The Green Bay Rockers have recently announced their assistant coaching staff to join second-year field manager Josh Merril. The Rockers have signed pitching coach Richie Villanueva, first base and hitting coach Tyler Roper, and Griffen Smith as bench coach.
Richie Villanueva previously coached multiple levels of baseball, including high school, junior college, Division 1, and collegiate summer leagues. Villanueva is currently the Head Coach at Martinsville High School, where he has led the Pirates to back-to-back playoff appearances (2024–2026). At the Division I level, Villanueva served as Assistant Coach and Pitching Coach at Stephen F. Austin State University (2022–2023). Before SFA, Villanueva spent three seasons at Pratt Community College as pitching coach and recruiting assistant. He coached three All-Conference pitchers, helped lead the program to a 2022 playoff appearance, and had 10 of his players advance to a 4-year school.
Tyler Roper is currently the offensive and recruiting coordinator at Central Christian College in Kansas. Before his time at Central Christian College, he was an assistant coach in the West Coast League and then spent three years as an assistant in the Perfect Collegiate Baseball League, where his teams achieved 25-plus wins and playoff berths annually. Before Central Christian, Roper was an assistant at Lassen Community College, coaching two Junior College All-Americans, the CCCBA base-stealing champion, and the unanimous Golden Valley Conference Player of the Year. Prior to Lassen, he was on the Bryan College staff for two years, which reached two NAIA Opening Rounds.
Griffin Smith joins the Rockers as bench coach. His coaching career began in 2021 as a student assistant at Central Baptist College, where he played baseball and ran track. After graduating in December 2022, he became the recruiting coordinator at Ecclesia College, and in 2024, at just 24, he was promoted to Head Baseball Coach. Smith immediately elevated the program, leading the '25 team to a 33–14 record, a Regular Season Conference Championship, and a #11 national ranking. He produced 17 All-Conference, four All-Region players, and 4 Gold Glove recipients, and was named the 2025 Conference Coach of the Year and Arkansas Natural State College Coach of the Year.
