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Suns 2023 Coaching Staff

DELAND, Fla. – The 2023 DeLand Suns are beginning to take form. Matt Swiderski, 26, will be the team's new head coach after spending 2022 as the skipper for the then-Seminole County Snappers. Swiderski has been an assistant coach at Daytona State the past four seasons, and was an assistant in the Florida League for two years as well with the Leesburg Lightning before getting his first chance at a head coaching job last season.

The newly minted Suns coach guided the Snappers to a 13-18 record during the 2022 season before falling to the eventual champion Winter Garden in 3 games in the semifinal playoff series. Coaching third base and hitters with Leesburg, Swiderski was a part of a runner-up team in 2020 and won it all in 2021.

A Port St. Lucie native, Swiderski attended Daytona State and played baseball there for two years under longtime head coach Tim Touma, who he currently works for as an assistant. He played in the JUCO All-Star game and was an Academic All-American as well. After that, he finished his playing career at NCAA DII Coker University and earned a B.A. in Business Management in addition to a Masters in College Athletic Administration in 2020.

The young Swiderski will have two veteran coaches joining him in the dugout. Mike Powers, who was the Suns' head coach from 2020-22, will remain on the staff for 2023. Powers was the longtime head coach of Seminole High School, and was a 9th round pick in the 1980 MLB draft. He pitched three seasons in the minors with the Expos and Athletics organizations.

Rounding out the staff is the legendary Rick Hall. He currently holds the Florida League record in all-time wins with 201, and won championships with DeLand during the summers of 2012 and 2018. Hall has an interesting connection with Matt Swiderski as well. He was the first-ever head coach at Daytona State, the program which Swiderski played and coaches for.

Swiderski could not be more pleased with how is coaching staff looks for this upcoming season.

“They’re just great people," he said. "For me it's a learning opportunity to hear what they have to say. They wanted to stay a part of it and help me grow in this coaching world. I'm really grateful for the assistants I have."

He also thinks the staff has unique advantage, remarking "I think this is something new to the league that people really haven't seen before, three coaches that have all been head coaches and have that experience."

Suns 2023 Interns

Team Operations this season will be handled by Dallas Remsburg and Eddie Tiberi. Remsburg (UCF) is an Integrated Business student with a minor in Sports Business. With a passion for writing screenplays, he'd like to get into the film industry, but is also focusing on jobs related to sports management and player development.

Tiberi (Florida Southern College) is a Biology student with a minor in Sports Management. In addition to his love for sports, he hopes to work in either research with DNA or sports physiology.

On the social media side, Megan Lively (UCF) will anchor the Suns' online presence for the upcoming year. She graduated this spring with a degree in Business Administration. Lively played for the Knights' volleyball team from 2019-21, and hopes to continue working in sports.

This year's communications intern is William Haynes (Florida State). Haynes will serve as the Suns' reporter, publishing articles throughout the season. He will also operate as the broadcast voice of the team, and can be heard on the air for all 36 games this season. Haynes is a Media and Communications student at FSU and has multiple positions in the Tallahassee sports scene. He is the Sports Director for 89.7 WVFS and the broadcast voice for all Tallahassee Community College sports.