Creel Completes Coaching Staff, Announces Four Hires
7/16/2026 3:53:00 PM | Baseball
JACKSONVILLE – Jax State baseball head coach Travis Creel announced the completion of his inaugural coaching staff on Thursday with four additions.
The additions include the following:
- Anthony Izzio, who will assume the role of associate head coach and recruiting coordinator.
- Danny Lynch, who will be the program's hitting coach.
- Kyle Serrano, who will be the program's pitching coach.
- Ethan Payne, who will coach Jax State's catchers.
ANTHONY IZZIO
Izzio arrives in Jacksonville after spending the previous four seasons as the associate head coach and pitching coach at Tulane.
During Izzio's tenure, Tulane has enjoyed sustained postseason success, advancing to the American Athletic Conference Championship Game in each of the past three seasons and capturing back-to-back conference titles in 2023 and 2024. The Green Wave also earned NCAA Regional berths in both 2023 and 2024, underscoring the program's competitive consistency and continued growth at the national level.
In the fall of 2022, Izzio was selected to participate in the prestigious Surefire Baseball Forum, a program that pairs NCAA Division I administrators with the nation's top assistant coaches to prepare and promote the future leaders of college baseball.
Izzio has been instrumental in developing elite talent for both the collegiate and professional levels. He guided Dylan Carmouche to First Team All-American Athletic Conference honors in 2022, an AAC Tournament title in 2023, and a 15th-round selection by the San Francisco Giants after striking out 102 batters in 90 innings during the 2023 season. He also coached Ricky Castro, a Second Team All-AAC honoree in 2023, who ranked among the conference leaders in innings pitched and strikeouts. Notably, seven of Tulane's eight draft selections during this period were not drafted out of high school, underscoring his ability to develop overlooked or under-recruited players for professional baseball.
DANNY LYNCH
Lynch comes to Jacksonville after spending one season with Abilene Christian in Texas. Prior to his time with the Wildcats, he was the head coach for Mississippi Delta Community College.
While at ACU, Lynch coached an All-American in Deigo Cardenas and saw two All-WAC honorees in Cardenas and Zandt Payne, who combined for three All-WAC honors. Cardenas was named First Team All-WAC, while Payne was named to the Second Team as well as the All-Defensive Team.
Prior to his time at MDCC, Lynch served as the director of hitting and infield development at his alma mater, Southern Miss. He was elevated to this role for the 2024-25 season after spending the previous season as a graduate assistant.
As a player and a coach, he was part of four conference championship teams and six regional teams, including two Super Regional squads in 2022 and 2023.
From 2018 to 2023, Lynch was a standout player for the Golden Eagles.He became the program's all-time leader in games played (268) and was a team captain in his final two seasons. He finished his collegiate career with a .284 batting average with 269 hits, 34 homers, and 172 RBI.
Lynch has earned an undergraduate degree in Finance and a Masters of Business Administration from Southern Miss.
KYLE SERRANO
Serrano comes to Jax State after spending two seasons as the pitching coach at Johnson University in Knoxville, Tennessee.
In the 2026 season, Serrano led a pitching unit that ranked towards the top of all pitching stats in the Appalachian Athletic Conference. Johnson had two of the three wins leaders in the league in Colby Reynolds (12 wins) and Tyler Barfield (11 wins), along with the player with the second-most saves in the league in Kaleb Townsend with eight. As a team, Johnson posted the third-lowest ERA of all teams in the AAC at 4.89.
During the 2025 season, Serrano helped guide a pitching staff that featured Colby Reynolds, a First Team All-Conference selection who led the conference in wins with 13, and James Showalter, who tied for the conference lead in saves with 11.
During the summer of 2025, Serrano served as the Assistant Pitching Coach with the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod Baseball League, where the team finished with the best record in the league. The pitching staff produced three All-Star pitchers and the league's Reliever of the Year.
Before entering coaching, Serrano played collegiately at the University of Tennessee and professionally with the Houston Astros organization from 2017–2022. He also competed with the Ottawa Titans of the Frontier League in 2022 and the Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican Baseball League in 2023.
Kyle and his wife, Sidney, have one daughter, Kody.
ETHAN PAYNE
Payne comes to Jax State after spending the previous seven seasons in Knoxville with Tennessee.
In the previous two years, Payne has served as Tennessee's camp coordinator. Prior to that, he was a player from 2020 to 2024, capping off his playing career with Tennessee's first College World Series Championship. Payne was primarily a reserve utility player through his career.
Payne's marquee moment came in 2023, where the senior came in to pinch run during a regional game at Clemson, they laid down two sacrifice bunts en route to a 14-inning victory over the Tigers.
