Ford Pemberton joined the Southeastern Baseball staff of head coach Matt Riser in September 2021. He is the Lions' recruiting coordinator along with currently serving as both the hitting and infield coach.
Pemberton’s presence paid off immediately as the Lion's 2022 offense ranked in the program’s Top 10 in doubles, triples and home runs in his first season.
The 70 home runs hit by Southeastern were the fourth-most in program history and the most in more than two decades. Preston Faulkner enjoyed one of the most well-rounded offensive seasons ever by a Lion, hitting .338 with 18 doubles, 17 home runs, 70 RBIs and 39 walks.
SLU led the nation in batters getting hit by pitch, led by Rhett Rosevear who tied the DI single-season record for HBPs.
The Lions set or tied more than 14 Southland Conference Tournament offensive records during its run to the championship.
Under his tutelage, Southeastern infielders also showed a marked improvement defensively as they helped the Lions produce a program-best .978 fielding percentage during the 2022 season.
He has served as a board member of the Louisiana Baseball Coaches Association since 2022 and was a featured speaker at the 2023 LBCA Convention. In addition, Pemberton is a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association. He served as a speaker at both the Bayou/River Coaches Clinic in 2017 and the LHSAA Coaches Clinic in 2019.
Pemberton made the leap to the collegiate level in July of 2016, joining the Nicholls staff as Director of Baseball Operations and Camp Coordinator before moving onto the coaching staff a year later. A second promotion followed in August 2019 with Pemberton taking over as the Colonels' hitting coach along with a focus on base-running, the squad’s catchers and serving as the program's academic liaison.
A native of Bossier City, Louisiana, Pemberton also played a major role in Nicholls’ recruiting efforts, practice organization and scheduling.
Prior to Nicholls, Pemberton served as an assistant at C.E. Byrd High School in Shreveport from 2014 to 2016. While at Byrd, he served as an associate scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Prior to his time at Byrd, Pemberton spent time as an assistant coach at Zachary High School and Parkview Baptist High School. He helped lead all three schools to the LHSAA State Championship.
He attended Haughton High School and graduated from Louisiana State University in 2013 with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and from Arkansas State in 2019 with a Master of Science in Sport Administration.
Pemberton resides in Hammond, Louisiana with his wife, Sarah, and son, John Ford.
