Danny Bethea enters his third year as an assistant coach for Rutgers in 2026 after joining the program August 2023. In his role, Bethea coaches the Scarlet Knight catchers and outfielders, assists with hitting/offensive development, recruiting and coaches first base. Bethea joined RU after five years on the coaching staff at St. John’s – including his last four as the Red Storm’s hitting coach.
In his time at RU, Bethea has played a key role in the Scarlet Knights consistently ranking among the nation's best in fielding percentage, with RU being one of six program to have a fielding percentage of .976 in each of the last four seasons. Bethea has also played a key role in the development of a pair of third round MLB Daft selections in Trevor Cihen and 2024 Big Ten Player of the Year Josh Kuroda-Grauer.
The 2025 season featured Trevor Cohen's historic offensive performance, which etched his name in both Rutgers and Big Ten record books. Cohen set a Big Ten record with 56 hits in conference play and batted .467, leading the conference by 86 points. His 24 doubles tied an RU program record. Both Cohen and Ty Doucette dominated conference batting averages, ranking first and third respectively, with Doucette hitting .374 in Big Ten games. As a team, Rutgers hitters were the most difficult to strike out in the Big Ten, with three Scarlet Knights ranking among the conference's top seven in lowest strikeout percentage.
In 2024, Bethea helped oversee an offense that posted the Big Ten's best batting average at .307, led the conference with 571 hits, ranked second in hit-by-pitches, third in stolen bases, third in triples, fourth in double plays, fourth in fielding percentage, fifth in on-base percentage and fifth in runs.
Bethea also helped with the development of shortstop Josh Kuroda-Grauer, who was named Big Ten Player of the Year in 2024, the first time since Rutgers joined the conference in 2015 that a player received a major award from the Big Ten. After hitting .298 as a sophomore, Kuroda-Grauer broke out to lead the country with 95 hits, lead the Big Ten with a .428 average, added five home runs, 19 doubles, 45 RBI and 24 stolen bases. Kuroda-Grauer was named All-Big Ten First Team, a Brooks Wallace Award semifinalist (top shortstop in country), a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist (top amateur player in country) and a Dick Howser Trophy semifinalist (national player of the year).
In 2023, Bethea mentored a pair of All-Big East selections in Aaron Mann and David Glancy, as the Johnnies posted a 28-25 record. Mann led the Big East with a .371 average, adding a 1.010 OPS and 102 total bases. Glancy led St. John’s with 13 home runs and 105 total bases, while boasting an OPS of 1.008. As a team, the Red Storm ranked second in the Big East with a .296 batting average and 112 doubles.
He mentored another pair of All-Big East selections in 2022, with Kevin Michaels (First Team) and Tate Ballestero (Second Team) both earning all-conference honors. Michaels paced the Johnnies with a .932 OPS and 46 RBIs, while Ballestero led the team with a .333 average, 69 hits and a .427 OBP.
In 2021, his first full season as a full-time assistant, Bethea saw two position players earn spots on the All-BIG EAST First Team: Marty Higgins and Carson Bartels. Higgins, a redshirt freshman, hit .333 on the year, including a .360 mark in BIG EAST play.
In Bethea’s first season on staff as a volunteer assistant coach in 2019, he helped St. John’s turn in the league’s second highest batting average and finish in the top half of the conference in nearly every single offensive category. At the time, the Red Storm turned in a winning record for the 29th time in the past 30 seasons and secured a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament for a league-record 16th consecutive year. Individually, Mike Antico and Wyatt Mascarella were unanimously selected to the All-BIG EAST First Team, with Antico finishing in the top 25 nationally in both batting average (.386) and on-base percentage (.500).
Bethea starred as a catcher for St. John’s in 2012 and 2013, starting 105 of the 107 games during that stretch. Bethea holds the distinction of belting one of the most memorable home runs in the history of St. John’s baseball. With the Johnnies trailing host North Carolina, 4-2, in the bottom of the ninth of the second game of the 2012 Chapel Hill Regional, Bethea launched a three-run walk-off homer, propelling the Red Storm to victory and helping the program secure its first-ever berth in an NCAA Super Regional.
Bethea was selected in the 34th round of the 2013 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox. He spent the next six seasons with the organization, rising as high as Triple-A Pawtucket and spending a majority of the 2016 and 2017 seasons with Double-A Portland, spending time as both a catcher and pitcher in pro ball.
Bethea owns a bachelor's degree (2013) and MBA (2022) from St. John's. He resides with his wife, Jen, and the two have a son, Owen and daughter, Hailey.
