Georgia’s championship offense just lost one of the men behind it. Hitting coach Nick Ammirati is leaving Athens for Auburn, joining Butch Thompson’s staff as the Tigers’ new hitting coach for 2027.
The timing stings for the Bulldogs. Ammirati spent the 2025 and 2026 seasons at Georgia, and the high-powered offense he helped run carried the Bulldogs to a sweep of the SEC regular-season and tournament titles in 2026. Losing a coordinator of that unit right after a season like that is a real blow to the staff Georgia is trying to keep intact.
Ammirati’s résumé is why he was worth poaching. Before Georgia, he spent 2022-24 at Kentucky, meaning he’s been on staff for both the Wildcats’ and the Bulldogs’ recent College World Series runs. As a player, he finished his career at Mississippi State — where he first crossed paths with Thompson, then a Bulldog assistant, back in 2013.
That history is what drew Thompson to him. “Nick’s bio speaks for itself, but my first glimpse of his potential in this industry was as his coach in 2013,” Thompson said in an Auburn release. “As a catcher, he called virtually every pitch and led an incredible pitching staff to the national championship series. Since then, I’ve watched Ammo begin his college coaching career with success at every level, including the SEC. Being on staff for Kentucky and Georgia’s most recent runs to the College World Series has been impressive, and I’m excited for him to bring that success and partner with Karl Nonemaker to create a winning offense and develop the ever-essential catching position.”
Thompson added: “Nick’s track record of success and current SEC experience makes him the best fit in the country. For me personally, I’m excited to reunite with a former student-athlete, and I believe our players and program are going to be very excited to have Ammo join the Auburn Family.”
The move opened up when Auburn great Gabe Gross stepped away from the hitting coach job — a role he’d held for nine years — to take a new position within the athletic department so he could spend more time with his kids. Ammirati’s hire was official less than 24 hours later.
For Georgia, the challenge now is replacing a coach who helped build an SEC-title-winning offense. The Bulldogs are coming off a season that ended with both the SEC regular-season and tournament crowns, and how they fill this opening will say a lot about whether they can keep that offense humming in 2027.
