Alex Anthopoulos knows that he will have to find a new manager for the 2026 Atlanta Braves after Brian Snitker announced his resignation from that role on Wednesday. However, it's unclear which members of the Braves coaching staff will remain in place for 2026. Oftentimes, newly hired managers get their choice of building their own staff, so coaches like Rick Kranitz and Tim Hyers could be in line to move on from Atlanta in the coming weeks.
Should the hitting coach position become available, one Braves legend got the fanbase rumbling after mentioning the potential fit as a hitting coach. In a recent interview with 680 The Fan, Chipper Jones talked about how he thinks he could be a "very good hitting coach," and the reason why that's as far as he would go in the coaching circle.
Chipper Jones says his family supports him managing, but he has no desire to do it right now. He feels he’d be a better fit as a hitting coach than a manager. pic.twitter.com/c35fVkWzFf
— 680 The Fan (@680TheFan) October 3, 2025
Chipper Jones shoots down possibility of becoming next Braves manager, but opens the door on potential hitting coach role
The 1999 NL MVP obviously knows a thing or two about being a successful Major League hitter. However, this recent statement from Chipper stems from being asked about his potential fit as the next Braves manager. Jones was 1000% correct in his assessment that dealing with the media everyday probably wouldn't go over too smoothly if he was the guy in charge of handling the day to day operation.
However, Chipper pretty confidently suggested he could excel as a hitting coach in the big leagues. Obviously a guy with a career .930 OPS has every reason to believe he can be a great hitting coach so there is no arguing that claim. On top of that, Jones mentioned that his family has already given him the green light to get back into a more full-time role if he desires.
Despite the clamoring for Jones to immediately be named the hitting coach once this interview took place, there is still no decision on whether or not Tim Hyers will return in 2026. The Braves were miserably bad early in the 2025 season, but once the team got healthy and key hitters stopped slumping the team looked like a respectable offense once again. Changing hitting coaches in consecutive offseasons may disrupt the progress Atlanta made towards the end of the season.
Chipper's pedigree is stellar enough it could land him a job regardless, but Braves fans won't really know what direction the coaching staff is headed until this thing plays out over the coming weeks. Alex Anthopoulos mentioned he wanted to move swiftly in his managerial search, so stay alert for any rumblings around Chipper's potential fit on the Braves coaching staff in 2026.