University of Pennsylvania Athletics

Mark Royer returned to the University of Pennsylvania to assist with player development in 2025.

Royer spent the previous seven seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at UMass, starting with the Minutemen in July 2017.

During the 2026 season, Royer helped guide a competitive squad that earned a spot in the Ivy League Tournament for the fourth straight season and finished second in the conference standings. The Quakers concluded their 2026 campaign with a 20-22 overall record and 14-7 mark in Ivy play, wrapping up the regular season with five wins in their last six matchups. Three program records were broken throughout the 42-game season. Ryan Taylor became the all-time leader in career stolen bases (78) and also reset the single-season mark with 36. Fellow classmate Jarrett Pokrovsky took over as the Quakers' all-time doubles leader with 52 to finish his career. 

Penn ranked highly in numerous statistical categories within the conference including, batting average (third, .266), ERA (fourth, 5.16), and fielding percentage (t-first, .974). Those full-season trends remained true in Ancient Eight play as the Red and Blue paced their competition with a .299 batting average, .451 slugging percentage, .396 on-base percentage, and 154 RBIs. 
 
The Quakers tallied a conference-high nine All-Ivy selections in 2026, headlined by unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection Thomas Shurtleff. Gavin Degnan, Pokrovsky, Jack Warner, and Ernie Echevarria joined Shurtleff on the first team, while Nick Spaventa and Jay Secretarski claimed second-team laurels. Upperclassmen Marty Coyne and Taylor rounded out the selections as honorable mentions.

Prior to his tenure in Amherst, Royer was a part of Penn's staff for three seasons as a volunteer assistant coach, working with the Quakers' outfielders and assisting with the hitters. During his time at Penn, Royer helped coach six Major League Baseball draft picks and four All-Ivy First Team outfielders in three years.

Before coming to University City in 2015, Royer spent the 2014 season as an assistant coach at Swarthmore College.
 
Royer played collegiately at Eastern University in St. David's, Pennsylvania, where he was a three-year starter and captain for the Eagles. In 2013, he graduated from Eastern with a degree in interpersonal communication studies.
 
A native of Fairfax, Virginia, Royer graduated from Fork Union Military Academy in Fork Union, Virginia, in 2009.