Quentin Eberhardt - Baseball Coach - University of Tennessee Athletics

Quentin Eberhardt

Title:
Strength & Conditioning Coach

After serving as Tennessee Baseball's Director of Sports Performance from 2018-21, Quentin Eberhardt returned to fill the same position in July 2022 following one year as the head strength and conditioning coach for the Chicago Cubs. He was originally hired by head coach Tony Vitello in October 2017 after spending eight years in professional baseball.

Among the nation's most elite strength coaches, Eberhardt has been instrumental in the continued climb of Tennessee baseball during his time with the program, helping establish the Vols as an SEC and national power. Under his guidance as the program's strength and conditioning coach, UT won its first ever National Championship in 2024, has made five NCAA regional appearances (2019, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025), four NCAA super regionals (2021, 2023, 2024, 2025) and made three trips to the Men's College World Series (2021, 2023, 2024).

Tennessee has put up record-setting power numbers over the past two seasons thanks in large part to Eberhardt's efforts. The Vols once again displayed impressive power in 2025, finishing as one of the nation’s leaders in home runs for the fifth straight year. UT hit 131 long balls, which ranked second in the country and marked the fourth consecutive season it has hit 100 or more homers. Tennessee had eight players hit double-digit dingers, led by Andrew Fischer’s 25, which led the SEC and was the second most in a single season in program history. On the pitching side of things, each of UT's top three single-season strikeout totals in program history have come under Eberhardt's watch with 738 in 2023, 729 in 2025 and 700 in 2024.

During its record-setting 2024 season, Tennessee reached the mountain top by winning the first national championship in program history, defeating Texas A&M in the Men’s College World Series Finals. The Big Orange led the nation with a program-record 184 home runs, which ranks second in NCAA Division I history, just four shy of the NCAA record of 188 homers (LSU - 1997). The Vols became the first team in NCAA history to have five players hit 20 or more home runs in a single season, led by Christian Moore’s program record 34 long balls. Dylan Dreiling (23), Billy Amick (23), Blake Burke (20) and Kavares Tears (20) were the other players to reach to 20-homer mark in 2024.

Throughout Eberhardt's first stint with the program (2018-21), UT saw drastic increases in its power numbers each season. The Vols had 141 extra-base hits and 42 home runs during his first season in 2018 after finishing with 123 extra-base hits and just 33 homers the year prior. Tennessee made an even bigger leap in 2019 with 173 extra-base hits and 53 long balls. The Vols were on pace to shatter those numbers in 2020 before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In just 17 games, UT had already compiled 77 extra-base hits and ranked second in the nation with 31 homers and sixth nationally with 43 doubles.

Tennessee made another huge leap in 2021, blasting 98 homers while racking up 244 extra-base hits en route to making its first trip to Omaha since 2005. UT was one of the top offensive teams in the nation, ranking among the top 10 in the country in runs scored (7^th – 425), hits (2^nd – 657), doubles (3^rd – 134), home runs (4^th – 98) and walks (5^th – 336). The Vols' 98 homers were the second most in a single season in program history at the time.

It wasn't just the bats that displayed major improvements under Eberhardt, as UT's pitchers also increased their strikeout totals during each of his four seasons. After finishing with only 198 strikeouts in 2017, Tennessee's pitching staff nearly doubled that in 2018 with 383 punchouts. In 2019, the Vols finished the year ranked 33rd in the country with 551 strikeouts, the second most in a single season in program history. Through 17 games in 2020, Tennessee pitchers had already racked up 171 strikeouts and were averaging 10.1 Ks per nine innings. The 2021 team went on to set a new program record with 617 punchouts while averaging 9.00 strikeouts per game.

The Big Orange increased their speed during Eberhardt's watch, as well, ranking among the SEC and national leaders in stolen bases multiple times. In 2019, UT led all Power 5 programs with 108 stolen bases, its most in a single season since 2005.

On top of his time with the Cubs, Eberhardt brings a wealth of experience as a strength and conditioning coach at the professional level. Before being hired at Tennessee, the Columbus, Ohio native spent the previous four seasons as the head strength and conditioning coach for the New Orleans Baby Cakes, the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins.

Before working with New Orleans, Eberhardt also spent time as the strength coach at four other minor league teams: the Rome Braves (2013), the Quad City River Bandits (2012), the Corpus Christi Hooks (2011) and the Gulf Coast League Astros (2010). During that time, he worked with numerous major leaguers such as Dallas Keuchel, Dee Gordon, Brian McCann, Stephen Piscotty, J.D. Martinez, Edinson Volquez and Martin Prado, among others.

Eberhardt played college baseball Norfolk State, Columbus State Community College and Ashland University, where he was a corner infielder and earned All-Regional Tournament team honors during his senior year in 2008.

Eberhardt is a certified strength and conditioning specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Organization (NSCA) and also holds a Precision Hydration Level 1 certification from Precision Nutrition.

Eberhardt grow up in Columbus, Ohio and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in management from the University of Phoenix in 2011. He has a son named Marcellas. He and his wife, Jenna Eberhardt, were married in August of 2021 and live in Knoxville with their daughter, Halia.