‘Cats choose Coach Calciano

One of the most important pieces on a team is the coach and the Georgia College & State University baseball team waited three months until a new coach was named.

On Sept. 29, GC&SU named Chris Calciano, former head coach at West Chester University in Pennsylvania, the new head baseball coach.

“Calciano is a total package of everything we want as a coach. He gets down to business. I like an employee who doesn’t mind getting their hands dirty,” said Athletic Director Dr. Stan Aldridge.

GC&SU went through a long process to search for a new head coach. First, the university advertised nationally. They advertised in the NCAA News publication and website, various baseball magazines, such as Collegiate Baseball America, and other advertisements required by the NCAA.

The university received over 100 resumes from various colleges all over the nation. The university set up a search committee and narrowed the selection down to five people. After interviewing these five candidates, the committee submitted a review to Aldridge for a final decision.

“It was the hardest decision I have ever had to make, there were three strong candidates and there was a time when I wanted to hire all three,” said Aldridge.

When the committee searched for a new coach they were looking for a number of characteristics.

“We were looking for someone with experience at the college level who had done significant things with their previous college, someone that could recruit and fundraise well, someone who ran a clean program with athletes that made good grades, and someone who could represent the university well on and off the baseball field,” said Assistant Athletics Director for Public Relations, Brad Muller.

Calciano separated himself from the pack through his impressive program at West Chester. He turned the program around, leading them to the NCAA Division II tournament two years in a row.

“He is excited about having his athletes performing well in school and his references were very thorough and positive. Former GC&SU coaches recommended him,” said Aldridge.

The committee also valued the player’s thoughts and feelings. They allowed a player, Brandon Durden, to be on the search committee. The players did not have a strong influence because the university was picking a coach to stay longer than four years.

Assistant Coach Kevin Mobley was not on the search committee but was allowed to talk with Calciano for an hour. The long process has been difficult on the baseball team.

“I am excited to have a coach named, the process was dragged out a long time and it put a lot of responsibility on me to run the team as temporary head coach,” said Mobley.

The team had limited practice days. They are allowed 25 days of practice and 45 days to finish the practice days after the first practice. So far, the team has used five days of practice. The team has limited the practice days because they were saving them to use with their new head coach.

“It will be a big adjustment. The mindset of the team will change and we will have to get used to Calciano’s training, but you can only have high hopes,” said catcher Johnny Caruso.

Calciano was awarded the job because he was a combination of all the elements that the university was looking for. Calciano ran a winning program at West Chester University in Pa., had high graduation rates, and is a good recruiter and fundraiser.

“Coach Calciano is very honest and frank, he knows the game well, and is big on fundamentals and team play,” said Muller.

Calciano’s statistics speak volumes about his coaching ability. He has a 120-77-3 (.608) record in four years at West Chester and brought the team to the NCAA Division II Tournament two years in a row. West Chester went 36-12-2 in 2004, setting a school record for victories in one season. His pitching staff led the nation with a 2.67 earned run average.

In 2003 Calciano led West Chester to a 32-1 record and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division Championship. Calciano also guided West Chester into the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time since 1985 and was named the PSAC East Coach of the Year. During his four-years at West Chester, Calciano has coached eight ABCA NCAA Division II Regional All-Americans and 21 All-Conference selections. He has also produced the only three 30-win seasons in school history.

GC&SU has high expectations after the success of former head coach Steve Mrowka . Besides winning, the university expects Calciano to represent the college name well and keep the program at the high level left by Mrowka.

“I am looking forward to the challenge coaching at GC&SU and in the Peach Belt Conference,” said Calcaino in a recent press release. “I hope to build on the successful tradition established by Coach Mrowka and his predecessor, John Kurtz. GC&SU has a tremendous baseball tradition, and I am really thankful to Dr. Aldridge for giving me this opportunity.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 8 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