opening weekend starters miss more than half of the season – to the second-best ERA in the league (4.28).

Under Peraza’s guidance, right-handers Adrian Mardueno and Justin Goossen-Brown both earned all-conference honors in 2019, propelling SDSU to its sixth season with 30 or more wins victories in a seven-year span. Earlier that season, the Aztecs had an 86-game winning streak snapped when leading after eight innings, which stood as one of the five longest in the nation at the time.

In January 2019, Peraza was invited to attend the SureFire Baseball Forum, which features the top 32 assistant baseball coaches and 32 athletic directors from all over the country. The forum is designed to promote college baseball to athletic directors and give possible future head coaches an opportunity to network themselves, as well as learn the process from actual athletic directors.

Peraza’s pitching staff played a crucial role in helping San Diego State secure its fifth Mountain West tournament championship over a six-year span in 2018. Peraza oversaw the emergence of junior right-hander Garrett Hill, who became the second straight Aztec to collect MW Pitcher of the Year honors and was selected in the MLB First-Year Player Draft for the first time in career by the Detroit Tigers. In addition, the SDSU bullpen was nearly perfect for the duration of the Mountain West Championships when opposing batters hit a combined .045 (2-for-44) against Aztec relievers.

Leading SDSU bullpen that season was closer Casey Schmitt, who was named a first-team Freshman All-American by Baseball America, marking the first Aztec to receive such distinction since Stephen Strasburg in 2007. Schmitt finished his freshman campaign with a 0.28 ERA, the lowest single-season mark in SDSU history (minimum 30 IP).

Peraza’s staff was also instrumental in the Aztecs’ MW tournament title run in 2017, leading the league in victories (42), saves (16), earned run average (4.12), walks allowed (188), runs allowed (298) and opponent batting average (.269). In conference play, SDSU also yielded the fewest hits (281) and extra-base hits (82).

Individually, left-hander Brett Seeburger garnered MW Pitcher of the Year accolades under Peraza’s watch and was later selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft. The Aztecs had two additional hurlers drafted that year in left-hander Marcus Reyes (Toronto) and righty CJ Saylor (St. Louis), tying for the program’s most pitching draft picks since 2007.

Peraza returned to the West Coast in July 2015 following a two-year stint as pitching coach at Florida International in Miami, Fla.

During his second season at FIU in 2015, Peraza mentored a pitching staff that produced a 3.89 team ERA, helping the Panthers win the Conference USA tournament championship and post its first regional victory since 2001 (Coral Cables Regional).

Peraza also made his mark on the recruiting trail. In 2014, he helped assemble a class that was ranked eighth-best in the country by Perfect Game, featuring seven incoming recruits who were selected in the MLB draft that June.

In Peraza’s first season as FIU’s pitching coach in 2014, the Panthers established Conference USA single-season records for most shutouts (14) and lowest team ERA (2.29). Along with earned run average, FIU set two other school records that season with the fewest walks (175) and fewest triples allowed (3). In all, Peraza’s staff cracked the top five in 11 different school-record statistical categories, while individuals were among the top 10 in eight different statistical categories.

The Panthers’ pitching staff was dominant from a national perspective as well, ranking third in the country with a record-setting 14 shutouts and fifth in team ERA. For his efforts, Peraza became a finalist for the inaugural C-USA Assistant Coach of the Year award.

Before relocating to the Sunshine State, Peraza spent the 2013 campaign as pitching coach at Cal State Northridge, where Matador hurlers compiled one of their best seasons in program history, recording the best team earned run average (3.96) over a stretch of 21 years. Additionally, CSUN finished with its lowest walk-to-strikeout ratio since 2002 and led the conference in batters struck out looking with 117. As a result, CSUN registered the team’s highest victory totals overall (31) and in the Big West Conference play (15) since 2002.

Prior to joining the Matadors, Peraza spent the summer of 2012 as the pitching coach for the Santa Barbara Foresters, a summer collegiate team that defeated the Seattle Studs to capture the National Baseball Congress (NBC) World Series title. Under Peraza’s tutelage, the Santa Barbara pitching staff posted a collective 2.41 ERA with 570 strikeouts against only 173 walks.

Previously, Peraza spent five seasons at Cal State Los Angeles from 2008-11 as head assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, as the Golden Eagles produced two conference Pitcher of the Year winners during his tenure. In addition to coaching the CSULA pitching staff, Peraza assisted with all game planning, scouting, film, administration and travel.

