Fenster Named Assistant Coach
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — University of Miami head coach J.D. Arteaga announced Friday that Darren Fenster will be joining the staff as an assistant coach. Fenster’s hire is pending the completion of a standard University background check.
“Darren brings a wealth of experience and a championship pedigree to our program,” Arteaga said. “Having worked extensively with the Red Sox and Team USA, as well as at the collegiate level with Rutgers, he has helped shape many of the stars in our game today. Darren is a tactician and a tireless worker, and I’m looking forward to his impact on the growth and development of our student-athletes.”
Fenster comes to The U after spending the past 12 years with the Boston Red Sox. During his time with the organization, Fenster groomed the next crop of major-league stars, helping the Red Sox win two World Series Championships in 2013 and 2018.
Over the last five seasons, Fenster worked as the minor league infield coordinator and minor league outfield and base running coordinator.
Previously, Fenster was a manager in the Red Sox organization for six years.
In 2018, he guided the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs after four seasons as the skipper of the Single-A affiliate Greenville Drive. Fenster was tabbed the 2017 South Atlantic League Manager of the Year after leading the Drive to the team’s first league championship.
His first minor league managerial post was in 2013 with the Gulf Coast League Red Sox after getting his start within the organization as the hitting coach for Greenville one year earlier.
Fenster has also worked with the United States National Baseball Team since 2021. He was named a coach for Team USA during the club’s final efforts to qualify for the Tokyo Summer Olympics under former Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Sciosia.
After the team qualified, Fenster was third-base coach for the Olympics, helping the U.S. claim the silver medal.
“It is an absolute privilege to be joining such an iconic college baseball program here at Miami,” Fenster said. “I want to thank J.D., Laz, Dan Radakovich, Brian Baptiste and everyone else who was involved in this process that made this feel like a perfect fit for me both personally and professionally. Additionally, without the unwavering support of my family, becoming a Hurricane wouldn’t have been possible.
“Having spent the last 12 years with another historic franchise in the Boston Red Sox, our expectations were to win the World Series, and if we didn’t, it was a season in which we didn’t reach out goal. I couldn’t be more excited to join a program whose standards are just as high at the collegiate level and can’t wait to get to work and help develop our student-athletes on and off the diamond in a collective effort to bring a fifth national championship to Coral Gables.”
Prior to joining the Red Sox, Fenster worked at Rutgers for six seasons under ABCA Hall of Fame head coach Fred Hill. The Middletown, N.J., native returned to his alma mater as the director of operations and helped the program win the 2007 Big East title. He then became an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for Rutgers before moving to the professional level.
A two-time All-American shortstop and four-year starter for the Scarlet Knights (1997-2000), Fenster is a member of the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame. He holds the program records for hits (315), doubles (65), at-bats (818) and single-season hits (101 in 2000).
As a senior in 2000, Fenster was a consensus First Team All-American, notching a .433 batting average. That year, the Scarlet Knights posted their first-ever 40-win season and were ranked as high as No. 14 nationally.
The 2000 Big East Player of the Year was selected in the 12th round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Kansas City Royals. Fenster played five seasons in the Royals’ farm system, advancing to the Double-A level, before suffering a career-ending knee injury.
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