Payne graduated from Tennessee with an undergraduate degree in Management and a Masters in Recreation and Sport Management.
The additions include the following:
- Anthony Izzio, who will assume the role of associate head coach and recruiting coordinator.
- Danny Lynch, who will be the program's hitting coach.
- Kyle Serrano, who will be the program's pitching coach.
- Ethan Payne, who will coach Jax State's catchers.
ANTHONY IZZIO
Izzio arrives in Jacksonville after spending the previous four seasons as the associate head coach and pitching coach at Tulane.
During Izzio's tenure, Tulane has enjoyed sustained postseason success, advancing to the American Athletic Conference Championship Game in each of the past three seasons and capturing back-to-back conference titles in 2023 and 2024. The Green Wave also earned NCAA Regional berths in both 2023 and 2024, underscoring the program's competitive consistency and continued growth at the national level.
In the fall of 2022, Izzio was selected to participate in the prestigious Surefire Baseball Forum, a program that pairs NCAA Division I administrators with the nation's top assistant coaches to prepare and promote the future leaders of college baseball.
Izzio has been instrumental in developing elite talent for both the collegiate and professional levels. He guided Dylan Carmouche to First Team All-American Athletic Conference honors in 2022, an AAC Tournament title in 2023, and a 15th-round selection by the San Francisco Giants after striking out 102 batters in 90 innings during the 2023 season. He also coached Ricky Castro, a Second Team All-AAC honoree in 2023, who ranked among the conference leaders in innings pitched and strikeouts. Notably, seven of Tulane's eight draft selections during this period were not drafted out of high school, underscoring his ability to develop overlooked or under-recruited players for professional baseball.
DANNY LYNCH
Lynch comes to Jacksonville after spending one season with Abilene Christian in Texas. Prior to his time with the Wildcats, he was the head coach for Mississippi Delta Community College.
While at ACU, Lynch coached an All-American in Deigo Cardenas and saw two All-WAC honorees in Cardenas and Zandt Payne, who combined for three All-WAC honors. Cardenas was named First Team All-WAC, while Payne was named to the Second Team as well as the All-Defensive Team.
Prior to his time at MDCC, Lynch served as the director of hitting and infield development at his alma mater, Southern Miss. He was elevated to this role for the 2024-25 season after spending the previous season as a graduate assistant.
As a player and a coach, he was part of four conference championship teams and six regional teams, including two Super Regional squads in 2022 and 2023.
From 2018 to 2023, Lynch was a standout player for the Golden Eagles.He became the program's all-time leader in games played (268) and was a team captain in his final two seasons. He finished his collegiate career with a .284 batting average with 269 hits, 34 homers, and 172 RBI.
Lynch has earned an undergraduate degree in Finance and a Masters of Business Administration from Southern Miss.
KYLE SERRANO
Serrano comes to Jax State after spending two seasons as the pitching coach at Johnson University in Knoxville, Tennessee.
In the 2026 season, Serrano led a pitching unit that ranked towards the top of all pitching stats in the Appalachian Athletic Conference. Johnson had two of the three wins leaders in the league in Colby Reynolds (12 wins) and Tyler Barfield (11 wins), along with the player with the second-most saves in the league in Kaleb Townsend with eight. As a team, Johnson posted the third-lowest ERA of all teams in the AAC at 4.89.
During the 2025 season, Serrano helped guide a pitching staff that featured Colby Reynolds, a First Team All-Conference selection who led the conference in wins with 13, and James Showalter, who tied for the conference lead in saves with 11.
During the summer of 2025, Serrano served as the Assistant Pitching Coach with the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod Baseball League, where the team finished with the best record in the league. The pitching staff produced three All-Star pitchers and the league's Reliever of the Year.
Before entering coaching, Serrano played collegiately at the University of Tennessee and professionally with the Houston Astros organization from 2017–2022. He also competed with the Ottawa Titans of the Frontier League in 2022 and the Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican Baseball League in 2023.
Kyle and his wife, Sidney, have one daughter, Kody.
ETHAN PAYNE
Payne comes to Jax State after spending the previous seven seasons in Knoxville with Tennessee.
In the previous two years, Payne has served as Tennessee's camp coordinator. Prior to that, he was a player from 2020 to 2024, capping off his playing career with Tennessee's first College World Series Championship. Payne was primarily a reserve utility player through his career.
Payne's marquee moment came in 2023, where the senior came in to pinch run during a regional game at Clemson, they laid down two sacrifice bunts en route to a 14-inning victory over the Tigers.
Payne graduated from Tennessee with an undergraduate degree in Management and a Masters in Recreation and Sport Management.
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