In 2008, Peraza also served as the head coach of the So Cal Fire, a summer collegiate baseball team that recorded an impressive sixth-place finish out of 64 teams in the NBC World Series. Peraza skippered a squad that consisted of 20 Division I athletes and seven players who were selected in the top 20 rounds of MLB Draft.

Before his move to Los Angeles, Peraza spent the 2007 season as head assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Eastern Oklahoma State College, overseeing all aspects of recruiting and scholarships awarded. In addition, he coached the Mountaineers pitching staff, which produced the 2007 conference Pitcher of the Year, and directed the team’s strength and conditioning programs.

Peraza’s collegiate pitching career began at El Camino Community College from 1998-2000, where he tops the program’s record book for career saves. He then attended San Francisco State for one year in 2000-01, earning second-team all-conference honors. As the team’s Saturday starter, Peraza led the Gators in wins, earned run average, strikeouts and complete games. He then transferred to San Diego State in 2002, pitching out of the bullpen for head coach Jim Dietz and Mountain West champion Aztecs.

Peraza graduated from San Diego State in 2002. He is married to Nevada, and they have two sons, Cy Marshall and Ace Samuel.

Sun Devil Baseball and Willie Bloomquist named 18-year professional player and coaching veteran Jeremy Accardo as the program’s pitching coach on June 27, 2024.

A native of Mesa, Ariz., Accardo comes to the Sun Devils after spending eight years in the professional coaching ranks, most recently as the Triple-A pitching coach for the Nashville Sounds of the Milwaukee Brewers organization after previously spending several seasons in the Mets organization where he rose from a Complex League coach to the assistant pitching coach for the MLB team.

“We are dedicated to putting resources into our pitching operation and Jeremy Accardo allows us to add a brilliant mind to our staff to lead that charge,” Bloomquist said. “We are in a place where we needed to expand our knowledge and expertise into the ‘new era’ of analytics and technology in baseball and Jeremy jumps off the page with his surplus of experience in developing professional baseball players utilizing those tools in the modern age.”

“Jeremy is an incredible family man who has vast ties and roots to the Valley. He is a great communicator and a real personality that will relate well and get through to this generation.”

Accardo’s addition to the Sun Devil staff will see him take advantage of Sun Devil Athletics’ recent investments to incorporate state-of-the-art technology from Simi, Trackman and Edgertronic. Accardo will play a pivotal role in unlocking the technological and analytic benefits afforded by the recently completed Whiteman Family Performance Center in right field – colloquially known as the ASU Pitching Lab.

“As someone born and raised in the Valley, this opportunity means a lot to me. I got into this game to help kids get better and achieve their dreams and I couldn’t be more excited to do that at Arizona State,” Accardo said. “I wanted to thank Graham Rossini, Willie Bloomquist, Sam Peraza, the coaching staff and especially the players for welcoming me. I am not taking this opportunity lightly. This is a dream job for me and I am eager to get going and help get this program back to where I know Willie and all of our fanbase envision and expect it to be.”

Accardo comes to Tempe after spending the last several seasons with the Nashville Sounds, the Triple-A affiliate of the Brewers organization. Under Accardo’s guidance, the Sounds pitching staff boasted the second-lowest ERA in Triple-A in 2023 and the third-lowest in 2022. The 2024 Sounds staff currently has the No. 6 ERA in Triple-A. The Brewers had the lowest team era in the MLB in 2023 and are  currently ninth in the MLB this season, featuring several pitchers that Accardo helped develop.

Prior to joining the Brewers organization, Accardo spent the 2017-21 seasons with the Mets organization, where he started as an assistant coach in the Complex League in 2017 before a meteoric rise to the assistant pitching coach for the MLB team from 2019-21.
While he served as assistant pitching coach for the Major League team, the Mets were 11^th in the MLB in ERA in 2019 and ninth in 2021. Highlighting that tenure was the production of three All-Star selections (Jacob DeGrom x2, Taijuan Walker). DeGrom was the National League Cy Young Award winner in 2019 with Accardo as an assistant coach, and led the NL in strikeouts in 2019 and 2020, earning All-MLB First Team Selections both seasons.

