The Green Bay Blue Ribbons finalized their coaching staff for the 2026 season, with the return of several familiar faces, to go along with one new addition to first-year Manager Tanner Alsteen‘s staff.
Bret Whiffen and Bill Morgan will both be returning as assistant coaches in 2026, and they’ll be joined by newcomer Cale Beckman and former Blue Ribbons player Brendan Willadsen.
Whiffen will be returning for his sixth season with the Ribbons organization, and his third as a coach. A graduate of William Penn University and a Green Bay Southwest alum, Whiffen played for the Blue Ribbons from 2021-2023, and ranks as the team’s career leader in saves. He will once again serve in a dual role, as the team’s first base and pitching coach.
Morgan, a fixture in the Green Bay baseball community for decades, was the President of Green Bay Babe Ruth in the late-90’s, and of the Green Bay Billy’s from 2000-2001. Currently serving as a varsity assistant at Preble High School, Morgan joined the Ribbons in 2021 and has served as the team’s bench coach for the past four seasons.
Beckman joins the Blue Ribbons organization after graduating from Viterbo University last spring with a degree is psychology. Ranking among Viterbo’s career leaders in appearances and starts as a pitcher for the V-Hawks, Beckman tossed a no-hitter against Dickinson State in 2024 and also played in the Northwoods League for the Thunder Bay Border Cats in 2023. A graduate of Winona Cotter High School in Minnesota, Beckman is currently attending graduate school at UW-Green Bay, while also coaching varsity baseball at Preble, and is looking forward to helping players develop and contribute to the team’s success as he joins the Ribbons staff this summer.
Willadsen, a former Blue Ribbons player, who spent three seasons with the team as an outfielder and first baseman, will be making his coaching debut this summer, after wrapping up his senior season at Adrian College in Michigan. The team’s Most Valuable Player in 2024, Willadsen spent last summer with the Southern Ohio Copperheads in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League, before returning to Green Bay late in the year.
The Blue Ribbons will host their annual Red vs. Blue scrimmage on Thursday, May 28th, and that event will once again be open to the public and free to all who wish to attend.
The regular season then gets underway on Saturday, May 30th, with a doubleheader against the Milwaukee Beavers. The full schedule can be found at BlueRibbonsBaseball.com.