As a coach, McKinley has served as a private/camp instructor for the last three years. He has taught lessons and directed camps at the All Star Academy of Baseball in Santa Clara, CA, which is the bay area’s finest baseball school. He has vast experience with people of all ages in areas of baseball while specializing in pitching.

McKinley has put together a very successful baseball career and it is still in progress. McKinley solidified himself as a standout at the High School level where he was a two time all leaguer and was the number one pitcher for the Union Mine High School baseball team. As a junior, he led the Golden Empire League in Wins, ERA, and Strikeouts.

Out of High School, McKinley attended Cabrillo College for one year, where he earned All Conference Honors as well as being named pitcher of the year. Jake then transferred to Bethany University where he would a have solid career on the mound and at the plate. On the mound, McKinley holds almost every pitching record at the school which includes career ERA, most strikeouts in a career, and most wins in a career.

After College, McKinley was signed at the professional level by the Chico Outlaws of the Golden Baseball League whom he still holds a contract with. In his rookie season, McKinley experienced ups and downs but had a solid second half where he posted a 2.07 ERA while the league hit under .200 against him. At the end of the year, McKinley was being used as a closer, but he did start and set up for the Outlaws as well.

The addition of McKinley to the program should prove to reap significant benefits for the program as he brings knowledge and experience to the table. As the only player in the history of the program to sign a professional contract, McKinley knows exactly what it takes to be successful. “Our pitchers will have an attack mentality,” says McKinley. “There will be nothing passive about the way we pitch. We will attack the strike zone with our best stuff and force people to beat us. We will not hand over games on the mound.”

Head coach Chris Lewis had this to say regarding the addition of McKinley to the coaching staff: “Hiring Jake was the best thing we could have done for this program, he is without a doubt our biggest asset. He has a tremendous work ethic, a great knowledge of pitching and an accurate understanding of what it takes to be successful. The qualities that allowed him to become an outstanding college pitcher will allow him to become a tremendous baseball coach. Jake is a great communicator, teacher and has first hand knowledge on the way of life here at Bethany, which will greatly aid our program in the recruiting process.