Announced in July of 2014 as an assistant coach, Jeff Kane is in his 11th season on the Navy baseball staff, once again handling the Mids’ offense and recruiting efforts in 2025.
Over his decade in Annapolis, Kane has been instrumental in Navy having seven recruiting classes ranked in Perfect Game’s Top-100, including four straight Top-100 incoming classes from 2016 to 2019 and a program-best No. 78-ranked class in 2022. He has also developed 37 All-Patriot League hitters as well as three Patriot League Players of the Year during his time in the Navy Blue and Gold.
The 2024 campaign featured a shift in the Navy offense under Kane and new head coach Chuck Ristano with the team finding ways to take every extra base, as the Mids set the school record for hit-by-pitches (89) in a season while posting the third-most stolen bases (86) in program history and the eight-most walks (222). Additionally, Kane oversaw Eduardo Diaz set the single-game program record for hits (six) and helped Zane Raba pick up the third-most steals in a season by a Navy player all-time (28), while also mentoring Brock Murtha into an All-Patriot League Second Team selection.
Kane continued to help the Navy offense evolve in 2023, as the Mids struck out the least number of times among Patriot League teams. Additionally, Kane mentored Alex Smith and Nick Burch to breakout senior seasons that saw both make the All-Patriot League Second Team, as Smith was named a Buster Posey Award semifinalist and Burch legged out a league-high five triples. Additionally, Kane’s influence helped Navy’s defense post the second-best fielding percentage (.969) and turn the most double plays per game (0.88) of any league member.
In 2022, Navy finished as the top-fielding team in the Patriot League with a .976 fielding percentage, along with ranking third amongst league teams in triples (11) and home runs (26). Kane also coached three All-Patriot League honorees in 2022, as Christian Policelli garnered first-team recognition, while Colin Smith was named a second-team selection and Eduardo Diaz was recognized as the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year.
The 2021 season saw Kane and the Midshipmen post a 17-15 record and earn a spot in the league tournament. He helped Navy to a Patriot League-best .281 batting average and the second-best slugging percentage (.389) and on-base percentage (.387) in the league. The 2021 campaign also saw Kane mold five more Mids into All-Patriot League performers, as Policelli, Nico Valdez, Zach Stevens, Logan Keller and Zane Raba all took home postseason recognition.
Kane helped Navy to a 14-1 record in the shortened 2020 season, the program’s best start through 15 games since 1961, as the Midshipmen won their final 14 games of the year for the second-longest single-season win streak in program history. On the offensive end, Navy led the Patriot League in average (.275), RBIs (84), slugging percentage (.404) and on-base percentage (.398), while Kane also mentored Preseason All-Patriot Leaguer Zach Biggers.
In his fifth year with the program, Kane helped the 2019 Navy team finish with the second-most wins in program history after posting a 39-17 record and winning the program's fifth-straight Patriot League regular season title with a 18-7 league mark. The 2019 Midshipmen hit .272 as a team and finished second in program history with 36 home runs, just two shy of the program-record 38 homers in 2008.
Kane mentored Patriot League Player of the Year Christian Hodge, who tied the program single-season record with 12 homers and posted 52 RBI to ranked fifth in program history, and Freshman All-American Zach Stevens, who led the team with a .319 batting average and .519 slugging percentage. Kane also coached First Team All-Patriot Leaguers in Hodge and Zach Biggers and Second Team selections in Stevens and Liam Lowery.
2018 saw the Mids' lineup amongst the most productive in the Patriot League and the nation. A proven winner, Kane's offense helped Navy go 38-16 in 2018, marking the fourth straight year with 37-or-more wins in Annapolis. As a team, the Mids' offense hit .286 and slugged .406 with an on-base percentage rate of .373. Nationally, Navy ranked fourth with 24 triples, 19th with 124 doubles and 51st in batting average, while registering a .704 winning percentage that was 12th-best.
Individually, six hitters earned All-Patriot League accolades, as Logan Knowles, Christian Hodge, Zach Biggers and Liam Lowery all took home first-team honors, while the All-PL Second Team saw Stephen Born and Michael Coritz recognized. Biggers, the 2018 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, also garnered a nod as a 2018 Louisville Slugger Second Team All-American. As a starting unit, the Mids had seven regulars hitting .274 or better, record 10-plus doubles and 20-or-more RBI.
As a third-year assistant in 2017, Kane once again guided a potent Navy offense that helped post 37 wins, equaling the 2015 team for third-most victories in a season. Nationally in the NCAA DI rankings, Navy was eighth in total triples, 35th in batting average (.297) and 39th in runs per game (6.8), all the while posting the 23rd-highest winning percentage (.685). In Navy's single-season record book, the 2017 team finished second all-time in runs (366), doubles (104), home runs (35) and RBI (325), in addition to ranking fourth in hits (534).
