STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific baseball program has announced CJ Whelan as associate head coach on Wednesday.

Whelan previously spent the last two years at Stony Brook as the pitching coach, returning home to Northern California to guide the Tigers in a similar capacity ahead of the 2026 season.

"I'm really excited to be joining the coaching staff at Pacific and grateful to Coach Peters for the opportunity," Whelan said. "I can't wait to get started, work with this awesome group, and be part of what is being built here."

Prior to Stony Brook, Whelan served as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at San Joaquin Delta College, the same college where Whelan embarked on his collegiate career and pitched under the guidance of current Pacific head coach Reed Peters.

"We are very excited to announce the hiring of CJ Whelan," Peters said. "He brings a wealth of knowledge to the program and some familiarity. CJ played for me at Delta before completing his college career at Tulane. His success as Delta led to hiring in Stony Brook. CJ is a very good recruiter, and he will bring a wealth of contacts to our program."

In his first season with Stony Brook, Whelan lowered the team's ERA from 6.70 to 5.40, pushing them from the tenth best earned run average in the Coastal Athletic Association from two seasons ago to the fifth best earned run average in the conference last season.

In 2024, he supported a trio of Seawolves in Eddie Smink, Nicholas Rizzo, and Erik Paulsen to the All-CAA team. Paulsen became the first player in program history to be nominated for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year award and made history by becoming the first Seawolf named an All-American by four different publications.

While at SJDC, he guided 26 total players to sign Division I scholarships, including 15 pitchers earning Div. I scholarships. In his first season with the Mustangs, Whelan's staff posted a 3.88 ERA and boasted a 9.23 K/9 for the year. He also coached David Rodriguez (Atlanta Braves) and Will Watson (Seattle Mariners), who were both selected in the 2023 MLB Draft. Whelan left SJDC with 71 wins and 23 losses over his two seasons.

Prior to his coaching career, Whelan played collegiate baseball at Tulane and SJDC. During his tenure at Tulane from 2019-21, the right-hander recorded two victories and tossed 18.2 innings over 19 appearances on the mound. The Green Wave collected over 30 wins in each season Whelan played in.

Whelan, a native of Rocklin, California, earned an associate's degree from SJDC in 2018, a bachelor's degree in business management with a minor in legal studies from Tulane in 2020. Whelan also earned his master's in sports studies with an emphasis in sport administration and sport coaching from Tulane in 2021.

Whelan rounds out the Pacific baseball staff ahead of the 2026 season, joining assistant coaches Cade Peters and Andrew Urbistondo.

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