UNCG Coach Mike Gaski Fired

Who made you the expert of UNCG Baseball? The nine guys I played with that got drafted, 2002: Everett Hancock, 2003: Ryan Gordon, 2004: Jason Metger, Jarrett Santos, 2005: Chris Mason 2nd rounder highest in UNCG History, 2006: Jermaine Mitchell 5th rounder second highest in UNCG History, Patrick Currin, 2007: Guy Welsh, Ryan Falcon, I didn't say I played with all of them on the same team.

Big South being a powerhouse with top 50 teams, Really? Coastal Carolina in 94 was 30-26, 14-8(conference), Liberty 21-30-1, 9-18(conf), Winthrop 32-20, 14-12(conf), in 97 Coastal Carolina was 23-31, 11-10(conf), Liberty 25-32, 11-10(conf), Winthrop 27-29-1, 14-9(conf), sounds like top 50 teams to me. In 94 they didn't have a conference tournament and UNCG won the regular season and got an at large bid, and in 97 UNCG won the regular season and conference tournament. The SoCon has developed into one of the best Mid-Major conferences in the nation with it having three teams make it to a NCAA Regional with the Big South only having one. So how weak is my argument?

I'm not disagreeing that teams didn't win games during the last however many years you want to talk about but its not cause D3 talent. I'm not taking it personal, I just don't see how you can make a statement like that when its completely false. I don't have a problem with your opinion, I just don't know how you make a statement like that with the facts you think you have.

 

UNCG fan:
Regardless of your sentiment on the player quality, the biggest frustration, universally shared by players who've come through the program is that they all could have been better players with a different leadership approach than the one that they experienced. Regardless of their talent level, ALL OF 'EM would have been better playing for somebody else ( and many of them were, after they left and/or in summer wood bat). You'll see it evidenced in the next players to come through.

Ever the politician, Gaski was instrumental in getting the D1 transfer penalty in place and that further exasperated players with no where to go at that level without a year of sit out or juco. The general dissatisfaction from the players builds to a point of frustration that simply boiled over (you'd never hear of stories like the team going en masse to the AD for the coach's head, or the whole team vacating the dugout on senior day, or the brilliant urinal cake operation during the largest gate EVER at UNCG --absolutely unbelievable).

The happenings at UNCG are legendarily sad. For a man who obviously did some good in selling the idea to build such a first rate facility, to have such long-standing strong resentment over his poor relations with his players is the real tragedy here. Like for most of us in this world...the way he made people feel, is what he'll be remembered for... a sad commentary for Mr. Gaski indeed.

 

I have heard of Gaski wrongs at G for years. They appear to have been very valid complaints, and the shoe has dropped. However...

How, in any way, shape, form or fashion is this (above) a "good story"?
How is it "fabulous" to p*** on someone's picture?
And finally, if the AD over baseball came out "laughing his head off," because a man's picture was being urinated on, then he is not a professional and should not be in such a position. Period.
If you disagree, then please include the lesson/example you would speak to my 8 year old son standing over those urinals. I'm interested to hear...

 

+1

 

I can tell you what the lesson is....if your 8 year old grows up to truly enjoy baseball, works hard and wants to excel at his sport, gives everything he has to please his coach and keep his grades high to truly advance in this world and gets berated everyday in practice, games and personally from a coach that could care less about the kids and more about his personal gain AND former players do not ever want to see this individual again....get them the heck out of this program and this sport.

If your 8 year old is the only player (or nonplayer) of a sport in your family and starts to excel to the point of being competitive for college anything (baseball, soccer, etc.), then your point of view at this time is different than my point of view since I had a child playing at UNCG. That doesn't make your point of view or mine wrong...just different. I probably said 200 words to Coach Gaski during the 4 years my son played for him. Didn't talk about playing time or positional opportunities. Always figured that as a coach, he has watched him play during off season more than I have so he knows where he needs his skills. That is his perogative. But to publicly destroy players...uncalled for. I have dealt with the military experience of breaking people down and them building them up to a cohesive unit, but that model at UNCG only includes only breaking them down! What would your 8-year old think of that.

