The 2026 season will be Tom Carcione’s 28th coaching at a professional or college level and his first as manager of the ThunderBolts. This will not be Tom’s first time in Crestwood as he was hitting coach of the ThunderBolts in the 2015 season.  In addition to his coaching resume, he played professionally for ten seasons.

Carcione’s professional coaching experience dates back to 1999 as an assistant with the Northern League’s Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks (1999-00) and pitching coach of the American Association’s Sioux City Explores (2006-07). He was named hitting coach of the Ottawa Rapidz (Can-Am League) in 2009 before being promoted to interim manager during the club’s only season.

While Tom jumped between pro and college early in his coaching career, he has been a professional hitting or pitching coach since he was with the ThunderBolts in 2015. He followed that year up with four seasons on the staff of the American Association’s Lincoln Saltdogs (2016-19) before moving to the Frontier League’s Southern Illinois Miners (2021) and Ottawa Titans (2022-25).

Carcione spent time collegiately as head coach for NAIA Si Tanka University in 2005 and Metro State (NCAA D2) in 2010-11.  He was also an assistant with South Dakota (NCAA D2) from 2001-04 and NCAA D1 Northern Illinois (2008, 2014) before being promoted to Director of Baseball Operations in 2015 for the Huskies.

An all-state catcher at Holy Cross High School in River Grove, Carcione spent two seasons playing at Connors State Junior College in Warner, Okla., where he was twice an all-region selection.  Upon graduating from CSJC, he played in the Cape Cod League for Hyannis during the 1987 summer season before attending Texas A&M (NCAA D1). In 1988, Carcione was the starting catcher for the Aggies and hit .280 with 11 home runs and 42 RBIs while helping the team to a 52-15 overall record before ending the season as runner-up at the NCAA South Regional.

Following his only season at A&M, Carcione was selected in the 10th round of the 1988 MLB Amateur Draft by the Oakland Athletics. He spent five seasons in the Athletics' farm system and reached double-A Hunstville in 1990. His best season came at Modesto in 1992, when he hit .271 with five home runs and 45 RBIs for the A's high-A affiliate. Tom completed his pro playing career in the independent ranks through the 1998 season primarily with Sioux City, becoming the first player ever signed by the franchise in 1993. 

Tom Carcione was born on February 12, 1967 in Chicago, Illinois.  He was named the 22nd manager in franchise history on November 14, 2025, replacing Bobby Jenks who passed away in July 2025, and Toby Hall, who completed that season in an interim capacity.

Brian White is a first year member of the ThunderBolts' coaching staff in 2026 after his appointment as hitting coach. Between the college and professional ranks, this is his 13th season as a coach. Much of that time has been spent in the Frontier League. His first pro coaching position was with the Florence Freedom, for whom he was the bullpen coach for a year and a half (2015-2016) before being promoted to pitching coach, a post he held for the next four years (2016-2019). After the 2019 season, Florence (by now known as the Y'alls) promoted White to field manager. He held that post for two seasons, compiling an overall record of 96-94 with one playoff appearance. In 2025, White returned to the Frontier League for the first time since Florence, serving as the fundamentals/third base coach for the Tri-City ValleyCats.

In between his time in pro baseball, White has worked at the collegiate level. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Texas Wesleyan University in 2014, and also worked at Clarendon College and Eastfield College before transitioning to the professional ranks. In 2024, he returned to his alma mater and served again as an assistant at Texas Wesleyan.

As a player, White starred at catcher for Texas Wesleyan. He was named First Team All-Conference in 2013 and led the Rams within one game of the NAIA World Series after posting a .327 batting average and seven home runs. He went on to play parts of two seasons (2013-2014) professionally for the Fort Worth Cats of the United League.

Tino Novis begins his first season as pitching coach for the ThunderBolts in 2026. He joins Windy City after spending the 2025 campaign on the staff of the Ottawa Titans along with current Bolts manager Tom Carcione. He was the Analytics Coordinator for the Titans in addition to spending some time on the active roster, pitching seven innings over three relief appearances.

Novis previously gained experience as both a coach and an administrator when he served as league coordinator for the Palm Springs Collegiate League in 2019 and 2020. At the same time, he spent two years as an assistant coach at the College of the Desert, the same school he played at from 2013-2014. Currently, in addition to his role with the ThunderBolts, he is the associate head coach for the California Grizzlies, a post-grad collegiate baseball program.