Arkansas Razorbacks retain pitcher selected in MLB Draft

Coil's decision was made public just 30 minutes before the deadline to sign 4 p.m. Monday.

Players forgoing professional baseball opportunities after three seasons of college baseball is becoming more rare than ever. Since the MLB draft was shortened in 2020, 44 of the 45 Razorbacks selected chose to sign a contract instead of returning to school.

Coil is the first player since Elijah Trest in 2021 to pass on professional baseball in the 20-round draft era after being selected.

Coil is coming off the best season of his career, posting a 1.27 ERA in 31 1/3 innings with 24 strikeouts. Prior to 2025, he had an ERA over 6.50 in both of his previous seasons.

He got off to one of the best starts in Razorbacks history, posting a 0.60 ERA in his first 14 innings before suffering a back injury that forced him to miss six weeks of the season.

After returning from injury, he allowed two earned runs in 7 1/3 innings of work, but did not pitch in any of the four games during Arkansas' run at the College World Series in Omaha. His 1.27 ERA ranks seventh-best of any Razorback pitcher since 2012 (minimum 20 innings).

Prior to 2020, when the draft was 40 rounds, people selected in the later rounds often opted to return to school, but with draft picks becoming more of a premium, teams often don't select players unless there is an agreement in place prior to the pick. Still, players selected in the later rounds could be left out if the asking price is too high or other picks require more money to sign than initially anticipated.

Coil is the only one of the record-tying 11 Razorbacks from his draft class not to sign. The other 10, Wehiwa Aloy, Gage Wood, Charles Davalan, Zach Root, Christian Foutch, Aiden Jimenez, Landon Beidelschies, Brent Iredale, Ben Bybee and Justin Thomas Jr. all opted to sign.

Arkansas now brings back a key lefty for the bullpen next year. With the departure of Beidelschies, having a reliable high-leverage arm should help the Hogs in 2026.

Originally a native of Edmond, Okla., Coil will enter his fourth year, all with the Razorbacks. Should he get drafted again, teams will have all the leverage in signing bonus negotiations because he will have exhausted all of his eligibility.

Trest was not drafted again the following year in 2022.

The Brewers were aggressive in trying to pick up high school players, which often cost more to sign than late-round college picks because of their commitment to top-tier schools.

Eight of the Brewers' final 10 picks were high school players, likely contributing to a number crunch that left Coil as one of the players on the outside looking in.

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