If life could be backed up and do a "redo", he would go somewhere else. Not because he is a D-3 player or not because of playing time (he was generally a starter), it's because of the junk he had to deal with from Gaski. My wife and I talk about this all the time, there is probably a fraction of the events that happened on this team we heard about. He knew we would probably go ballistic. We would pick up a little from parents or other players talking we we were around. We also learned that if all we asked was baseball questions, then it would make for very tiresome visits. And the only good I can even derive from the experience is that it made us hug the boys a little harder after the game and try to do some special things from time to time to make sure they knew we cared.

If you truly know the UNCG program, even during the successful years, there were major issues with him and some of the players. They weren't winning because of him, but moreso in spite of him. If the players had dropped off in talent as has been mentioned then who authorized the coaches to visit and offer these kids schollies...GASKI! The only time he ever saw any of these kids is when they came to the campus and signed with the team. He is/was responsible for the talent they have. Yet in practice or after games it was constatntly mentioned to kids that they have no talent and shouldn't even be playing for a D-1 team. Little late for that I would say.

I will say this...as a supervisor of personnel, if I ever dealt with people the way he did, I would be sued and the employee would be rich. The kids are held hostage to a scholarship (about 26-27%) for 3 years...maybe...and don't want to lose the funding. His way was to offer for 3 years and don't offer for your last year...where can you go now.

As for whether or not the AD was acting professional...I won't even hear that. I have never seen someone as unprofessional as Gaski and anything he received was deserved. Yep...poor ole Gaski.

Before I will ever acknowledge D-3 talent, then explain how they were 2nd last year in the SoCon? Explain how in 2009 they had some of the same players that went to the tournament the year before but couldn't win? Explain how a competent coach in 2010 could ever recruit a class and have only 9 pitchers on a team? As far as D-3 or D-2 talent, I know a bunch of boys that went to these schools not because they weren't up to the D-1 level, but because they felt that the school or academics suited them better. Many a kid gets cut from a team or injured and a schollie is yanked and they have no other recourse but to go to one of these schools to play immediately.

But to hear arguments that the kids are whiners, the kids couldn't handle the mental aspect and had to transfer because they weren't tough, the parents complained about playing time, the kids had no talent...that's just crap! They couldn't keep Asst. Coaches either...were they whiners, weren't tough, parents complained about "coaching" time or had no talent? Yep that's what I thought, that's just as absurd as the players example. What I can say is this. If and when the change in coaching occurs, I believe you will have many players come back into the fold (current and former) and support everything about the university. Even Gaski can't mess that up!

Everyone is entitled to thier opinion, me, you and others. But don't spit out stats or opinion on why the program is how it is. If you lived it, then let's share experiences and I may nod and say you're right and I'm wrong. But if you haven't lived it, then tread lightly. This kind of stuff occurs. If I had an 8-year old son who was exposed to this...I would run like Hades to the mountains and cover his ears.

 

As I said before, this story has been shared many times throughout the years. One player, in particular, was more talented than most HS player I have seen. He came from a family rich in baseball lineage and had a drive and passion not normally seen by most. He left UNCG a broken player...for no other reason than Gaski destroyed him as a player--constantly criticizing and playing childish mind games.

Fortunately, the player did not lose his passion for the game, as he is now a very successful HS coach. I'm sure what he did learn from Gaski is how not to treat a player.

I have no care if a player gets playing time or not. That's a coach's decision and college baseball is a business. But, as a former coach and parent, when we decided what school my kid would attend, part of the decision was based on the fact that the coach would be serving as a foster father to my son for the next 4 years; teaching him life lessons that go beyond baseball.

I was fortunate. We found the right coach and I owe him a ton of gratitude.

Players do not deserve playing time--they earn it. But they do deserve a coach that cares about them. If they don't, they are in the wrong business.

