NEWARK, NJ—NJIT Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletics Lenny Kaplan has announced that Robbie McClellan, the Interim head coach for the NJIT Baseball program, has been promoted to Head Coach of the Highlanders as of Friday, June 7.
 
"I am excited to promote Robbie into the head coaching position permanently," Kaplan added.  "He has had a big role in our transition to being a competitive program and I look forward to working with him as we continue to grow into a top program in the ASUN and the Northeast region."
 
McClellan joined the NJIT coaching staff as an assistant coach in 2011-12, filling that roll for seven seasons until being named to interim head coach to succeed Brian Guiliana as head coach in August 2018.
 
This season, NJIT reached 17 wins, picked up its second program-win over a Big Ten opponent (NJIT 9, Purdue 3 (10); March 9, 2019) and tabbed a pair of players to the ASUN All-Conference and All-Academic teams.
 
"I'm very excited for the opportunity to continue to lead the Highlander Baseball program," McClellan added.  "I'd like to give a special thanks to the Administration and current and former Highlanders who have made this all possible.  NJIT is a very special place to me and I am honored and proud to lead us into the future."
 
During his time as assistant coach, McClellan helped the Highlanders reach 20+wins in five-out-of-seven seasons', including 24 wins in 2015.
 
McClellan demonstrated success in his time on staff, recently in 2018, when the Highlanders posted 22 wins, defeated two top-25 teams, program's first appearance in the ASUN Conference Tournament and program-best nine ASUN Conference victories.
 
McClellan, who pitched in the minor leagues for three seasons after being drafted in the 12th round of the 2003 Major League Baseball June Amateur Draft by the Kansas City Royals, made a quick transition into college coaching when his playing career ended prematurely due to injury.
 
After retiring from playing in the summer of 2007, he joined the coaching staff at Chandler Gilbert Community College in Arizona that September and was the program's pitching coach until signing on for the staff at NJIT. At Chandler Gilbert, a national-level two-year program, 27 of his pitching pupils have either moved on to NCAA Division I programs or to sign professional contracts.
 
In addition to his coaching at Chandler Gilbert Community College, McClellan served as pitching coach for teams in the famed Cape Cod Baseball League and in the Texas Collegiate League, two of the top summer circuits for college players. In three years on the summer scene, he coached 35 players who were drafted by major league baseball.