East Texas Baptist University Athletics

Position: Passing Game Coordinator | Quarterbacks Coach

Entering his first season on Calvin Ruzicka's staff in 2023 is Tyler Bates. He will coach the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach. The ETBU alumnus moves over the football coaching staff after one season on the baseball staff under Jared Hood. He came to ETBU after two years at Lamar University as a graduate assistant football coach.

Playing two sports at ETBU, Bates was a 2014 USA Football Network All-American earning three All-ASC awards in his career. His senior season came in 2015 as ETBU tied for the ASC Championship for only the second time in program history. He holds four ETBU records in single season receptions (84), single season receiving yards (1,215), career receptions (256), and career yards (3,454). He is second all-time in career touchdowns at 33.

Bates was drafted in the 38^th round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Angels. The two sport ETBU All-American student-athlete for football and baseball, played from 2013-16. He was an ABCA All-American on the second team in 2016 earning three ABCA All-Region awards. D3baseball.com also awarded him as an All-Region second team selection and he was an All-ASC first-team member three times. He held the ETBU all-time hits record at 206, for one season until teammate Conner Combs broke it in 2017 at 216 hits. In the ETBU record books he is first in doubles (43), third in at-bats (604), fifth in triples (9) and steals (47), and 10^th in home runs (23). In four years, ETBU went from winning 16 games in 2014 to 31 in 2016 as he was a part of turning around the baseball program.
  
He played two seasons in the minor leagues in 2016 for the Angels and 2017 in the Colorado Rockies organization. He posted 57 hits, 35 runs scored, played in 63 games, and had 28 RBI with 10 stolen bases.
 
Bates graduated from ETBU in 2014 with his Bachelor's Degree and earned his master's degree from Lamar University in May 2022.