 

Well put Braves and I agree totally! He (my son) had very good coaches and coaching situations pretty much all thru his middle school and high school years. He played football, basketball and baseball and based on those experiences, I "assumed" that college would be about the same. I knew it would be tough due to classes and baseball expectations, but "assumed" that support systems were in place to handle speed bumps along the way. I never thought his coach was there to coddle him but due to the amount of time he spent with the program, he would be there to support and guide to a certain extent. WRONG! I have a younger child that also has a great opportunity to play ball in the future if that's what he decides to do. Whether he plays D-Anything is not going to be the issue with him, it will be whether or not the program supports the players and helps make the person a better person and provides a pleasant experience with respect to playing.

This experience has taught us a lot and hopefully by writing this stuff down, some parent will wonder if they are looking at the right college for their son or daughter.

I know this..we had a player at UNCG that transferred to Radford. Great kid, great attitude, never whined about playing time and great parents that would never have spoken to a coach about playing time, etc. This kid was able to withstand the Gaski onslaught and moved to nicer pastures. When talking to the parents, they mentioned what a difference it was to play in a program that truly wanted and needed you. Their son was a totally different young man. They had a player whose parent passed away unexpectedly during the fall and the team chartered a bus and went up North a couple of states to be there and support the player at the funeral. NO WAY that would have happened with Gaski. Braves...wished I wish I would have followed your lead in determining where my son was going to play. I will in the future and hope that people reading these blogs heed it also. Thanks

 

My point is this....Why did they "win" in the 90's and "lose" (not win conference, tourney, or get to NCAA's) in the 00's+? Gaski didn't change, asst coach's changed in the 90's (Coach Knight, Faulkner, Maynor) so that was no different than the 00's. I stated I wasn't going to comment on the issues with Gaski because they have been there since day 1.

They had some ok years here in there (2000+), but look at the records from 93-98. Of course, some players have been outstanding in the 2000's, but as a whole they lacked overall in talent.

It goes back to my original point of recruiting. As far as players that had talent and didn't like him. They transferred....go ask Beeson, Donovan, Salvo. They had very successful careers at Elon and Delaware and 2 of them were drafted. There departures didn't affect the team and they got to enjoy the college baseball experience with a coach they wanted to play for.

The players and parents do have to place trust in the coach's for 4 years just as the coach's need to have trust in the players (grades, attitudes, behavior, performance, etc.) If the player isn't performing up to par then decisions have to be made. That is why scholarships are offered on a year to year basis.

 

You missed my point, or just choose not to address it.
I brought up no stats or wins-losses.
I did not mention players past or present.
I am fine with Mr. Gaski - whom I only recall speaking with face to face two times in my life - being released, fired, scathed even.
But how can the aforementioned occurence, with which I took issue, be defended? And how can an administrator's actions, as detailed in the anecdote, be seen as professional? It can not.


I hear you as far as your son.
I'll say I feel your pain.
I can not yet truly say I sympathize, as my oldest is only 8 and few have even had the opportunity to coach him.
I just come back to the urinating and laughter... and I can't see it.
I can't justify it.

I bless your son, as from what you have related, you make no mention of him having taken any low roads. Again, from what you've said that he did not say, his is a great testimony of resiliance, honor and courage. Hopefully he (your son) will reap what he has sown as such. Trial does often bring perseverance and patience which can lead to reward - though I admit, regretably, that road often makes me ask," why God?"

I'm not saying your son should have respected the man or run to his defense, or that anyone should - but urinating on his picture and laughing about it..... sticking point for me.

Maybe your son will have a better experience with the game in another setting, maybe even coaching. I am sorry someone injured him with the game.

 

How Coach Gaski treated players - people - and how others subsequently treated his picture (sounds odd) has NOTHING to do with wins and losses.
If what has been reported here is accurate (again, not the wins-losses/draftees - who cares) then both Gaski and those who returned the favor are and were wrong in terms of character and actions.

I think I'm done here...