Rangers Reveal Crawdads Coaches for 2026

Hickory, NC- The Texas Rangers announced the Crawdads’ coaching staff for 2026, with Nick Janssen named manager of the club.

Nick Janssen will take over as the new skipper of the Crawdads. Janssen previously spent time with the ‘Dads in 2019, serving as the data apprentice for the playoff-bound club. He was originally scheduled to be the data apprentice for Double-A Frisco in 2020, but the season’s cancellation pivoted plans and he transitioned into a coaching role in the Fall Developmental League that year. In 2021, he took on a coach/player development operations position for the Dominican Summer League Rangers. He came back stateside as a development coach for the Arizona Complex League (2022) and Low-A Down East (2023). He returned to the DSL to serve as manager in 2024, leading the team to a 39-17 record, finishing in first place in the standings. Last season, he took over as manager of the ACL Rangers, guiding the club to a 33-27 record.

Pitching coach Carlisle Koestler enters 2026 in his third season with the Rangers and first in Hickory. His first season with the organization was as a pitching coach at the Dominican complex before shifting into the DR Pitching Supervisor role last year. He spent two seasons previously at Hinds Community College, where he also served as the Director of Strength and Conditioning. He completed a strength and conditioning internship at the University of Arkansas and was the Director of Baseball Operations/Player Development at Samford University.

Dan Padilla will be the Crawdads’ hitting coach in his fourth year with the Rangers. He spent the previous two seasons in the same role for the ACL Rangers. His first season with the organization was as the hitting coach with the Dominican Summer League. He spent eight years as an assistant coach for South Mountain Community College and was an assistant coach for the Matsu Miners of the Alaska Baseball League.

Elevys Gonzalez will reprise his role as Hickory’s bench coach after spending the second half of the 2024 season with the team. Gonzalez was with High-A Hub City Spartanburgers in 2025. He joined the Rangers organization in 2020 as a hitting coach for the Dominican Summer League team. He played six seasons in the minor leagues before transitioning into coaching, spending two years as an amateur academy infield coach and three as a field coordinator.

Bench coach Herbert Iser comes to the Rangers after playing and starting his coaching career in the Phillies organization. Iser was a 2019 draft pick, playing in the South Atlantic as a member Jersey Shore BlueClaws in 2021 and 2022. The Jamaican-born catcher played through 2023 and began as a Development Coach with the BlueClaws in 2025.

Garrett Enders returns for his second season as the Crawdads’ athletic trainer for the 2026 season. Enders will be in his sixth season with the Rangers, previously serving as the club’s rehab athletic trainer, athletic trainer for the DSL Rangers (2022-2023), an athletic training intern in Down East. He holds a master’s degree in athletic training from Manchester University.

Logan Schild will be the strength and conditioning coach for his first season with the Rangers. He graduated from East Carolina University in 2019 before becoming a Graduate Assistant at Valdosta State University and getting his Master’s in Higher Education Leadership. Following graduation in 2022, he joined Wingate as an assistant coach. He was promoted to Associate Director of Sports Performance in 2023 and oversaw training for football and baseball and was over the department’s internship curriculum.

The Crawdads will open the season on Thursday, April 2nd against the Columbia Fireflies. The teams will square off through Saturday night as part of the Opening Weekend festivities.