Mitch Cole is an American men's basketball coach, currently an assistant coach at Texas A&M University. He previously coached at BirminghamâÂÂSouthern, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Berry College and Samford.
Cole is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. He played basketball at Holy Cross School, graduating in 1988. Cole subsequently attended Montana State Billings and played basketball on its Yellow Jackets team. In 1992, he graduated with degrees in history and education. Cole earned his master's degree in education from Auburn University in 1995.
Cole began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Southeastern Louisiana in 1992. He also served as a graduate assistant at Auburn while he attended the university. In 1995, Cole was hired as an assistant coach at BirminghamâÂÂSouthern under Duane Reboul. He helped the Panthers reach the NAIA National Tournament every year from 1996 to 2000. In 2000, the school began its transition to NCAA Division I, and Cole successfully recruited and developed players that made BirminghamâÂÂSouthern competitive despite a five-year postseason ban. In the 2003âÂÂ04 season, in BirminghamâÂÂSouthern's first full season as a member of Division I, he helped the team finish 20âÂÂ7 and win the Big South Conference Co-Championship.
After Reboul was informed that the school would move to NCAA Division III, he stepped down in protest in July 2006 and was replaced by Cole. Due to player defections, BirminghamâÂÂSouthern did not field a basketball team in the 2006âÂÂ07 season. Cole was responsible for building the program from the ground up and posted a 13âÂÂ12 record with 15 freshmen in 2007âÂÂ08. The Panthers went 20âÂÂ5 two years later and won the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) East Division title. In the 2010âÂÂ11 season, Cole led BirminghamâÂÂSouthern to one of its best seasons, winning the NCAA Division III Provisional Tournament championship and going 23âÂÂ4 and 14âÂÂ2 in the SCAC. He was named D3hoops.com South Region Coach of the Year. In June 2011, Cole announced he was leaving the school to accept an assistant coaching position at Texas A&M, finishing his tenure at BirminghamâÂÂSouthern with a record of 67âÂÂ35.
Under Billy Kennedy, Cole spent five seasons on the bench at Texas A&M. He helped the Aggies win a school-record 28 games in 2015âÂÂ16, win the Southeastern Conference, and reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division I tournament after a last-minute win over Northern Iowa. In May 2016, Cole joined the staff of Wes Flanigan at Little Rock. He coached the Trojans for two seasons. In April 2018, Cole was announced as the head coach at Berry College. In his first season at Berry, Cole led the Vikings to a 19âÂÂ7 overall record, the most overall wins in their NCAA DIII era, and 11âÂÂ3 in the Southern Athletic Association (SAA). He won his 100th game in January 2020 over his former team, BirminghamâÂÂSouthern. During the 2020âÂÂ21 season, Cole led the Vikings to the Southern Athletic Association regular season and tournament championship and earned 2021 SAA Coach of the Year honors. He finished with a 51âÂÂ17 record at Berry.
In July 2021, Cole was hired as an assistant coach at Samford under Bucky McMillan. On April 5th, 2025, it was announced that Cole would return to Texas A&M University as an assistant to follow McMillan.
Cole is married to Amy and has three children: daughter Laura Kate and sons Carson and Joshua.