Florida Memorial Assistant Baseball Coach Andre Payne Recognized by Miami Marlins for Community Service

Florida Memorial University Assistant Baseball Coach/Recruiting Coordinator Andre Payne was honored by the Miami Marlins Organization recently. The Marlins paid tribute to Payne in a pregame on the field presentation for his work with the Florida Memorial baseball program and his greater community service to the Miami and Miami-Dade communities.

Coach Payne was honored this past Saturday August 12^th when the Marlins hosted the New York Yankees.

Payne joined FMU as assistant baseball coach and recruiting coordinator in summer of 2016. In 2023, Andre Payne was a part of the Black College Worlds Series championship team, defeating the NCAA Division II school Albany State 5-4 in 19-innings.

Payne has over a decade of coaching experience in high school baseball. He has been a well-known figure in the Miami Marlin’s RBI (Revitalizing Baseball in Inner Cities) program.

A Miami native, Payne was a multi-sport athlete growing up. One of those sports included baseball where he played at Miami Norland Senior High School.

Payne started coaching baseball at Miami Central, an inner-city high school in Miami in 2005.  He started participating in the RBI program with the Marlins, winning the RBI World Series as the manager in the summer of 2015. After three years at Central he began coaching Miami Norland Senior High. During the summer of 2007, Payne started The Miami Grays, an inner-city travel team in which bore the brunt of the financial responsibility.

Andre Payne on the left with Yankee slugger Anthony Rizzo.

In 2016, Payne was offered a job as an assistant coach at Florida Memorial by coach Tito Burgos. He continues to be involved in RBI with the Marlins and remains diligent in growing the game of baseball in the inner city.

Payne has been a big part of the success of the Lions baseball with Head Coach Burgos.

The Marlins laid out the red-carpet treatment for Coach Payne during the Yankees/Marlins pregame on the field recognizing him for working in a job that he loves.

Payne is deserving of this honor. He devotes his time and energy tirelessly to the baseball program at FMU, more importantly serving the Miami community with the Marlins Organization.