Dillon Napoleon joined the WKU baseball staff as an assistant coach in June of 2022.
In two years as the leader of the pitching staff, Napoleon's group has been towards the top of Conference USA in almost every category. Since the 2023 season, the Tops have the most saves in the conference with 36 total while boasting the third-best ERA each year, 5.02 in 2023 and 5.02 in 2024. Napoleon has had four pitchers selected in the MLB Draft and one sign a free agent contract out of WKU. In 2023, RHP CJ Weins was selected in the sixth round of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox while LHP Cam Tullar signed with the Los Angeles Angels. Three pitchers were selected in the 2024 MLB Draft beginning with LHP Jacob Bimbi going in the 11th round to the Pittsburgh Pirates, followed by RHP Mason Burns heading to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 14th round, and RHP Grant Burleson getting selected in the 18th round by the Houston Astros. With these three picks, WKU has now had transfer pitchers selected in two consecutive MLB Drafts.
2024 was a big year for the Tops pitching staff as they ended the year with 490 strikeouts, the most by a WKU Baseball team in program history. Overall, WKU finished among the best in the conference once again. They tied for the most saves in CUSA with 19 while notching the third-best ERA at 5.05, and the second-least walks with 200 total. WKU closer, RHP Mason Burns, finished second in the nation and broke the WKU single-season record with 15 saves. He surpassed Ian Tompkins, who held that record since 2014. Sophomore right-hander Dawson Hall finished the 2024 campaign with a 1.69 ERA, the sixth-best in program history and the best WKU has had since 1981. Hall was named to the All-Conference USA Second Team for the second consecutive season and RHP Drew Whalen was tabbed to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team, the second year in a row the Hilltoppers had a pitcher named to the CUSA All-Freshman Team.
In his first year on The Hill, Napoleon's pitching staff was towards the top of Conference USA in almost every category. The Tops tied for the most saves in CUSA with 17 while notching the third-best ERA at 5.02, and the third-best opponent batting average at .256. Three of Napoleon's pitchers finished in the top 13 in ERA in CUSA with Dawson Hall ranking sixth (3.58), Devyn Terbrak at eleventh (4.34), and Lane Diuguid finishing thirteenth (4.52). Senior RHP Devyn Terbrak recorded the first nine-inning, shutout, complete-game no-hitter in WKU History against South Dakota State on March 12, 2023 in a 3-0 win over the Jackrabbits that saw Terbrak total 14 strikeouts, a career-high. True freshman RHP Dawson Hall was the only Hilltopper with All-Conference USA honors at the end of the season when he was selected to the All-CUSA Second Team. He was also the only Hilltopper pitcher to be tabbed to the CUSA All-Freshman Team. RHP Mason Burns closed out the 2023 season with 26.1 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run. Burns went almost two months without allowing a run to score.
Before coming to WKU, Napoleon spent three seasons as the pitching coach at Iowa Western Community College. During that time, the Reivers sent 30 pitchers to NCAA Division I schools and saw six pitchers earn ICCAC All-Region honors. Iowa Western pitchers also took home back-to-back ICCAC Player of the Year awards, with Evan O’Toole accepting the honor in 2021 and Brant Hogue earning the accolade in 2022. In both 2021 and 2022, Iowa Western’s pitching staff ranked top-five among all NJCAA Division I programs in ERA, while the 2022 staff also racked up a program-record 620 strikeouts. Napoleon mentored three MLB draft selections during his time at Iowa Western, with pitchers Tanner Kohlhepp (Detroit Tigers, 5th Round) and Jack Neely (New York Yankees, 11th Round) being selected in the 2021 MLB Draft, and Tyer Chadwick (Cincinnati Reds, 19th Round) in the 2022 MLB Draft.
Prior to his stint at Iowa Western, Napoleon spent two seasons at Northwestern University, where he served as the Wildcats’ assistant coach, camp coordinator and video coordinator. Napoleon assisted in the development of three MLB draftees at Northwestern, as the program saw Nick Paciorek (New York Yankees, 7th Round), Alex Erro (Boston Red Sox, 17th Round) and Jack Dunn (Washington Nationals, 20th Round) all taken in the 2019 MLB Draft.
Before working at Northwestern, Napoleon spent five seasons at Berry College while serving as the pitching coach, strength and conditioning coach and video coordinator. In the same 2019 MLB Draft that featured three Northwestern selections, Napoleon also saw former Berry College student-athlete Dylan Beasley taken in the 32nd round by the Washington Nationals.
As a student-athlete, Napoleon began his collegiate career at Heartland Community College, where he compiled a 19-1 record on the mound over two seasons while earning NJCAA All-American honors and being named the Midwest Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year as a sophomore. Napoleon then transferred to UAB, becoming the first player in program history to be named the Conference USA Newcomer of the Year while also earning Second Team All-Conference USA honors.
Napoleon earned an associate degree from Heartland Community College in 2010 and a bachelor’s degree in Communication Management from UAB in 2012 before receiving a master’s degree in Sports Leadership from Concordia-Chicago in 2018.
Napoleon and his wife, Bethany, have five daughters: Evelyn, Cora, Margot, Bonnie and Lucy.
