Florida Institute of Technology Men's Baseball

Jeff Tam was named head coach of the Florida Tech baseball program in Dec. 2021. He previously served three seasons as assistant coach of the team since 2019. Tam enters his fifth season at the helm of the program in 2026.  In his first four seasons, Jeff Tam led the Panthers to a 95-102 record, producing seven All-SSC Honorees.  The 2025 season saw the Panthers finish with a 24-24 record, going 13-12 on the road. Coach Tam guided Tech to a series win in SSC play over nationally ranked Rollins (#21), a sweep of Palm Beach Atlantic, and taking three of four total games over Embry-Riddle. The Panthers also earned a shutout upset win over #4 Florida Southern and won non-conference series against Spring Hill and Augusta.  In 2022, his first season, the Panthers finished a 31-19 record, with back-to-back upset victories over #7 Nova Southeastern, and finished sixth in the Sunshine State Conference. Under Tam's leadership, Dylan Owens and Sam Schner received All-SSC Honors, and Alex Carpenter was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America team.  During Tam’s three seasons as an assistant, seven Panthers earned All-SSC honors. Additionally, Boris Villa (2021) and Andy Marzhuerser (2019) received All-South Region Second Team honors from the ABCA and NCBWA, respectively. Before coming to Florida Tech, Tam was the Head Coach at Eastern Florida State College for seven seasons. He recorded a winning season every year as well as four consecutive 30-win seasons, tallying 216 victories in total. Four of his Titan players went on to be selected in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. He previously served as a pitching coach at EFSC before taking over as head coach.  Tam had a six-year career in the Major Leagues as a relief pitcher between 1998 and 2003 with the New York Mets, Cleveland Indians, Oakland Athletics and Toronto Blue Jays. During his Major League debut on June 30, 1998, Tam retired All-Stars Jose Canseco, Carlos Delgado and Tony Fernandez.  A graduate of Eau Gallie High School in Melbourne, Tam went on to have a stellar career at Florida State University before signing with the New York Mets as an undrafted free agent in 1993. Tam finished his Major League career with a 3.91 Earned Run Average across 251 appearances with his best performances coming with the Athletics in 2000 and 2001 when he had Earned Run Averages of 2.63 and 3.01 as the A’s set-up man, leading Oakland to the postseason both years. Tam graduated with a Bachelors degree from Florida State in 2011.  Tam and his wife Monica reside in Melbourne. He has two children, Darian and Addison.    

Alex Carpenter enters his third season as an Assistant Coach with the Florida Tech baseball program in 2026. Alex was hired as the assistant baseball coach in January 2023, following his successful playing career with the Panthers. Carpenter spent one semester in the fall of 2022 as a volunteer assistant coach before being promoted to a full-time assistant. In his first season at Florida Tech under the guidance of Head Coach Jeff Tam, Carpenter helped lead the Panthers to a 23-26 record, including an upset over #12 Wingate winning two out of the three games in the series. With the help of Carpenter, Danny Vassallo earned the seventh-lowest ERA among qualifying pitchers in the SSC allowing just 29 runs in 69.1 innings worked on the mound. In 2025, the Panthers finished with a 24-24 record, finishing sixth in Sunshine State Conference. With the help of Carpenter and under the leadership of Coach Tam, Tech secured upset wins over #4 Florida Southern and #21 Rollins. The Panthers also finished the season with the third best ERA (4.85) and had the fourth lowest walk total in the SSC.    In 2022, his final season at Tech as a player, Carpenter pitched 25 innings, collected six saves, struck out 22 batters, and limited his opponents to a .187 batting average. He ended his career with a 2.91 ERA, 13 saves, 44 strikeouts, and allowed just two doubles and no triples or home runs.   Carpenter became the first Panther in program history to be named a CoSIDA Academic All-American.   Carpenter graduated from Florida Tech with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a concentration in Neuropsychology in May 2021. He is currently working toward his Master’s in Business Administration at Florida Tech.    

Walker Hennon enters his first season with Florida Tech Baseball during the 2026 season. Hennon will serve as the Panthers hitting and defensive coach while assisting in the day-to-day baseball operations.   Hennon joins Florida Tech after spending the 2024 and 2025 seasons as an assistant coach at Flagler College, where he worked with hitters and all defensive positions, in addition to serving as the team’s first base coach. In 2024, he helped guide Saints infielder Payton Palladino to a finalist nod for the Division II Gold Glove Award. That same season, Flagler posted its highest team fielding percentage since 2018. Offensively, Hennon helped lead the Saints to one of their best seasons at the plate in nearly a decade. In 2024, Flagler recorded its highest batting average, most runs scored, and most extra-base hits in a single season since joining the Peach Belt Conference. “I am extremely thankful for Coach Tam giving me the opportunity to join his staff here at Florida Tech”, said Hennon. “I am very excited to get to work alongside him to learn and grow as a coach. I can't wait to get to work with the Scholar-Athletes to help provide them with a positive college athletics experience". Prior to beginning his coaching career, Hennon was an infielder at Lincoln Memorial University from 2017-23. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Exercise and Rehabilitation Science in 2021 and an MBA in Sports Management in 2023. His off-the-field success accumulated in multiple Dean's List honors and being named an Academic All-American in 2020. Outside of collegiate baseball, Hennon served as head coach of the Rochester Ridgemen of the NYCBL during the summer of 2025 and trains youth baseball players across the Southeast. He comes from a strong baseball lineage—his father, Rodney Hennon, has been the head coach at Division I Georgia Southern University since 1999.

After finishing his Panther career, Jacob joined the baseball coaching staff for the 2026 season.  2025: Appeared 23 games, making 15 starts... Registered career-highs with 23 hits in 61 at-bats, 12 runs, and eight RBI for a .377 batting average... Totaled 30 bases with one stolen base and two home runs... Named to SSC Spring Honor Roll. 2024: Appeared in 22 games, making 13 starts ...Totaled 12 hits in 48 at-bats for a .240 batting average ... Totaled 19 bases with seven RBI, two home runs, and one double. Previous School: Played for Santa Fe College in Alachua County, Fla. ... In two seasons at Santa Fe appeared in 73 games and slashed .240/.315/.400 ... Totaled 48 hits with 16 extra-base hits (seven home runs), 30 RBI, and eight stolen bases. Club: Played with Gatorball Baseball Academy for 10 years in Gainesville, Fla. High School: Attended Trenton HS in Trenton, Fla. ... Played Baseball and Football ... Won the 1A State Championship in 2017 Personal: Son of Scott and Amie Guthrie ... Uncle Marty Malloy played professional baseball and cousin Chase Malloy played college baseball at St. John’s River and Jacksonville University ... Chose Florida Tech for the high-quality academics and to continue to play baseball