66-year-old American Don Freeman is going to be the head coach of the Munich-Haar Disciples during the 2017 season. He is succeeding Michael Stephan, who stepped down as coach to focus on his playing career. Freeman is coming from the reigning German champion Mainz Athletics to the Disciples, where he coached together with Ulli Wermuth the past two seasons. Freeman, who led several teams of USA Baseball to Baseball World Cups in the past, will be supported by Tim Willeford and Joshua Petersen on the coaching staff. Christopher Howard will guide practice until the beginning of February, when Freeman arrives in Germany.