Individually, Navy had five members of lineup hit over .315, while all nine starters posted .271-plus batting averages, 11-or-more extra-base hits, 23-or-more runs scored and 22-or-more RBI. Racking up six players with postseason honors, Travis Blue led the way by being named the 2017 Patriot League Player of the Year, as he was joined on the All-PL First Team by Leland Saile and Logan Knowles while Adrian Chinnery was selected to the league’s second team. Zach Biggers and Jacob Williamson gave the 2017 team its fifth and sixth postseason honorees as the duo were named Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-Americans.
In 2016, Kane directed an offense that had a leading role in a school-record 43 wins, Patriot League regular and postseason championships and a victory in the NCAA Tournament. Nationally, the team's 31 triples total was fourth in Division I, while the .390 on-base and .298 batting average marks were 33rd and 36th, respectively. All three marks, along with 585 hits and 375 runs scored, ranked first in the Patriot League. In the program's record book, 375 runs and 328 RBIs set new high marks, while the 585 hits, 103 doubles and 31 triple totals all ranked as second-best in a single season at the time.
Kane also added to the list of all-league pupils in 2016, with four First Team All-Patriot League selections: Adrian Chinnery, Robert Currie, Connor Deneen and Stephen Born.
In his first season with Navy in 2015, Kane guided the Mids to one of the most successful offensive seasons in recent history. Across the board, Navy saw marked improvement as the squad hit 23 points better and increased its slugging percentage by 55 points. The team’s penchant for extra-base hits came to the forefront, as the Mids led the nation in triples with 36, seven more than the second-best team, and Navy’s 83 doubles in 2015 ranked 11th all-time in the team’s single-season record books.
Individually, Kane aided Sean Trent in recording a Third-Team All-American-worthy year, as Trent finished third in the nation in hits (94) and fifth overall in batting average (.407), while his doubles total (18) was first in the Patriot League and his RBI total (42) ranked second in the league, earning him Patriot League Player of the Year. In total, three Midshipmen earned all-league honors in 2015, as Adrian Chinnery joined Trent on the First Team and Robert Currie made the Second Team. while Connor Deneen finished the season ranked third in the NCAA with eight triples.
Prior to joining Navy, Kane served as the associate head coach, recruiting coordinator and lead hitting instructor for fellow Patriot League member Holy Cross. Spending five years on the Crusaders' coaching staff, Kane helped produce the school's all-time hit leader in Matt Perry, all-time home run leader in Nick Ciardiello, and all-time RBI leader in Eric Oxford. In addition to his success with the trio of all-time offensive greats, he had 17 positional players earn All-Patriot League honors during his five years. Under his tutelage, Holy Cross saw Jordan Enos named the 2013 Patriot League Player of the Year and Stephen Wadsworth receive 2010 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, while two positional players, Mike Ahmed and Alex Maldonado, signed Major League Baseball contracts in 2013.
As a team, Kane and the Crusaders were consistently near the top of the Patriot League leaderboard in a variety of offensive in categories. In 2014, Holy Cross posted the top marks in slugging percentage (.358), doubles (79), home runs (16) and total bases (517). His 2013 squad led the league in every major offensive category including batting average (.289), hits (499), runs scored (317) and home runs (22), while the 2012 Holy Cross team ranked first in the Patriot League with 24 homers. In Kane's first season as hitting coach in 2010, the Crusaders broke nine school offensive records including batting average (.319), slugging percentage (.477), at-bats (1,785), runs (367), hits (569), doubles (114), home runs (45), total bases (852) and RBI (340).
Prior to Holy Cross, Kane was the varsity baseball coach at Westford Academy, where the Grey Ghosts went 60-27 (.689) during his tenure from 2006-09. During the 2009 season, the Ghosts finished 17-4 and won their second-straight Dual County League Large Division title. A year prior, the 2008 Grey Ghosts went 21-3 and held a No. 2 ranking in Eastern Massachusetts by the Boston Globe and a No. 12 ranking in the Northeast Region by the USA Today, earning the No. 1 seed in the Division 1 Eastern Massachusetts Tournament. For his achievements at Westford Academy, Kane was named the 2008 Lowell Sun Coach of the Year.
Kane was also the manager for the Lowell All-Americans of the New England Collegiate Baseball League during the summers of 2009 and 2010. Prior to his promotion to manager, he served two years as an assistant coach in Lowell under manager Ken Connerty. During his four years with the All-Americans, 15 of his players went on to be drafted.
Kane played at the collegiate level under Jack Leggett at Clemson from 1997-99, where he was a member of three nationally-ranked teams. During the 1999 season at Clemson, he appeared in 19 games for a team that came within one win of a College World Series berth. Kane was member of the 1997 Atlantic Coast Conference Honor Roll.
A native of Acton, Mass., Kane and his wife, Lilly, have a son, Travis, and daughter, Louisa. His brother, Ryan, played baseball at Presbyterian College and was a Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star, becoming a sixth-round selection of the Anaheim Angels in 1995 en route to a 10-year career in professional baseball.
