North Carolina A&T

North Carolina A&T head baseball coach Ben Hall named Forrest Arnold the program's pitching coach/assistant coach on October 26, 2023. Arnold replaced longtime A&T pitching Jamie Serber, who became Elon's pitching coach during the 2023 offseason. 

In Forrest, the Aggies have a young coach who previously coached at an Eastern Illinois program that reached an NCAA regional in 2023 after winning the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship. Arnold, West Columbia, S.C., native, stands at 6-foot-10. 

"Forrest is a Carolina guy," Hall said. "Being from South Carolina, he made an awesome impact at Eastern Illinois, helping them reach the NCAA tournament in 2023. He spent time under one of the best pitching minds in college baseball at Middle Tennessee State. Coach Arnold will do a great job guiding our pitching staff going forward. We are thrilled to add him and his wife, Kaise, to the Aggie family."

Arnold came to Eastern Illinois in August of 2022, a few months after spending a season as a volunteer assistant under the tutelage of then-pitching and associate head coach Jerry Meyers. In his one season at Eastern Illinois, the Panthers reached the Vanderbilt Regional and won 38 games and the OVC tournament. 

In addition, Arnold coached two first-team All-OVC pitchers, Ky Hampton and Zane Robbins. Robbins also made first-team All-Region. Eastern Illinois pitching produced 418 strikeouts, 14 saves and seven shutouts. The 2023 Panthers also broke the program record for innings pitched (518.0). 

A&T will not be Arnold's first experience at a historically black college or university (HBCU). Before arriving at MTSU, Arnold spent a season at Division II HBCU Savannah State in 2021. The Tigers posted a 14-7 record and appeared in the Black College World Series. 

Arnold also assisted in starting a junior college program – South Carolina Union – in 2018. He remained the program's pitching coach until 2020. He also served as the head coach in the Beach Collegiate Baseball League in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where he won a championship and earned coach of the year in 2019. 

Arnold earned a bachelor's degree in sports management in 2017 from Coker University. He pitched four years for the Coker Cobras, making 64 appearances and striking 147 while posting a 5-3 record with a 3.99 ERA as a senior.