In 2016, pitcher Robert Tyler left the University of Georgia for a shot at a professional baseball career. But in recent months he’s been back in Athens, working to finish his degree while he and his wife, also a former star pitcher at UGA, coached for the Bulldogs.

“I’m like the oldest kid in all of my classes,” Tyler said before graduating with a bachelor’s degree in sports management last week. “I’m a ninth-year undergrad right now.”

As a student assistant coach, Tyler has been part of a team that accumulated more than 30 wins overall and a 14-13 conference record. In the SEC East standings, UGA sits tied for second with Vanderbilt, ranked 21st nationally, behind No. 1 Tennessee.

The Bulldogs dropped two out of three games this past weekend to Tennessee. They could play the Volunteers again in next week’s SEC baseball tournament.

Tyler played under UGA head coach Scott Stricklin from 2014-16.

“It just makes me feel good as a coach to know that your players want to come back and still be around you even though you used to yell at (them) when they were a player,” Stricklin said.

Tyler’s return to the team isn’t something he credits to Stricklin or to finishing his degree. He credits his wife, Chelsea Wilkinson.

“I just follow her around,” said Tyler.

Wilkinson, who recorded 97 wins for the Bulldogs from 2013-16, returned to the UGA softball team this season as an assistant coach. Wilkinson was with the North Carolina State softball team as an assistant coach from 2019 until 2021.

Tyler and Wilkinson met as students at UGA and married in 2019.

The Colorado Rockies drafted Tyler 38th overall in 2016. While Tyler was in the Rockies system, the distance from Wilkinson made it tough for the couple.

“He was across the country and California or Arizona most of the time,” said Wilkinson. “So we would go stints of like four months, five months at a time without seeing each other.”

On the last day of spring training in 2019, Tyler sustained an injury. He would miss the first half of the season with a torn abdominal muscle and said he didn’t feel like he returned to the same form afterward, leading to his retirement.

“(I) didn’t get the results I wanted,” said Tyler, “so that just kind of turned me away from (baseball) ultimately.”

Wilkinson said she saw the constant mental battle he faced with his injuries and thought that maybe he didn’t have it in him anymore to continue the grind that is the path to the MLB. Thinking of his future family, Tyler decided retiring from baseball was the best decision.

“I think that my time had just run out,” said Tyler. “I was trying to start the next chapter of my life with Chelsea.”

Wilkinson said his decision to retire was one he made on his own.

“I told him that either way, I support him and whatever he decides, is what we’re gonna do,” Wilkinson said.

While Tyler has a role with the baseball team currently, he said he probably won’t stay with coaching.

“I definitely want to stay involved in the athletic department, whatever that looks like,” Tyler said. “I don’t know if that’s coaching-wise.”

In the meantime, he is the Bulldogs’ bullpen coach.

“He’s always trying to help us with mindset, pitches and trying to give us advice,” said UGA pitcher Nolan Crisp, “because he’s been to that next level.”

Because of his age, Tyler has a closer relationship with the players, according to Stricklin.

“He’s just a good old country boy,” said Stricklin. “When Robert was playing for me, I asked him if he could talk to his phone. He got a grin on his face and said, ‘No sir,’ because his accent is so thick he can’t talk to Siri.”

Stricklin was excited to hear from Tyler that he wanted to return.

“He was on my team my first three years here,” said Stricklin, “so he’s got a special place in my heart.”

Bobby Andrews is a student in UGA’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.