Accardo was the minor league pitching coordinator for the organization prior to that after a season as an assistant coach for the Las Vegas 51s. Among his pitchers from the 2018 Las Vegas 51s roster, where he served as an assistant coach, he oversaw the call-ups, recalls and rehabilitations of MLB players Paul Sewald, Bobby Wahl, Zack Wheeler, Drew Smith, Jacob Rhame, Scott Copeland, Tim Peterson and a slew of others.

“The modern era of baseball has changed in regard to how much emphasis has been placed onto the college game and prioritizing its prospects in recent years,” Bloomquist said. “The development for the next level is now taking place on university campuses and you only need to follow the track record of some premier programs and their investment into bringing professional coaches into the fold to develop their talent. I wanted to make sure ASU was at the forefront of that trend.”

Accardo joins a growing list of minor league developmental coaches and coordinators making the transition to the collegiate level. Notable among that group is recently named Texas Pitching Coach Max Weiner, who helped lead Texas A&M to the College World Series finals and the No. 4 team ERA nationally this season after spending several seasons with the Mariners organization. Dallas Baptist’s Cale Johnson (Pirates) and Oregon State’s Rich Dorman (Mariners) led their pitching staffs to Top-10 ERAs in the country in 2024 and postseason berths with DBU winning 45 games and the Beavers hosting an NCAA Regional. Georgia head coach Wes Johnson (Twins) led the Bulldogs to a national seed in 2024 in his first season at the helm, a year removed from winning a national title with LSU as the pitching coach and overseeing the development of No. 1 overall pick Paul Skenes.

While Accardo will assume the primary duties with ASU’s pitchers, Sam Peraza will remain on staff as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator while former assistant coach Mike Goff will remain on staff in a non-coaching role.

Prior to joining the professional ranks, Accardo spent one season as an assistant coach for his alma mater at Illinois State University in 2016 after concluding a decade of action as a professional pitcher from 2003-2013 – including spending the 2005-12 seasons at the Major League level.

Accardo’s professional career saw him spend time with six organizations, he appeared in 262 MLB  games with a career 4.30 ERA and 38 saves.

Accardo is a Mesa native who has dedicated much time to the local community and various youth sports chapters in his time away from the professional ranks. He resides in the Valley with his wife Carly and his children LeeAnne, Larson and Locke. Carly founded the Peaches Baseball Club in 2015, an all-girl baseball league in the East Valley that was developed with the couple’s late daughter Leighton, who tragically passed from germ cell cancer in 2020. Leighton was added to the Arizona Coyotes’ Ring of Honor in 2021.

With nearly three decades of professional coaching experience under his belt and 35 years of baseball coaching experience overall, Mike Goff brings a wealth of knowledge to the Sun Devil dugout as the team’s assistant coach.

Goff spent 16 years with the Seattle Mariners organization (1992-2007), seeing time as the bench coach in 2007 and the team’s first base coach from 2005-07 as well. Goff would also see more time as a coach in the MLB ranks as the bench coach for the Miami Marlins in 2015. Goff is making his return to the collegiate coaching ranks after having served as an assistant coach at South Alabama for three years from 1989-91.

Goff has worked extensively in player development through his career and during his time with the Mariners, he spent nine seasons as coordinator of instruction for the Mariners farm system and spent four seasons managing.

As the Minor League coordinator, Goff was responsible for the management, coordination and day-to-day operations of the Mariners’ farm system. He hired, supervised and mentored a staff of over 40 employees and 160 players in the United States, Venezuela, and Dominican Republic. It was during this time and this role for Goff that the Seattle Mariners were named the 2001 MLB Organization of the Year.

Goff managed low-A Wisconsin to the Midwest League Championship series in 1996 and was manager of the West team in the MWL All-Star Game. He spent 1993-94 as manager at short-A Bellingham and took the 1993 team to its second consecutive division title in first season at the helm.

Following his time with the Mariners, Goff managed in both the Cincinnati Reds (2008) and San Francisco Giants (2009-14) organizations before being tabbed the bench coach for the Marlins in 2015.

With the Giants organization, Goff spent four seasons managing in the Arizona Rookie League, where he took the Giants’ squad to the championship series in 2009. From there he would lead the Low-A Augusta Green Jackets to the best overall record and playoffs in the South Atlantic League.

Goff’s time with the Giants and his efforts in developing several prospects came at a time that coincided with a key part in the organization’s run to three World Series titles in five years from 2010-15.

