Mwroka resigns for George Washington University

After fourteen years of service at Georgia College & State University, head baseball coach Steve Mrowka has moved on.

Coach Mrowka has accepted a head baseball coaching position at George Washington University in Washington D.C., a Division I program.

Dr. Stan Aldridge, director of athletics at GC&SU, said Coach Mrowka’s decision to leave did not come as a complete shock.

“He had a great program and so opportunities are going to arise for people like that. But from a timing standpoint, I was a little surprised because most coaching vacancies had been filled by now,” said Dr. Aldridge.

Coach Kevin Mobley, who is currently in charge of the team as an interim, aggrees that Mrowka’s decision was not completely unexpected.

“Actually it wasn’t really a surprise. I know of other jobs he has gone after. I was aware of it,” said Coach Mobley. “The surprise came to actually get the call [regarding Mrowka's departure].”

Coach Mrowka worked at GC&SU as an assistant coach for three years before moving up to head coach in 1994 following the sudden death of then head coach John Kurtz. Coach Mrowka had an immediate positive impact on the team resulting in a Peach Belt Coach of the Year Award in
his first season.

Following his Coach of the Year selection, Coach Mrowka displayed uncanny leadership and propelled the program to a very high level of success, climaxing in the National Championship game in 1995. The Bobcats have also been to the NCAA Tournament five times under the guidance of Coach Mrowka. Over his eleven seasons as head coach Mrowka compiled a 407-231-2 overall record and a winning percentage of .638.

“The program is in really good shape. For one, in Division II baseball, GC&SU is recognized as one of the top 25 programs in the country every year since he has been here,” said Assistant Athletics Director for Public Relations Brad Muller. “We are one of those programs that other teams look up to. It is an established program.”

With Mrowka gone, GC&SU is now in the process of hiring a new head coach. To help assuage this difficult task a search committee has been formed.

“We had a search committee put together and have already stopped accepting resumes. We probably got over 100 resumes from all over the country. The search committee will narrow it down to between three and five final candidates. We will bring them in for interviews and that will be the tough part because there are probably 50 that are qualified,” said Muller. “We are hoping to name the head coach by mid to late September.”

Dr. Aldridge understands how challenging the process will be but sees an advantage the search committee possesses.

“It will probably be one of the most difficult searches we have ever done in the department. The disadvantage is that we have lost a quality coach and we got to replace him,” said Dr. Aldridge. “The advantage is that we got a lot of really good prospects.”

Pitcher Brandon Durden is the sole player that is a member of the search committee and also understands the difficulty of the task.

“Right now I am the kink between the players and the committee. Right now everyone wants a coach like Mrowka, but it will be hard to replace him. But you want to find someone close as you can to Mrowka,” Durden said.

Coach Mobley trusts that Durden and the rest of the search committee will
select a quality coach to replace Mrowka.

“Hopefully these guys will make a good decision. I am sure they will. They will look after the good of the program, and the good of the college and we will go in the right direction,” said Mobley.

The new coach will have big shoes to fill. Mrowka possessed attributes that will be challenging to find duplicated.

“He is an excellent teacher. He teaches the fundamentals. He is very demanding. For some people he was difficult to play for, but for most people he was demanding,” said Dr. Aldridge. “His expectations were high and consequently our performance has been high.”
Muller echoes Dr. Aldridge’s sentiments.

“He is the kind of coach that can beat a better team even if he has less talent just because he can out coach people,” said Muller. “His knowledge of the game is probably better than anyone I have ever met. He was smarter than a lot of other coaches.”

Not only was Mrowka a solid teacher of the game he also possessed an intense attitude that was intimidating to some players.

“[Everyone had a fear of him.] You were scared to mess up with him,” said Durden.

Mobley recognizes this intimidation that Mrowka had as an intangible that will be hard for a new coach to immediately possess.

“The actual thing he had was the fire and overall fear guys had of him. He didn’t really have to say anything it was the fear of him coming down on them that will be hard to replace,” said Mobley. “Eventually a new coach will have that but it will take time to build it up.”

Mrowka was also dedicated to his players on and off the field.

“He has a genuine concern for the kids he coached. He was the kind of guy who would always go to bat for his players,” said Muller. “I don’t know if they always knew that, but he was very loyal to his guys.”

While Durden and the rest of the search committee are faced with the assignment of finding Mrowka’s replacement, Coach Mobley and Coach Mike Thees are faced with the daunting task of keeping the players motivated during these capricious times.

“Right now we stick to baseball stuff. We try to come out and keep the positive attitude going. We are trying to keep the guys moving and keep them motivated. Again it is a little unnerving for them because we don’t know what is going to happen,” said Mobley. “So we are sitting around seeing whom they are going to hire. Once they hire somebody I think the excitement will build and the guys will be ready to go.”

Coach Steve Mrowka leaves GC&SU with many well-wishers and memories that were carved out at John Kurtz Field.

“It was a good move for him and I am happy for him and his family, and hopefully it will come of good for him,” said Mobley.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 3 2004. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry