TEANECK, N.J. – Fairleigh Dickinson baseball assistant Justin McKay has been tabbed as Interim Head Coach of the Knights for the 2018-19 season.
 
McKay enters his seventh overall season with the Knights after previously serving as the recruiting coordinator and offensive coach for the program under head coach Gary Puccio.
 
"I cannot put into words how much this opportunity means to me and my family," McKay said. "I am truly thankful to all of the FDU administration and family for their support. I am fortunate to have spent 13 years with Coach Puccio as a player, a coach and a friend. What I have learned from him could not be explained in a single statement."
 
McKay continued, "I look forward to building on his success with the FDU Baseball program and I am excited to get to work with this excellent group of young men in the 2019 season. Go Knights!"
 
The 32-year-old coach managed the team over the second half of the season in place of the recently retired Puccio, who announced his retirement effective May 15 after seven-plus seasons as the Knights head man.
 
"I have known Justin McKay both as a player for me and as an assistant coach," said Puccio. "I am supremely confident in his ability to bring FDU baseball to newer heights in the future."

McKay has demonstrated success in his time on the staff as recently as 2017 when the team finished No. 32 in the nation with a .299 team batting average. He has also helped develop a number of All-Northeast Conference selections including 2017 honorees Ryan Brennan, Matt McCann and Mike Veit.
 
The newly named Knights head coach was voted the top recruiter in the NEC by his peers in the DIBaseball.com Top 30 Recruiters 2017 National Coaches Poll after assembling the first nationally-ranked recruiting class in FDU baseball history. McKay is also credited with bringing in McCann, who was selected in the 2017 MLB Draft after tallying 212 hits as a Knight (fourth most in school history).

During his time as assistant coach for the Knights, McKay has helped guide the program to its highest season win total (28).

McKay served as assistant coach for the Knights from 2011-2013, and during the 2012 season, the team compiled 25 victories and saw Ryan Kresky became the first Knight since 1994 to win the NEC Player of the Year Award.
 
In 2013, McKay spent one season as an assistant at NCAA Division III Montclair State guiding them to the NJAC Championship Game before being selected to the staff of the 2014 United States National 18U Team.
 
While in North Carolina with the national team, his responsibilities included coaching, evaluating and selecting players to move forward in the process for the eventual gold-medal winning squad.
 
Before arriving at Fairleigh Dickinson, McKay began his coaching career as an assistant at his alma mater, Briarcliffe College under Puccio.
 
McKay played his collegiate baseball for the Long Island, New York based school where he boasted a career batting average of .404. In 2006, he was a member of the school's first-ever USCAA National Title team and was named team captain for the 2007 season.