Among the many players that played under Goff throughout his time as a minor league baseball manager are David Ortiz, Justin Turner, Travis Wood, Raul Ibanez, Ryan Franklin, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Matt Duffy, Andres Torres and others. Numerous key players in the Mariners organization came through the ranks while Goff was the Minor League coordinator, including Felix Hernandez and – of course – Sun Devil head coach Willie Bloomquist. Goff spent time with the organization during a tenure where the Mariners produced the likes of Ken Griffey, Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Ichiro Suzuki and Randy Johnson.

Prior to his time as a coach in professional baseball, Goff spent five seasons in the Boston Red Sox organization as a player after a solid collegiate career at UAB. He entered the coaching ranks after that as an assistant coach at South Alabama.

What They Are Saying About Mike Goff:

“Mike Goff is a coach that wants to work! He tries to get the best out of his players, and that’s what he did with me. He created a hard but smart work culture that stuck with me my entire career. He cares about his players’ development and about growing young men to enter society. He’s a huge reason why I became the player I’ve become. But I’m not the only one. Ask your head coach Bloomy!”

Adam Jones (5-time MLB All-Star, 4-time Gold Glove Winner) 

“Mike Goff’s passion, determination, intensity, and commitment to excellence are traits that he modeled daily for his young players. He is both confident and humble and instilled belief and confidence in all of his players. As a young player, I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to learn from him what it meant to be a leader and professional. The young men at ASU will be better players and men for having Goffy and Bloomy as their leaders.”

Raul Ibanez (19-year MLB Veteran, 2009 All-Star)

After on season as a Volunteer Assistant Coach, Dan Jaffe enters the 2024 campaign as the Sun Devil Baseball Director of Baseball Operations and Analytics.

In his new role, Jaffe will oversee day-to-day operations of the baseball program and take a leading role in the utilization of the Whiteman Family Performance Center, the Sun Devil’s Pitching Lab located behind right field at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

Prior to arriving in Phoenix, Jaffe spent the previous two seasons as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of the Pacific. At Pacific, he produced Top-100 recruiting classes for the 2022 and 2023 signing classes for the first time in program history. Jaffe oversaw the pitching staff and development with the Tigers, produced scouting reports, led all recruiting efforts and scholarship budgeting and also assisted with the day-to-day operations of the program.

Jaffe mentored 2022 MLB draftees Hunter Hayes (Cardinals, 16^th Round) and Elijah Birdsong (Pirates, 18^th Round).

Hayes heads to the Cardinals after being one of the featured starters in the Tigers rotation as a junior. The right-handed pitcher led the Tigers in starts (14), innings pitched (64.2) and strikeouts (55). He had five games with five or more strikeouts and touched the upper 90s with his fastball.

After working his way back from Tommy John surgery, Birdsong became the Tiger’s opening day starter. He joins the Pirates after appearing in 11 games with nine starts and finished the season third in strikeouts (37) and third in innings pitched (44.1). Birdsong was also named to the Perfect Game All-WCC team before the season.

It marked just the second time in Pacific program history that the team had two pitchers drafted in the first 20 rounds of the MLB Draft and the first time since 2001.

Prior to his time with Pacific, Jaffe spent a season as the volunteer assistant coach at Georgia Tech, where he worked the pitchers, catchers and first basemen. Georgia Tech was the No. 3 national seed in the NCAA Tournament in 2019 during Jaffe’s first season, where the team was the ACC Coastal Division Champions. Catcher Kyle McCann was named a 2019 Buster Posey Award finalist for the top catcher in the nation under Jaffe’s tutelage.

At Georgia Tech, Jaffe was heavily involved in the programs scouting reports and game planning and assisted in all facets of the game. He also assisted heavily in recruiting on an NCAA Waiver from the Summer and Fall of 2019.

Jaffe was an associate scout for the San Diego Padres in the Fall of 2018 before joining the Yellow Jackets and was the catching coach for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in the Cape Cod League that summer.

Jaffe spent two years with the College of Southern Nevada, which he also attending during his undergrad years. There, he was the catching coach, camp director and recruiting coordinator and helped guide the team to a 2017 Junior College World Series appearance.

He has also previous served as the head catching instructor for the Las Vegas Baseball Academy and worked with league’s Cardinals/Dodgers Elite Scout Team for four seasons.

Jaffe concluded his collegiate career as the team captain Pacific University in Oregon and also spent time at the College of Southern Nevada and Villanova.