🎙️ Interesting Humans Podcast
🎙️ Real people. Cool stories. Inspiring chats with dreamers & doers — guaranteed to make you see what’s possible for your own life. Host : https://www.instagram.com/jeffhopeck/
🎙️ Interesting Humans Podcast
David Perno, UGA Dawgs Baseball Coach. 2 Players Paralyzed, SEC Titles & The "Big Win"
David Perno had no idea what was coming when he accepted the head coach job at UGA. 2 A-level recruits paralyzed in the same year was just the beginning. This episode takes many twists and turns and also highlights his 5 SEC titles and College Baseball Championships. He's a great storyteller and has been through so much in his career! While nobody knows the real story why he was released after consecutive winning seasons, David shares from his perspective what could be the real reason.
To learn more about my work and the conversations I care about, find me at @hey_dad_can_we
We get into 11, and like I said, it doesn't start off great, but I like our team. We just had to figure out their roles, and we were going to be fine. Because Zach Cohn, who was projected a first-round pick, got experience. I got Kyle Farmer, who's still playing professional baseball from Marist High School. We're just... We're going to be all right. We didn't have a great first weekend or second weekend, but we're in the Florida state and we're about to win this series. And the collision
SPEAKER_00:happens. You're listening to the Jeff Hope Egg Show. Conversations with interesting humans.
SPEAKER_02:With me today is David Perno. David, you coached University of Georgia baseball from 2002 to 2013. I want to get right into a challenging title here, Georgia Bulldogs baseball player. Jonathan Taylor suffers neck injury.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it was extremely difficult to see it. You know, the first one, which we'll get to, obviously, but this one, during a game, he's in center field by projected first-round picks in left field, Zach Cohn. Zach Cohn's a 6'1", 185, 90-pound specimen. Okay. Jonathan's head, Zach slides on one knee. He was a right-handed player. Jonathan's a left-handed. He's in left field. He slides on one knee. He actually catches the ball. Jonathan, it wasn't hit that high, is coming. He dives headfirst with his left hand out. He would have caught it if Zach didn't catch it, but the top of his head hits Zach's hip. And running out, he... Lo and behold, Zach rolls over. He's got a slight concussion. He's banged up. He's cut. He's bleeding. And Jonathan can't move. And it took probably 30, 45 minutes. They get him on a gurney, and they get him to the hospital. I get the call. And about this seventh, eighth inning, he's not going to recover. He's going to be a paraplegic.
SPEAKER_02:Neck down?
SPEAKER_01:Neck down.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, my goodness.
SPEAKER_01:And so, obviously, we end up losing the game 8-7. And at that time, before the injury, we were probably winning 7-1. And it just couldn't get any worse at this point. I think at that time, we dropped to 3-7. And we're supposed to go to Mercer. to somewhere else, and then we fly out for a five-day West Coast trip.
SPEAKER_02:Spring break. All with this news. But the fascinating part, this is not the first time you went through this. You get this head coaching job. Yeah. The second day of practice is 9-11? Yes. And then the first... of two paralyzations. What happened in the first one?
SPEAKER_01:Well, he scooter accident, leaving a study group. He pulls out, and I mean, anyone that's been to Athens knows exactly what I'm talking about, the bottom of the hill where Lumpkin and Baxter kind of meet, and right in front of the old Stegman Coliseum. And the football stadium's behind– the end zone's right behind Stegman. And girl and guy student didn't see him and hit him.
SPEAKER_02:And he was, again, one of your top recruits.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. We're not– You know, we're not talking walk ons here. Right. We're talking freshmen, all American superstars. And
SPEAKER_02:this this story here is is a story that. I am just so excited to tell and to share because. It's so easy for, I know me, I'm guilty of the same thing. It's like, oh, you get this great job and then, oh, you have this great career and like, oh, a little bit of hurdles and setbacks, but then you make all this money and then your career's over and good for you. And your story, the twists and turns are just incredible.
SPEAKER_01:I've been very fortunate, very blessed. Now, You know, it was horrifying to see, witness Jonathan Taylor's injury. And then, you know, him and Zach were best friends. I mean, I'm telling you, best friends. They play catch every day. You know, everywhere Zach went, Jonathan was there. Sure. And I mean, it was just, it was crazy. So you can imagine Zach... Them running in each other. Yeah. And Zach, I mean, Zach was a freshman All-American, and then his second year, he was a true All-American. Yeah. I mean, he hit.370, would double-digit home runs, stole bases, scored runs, RBIs, just was the shining star on that 2010 team that didn't have a lot of success. Yeah. you know, we, we had gone through a tough situation. So he had, you know, Zach had lived through that and Zach couldn't forgive himself. And I'm like, Zach, you know, you have to understand you, you just doing what you, you know, what you could do. I mean, and you know, but there was nothing I could say to help him. Yeah. So our first move, I grabbed Zach after, The game. And then after, you know, we got everybody out. And I'm staying close to Zach because I know having dealt with that chance situation that, you know, we needed to watch. Zach and I went up to the hospital to see Jonathan. And if it wasn't for Jonathan Taylor, we might at least we would have canceled it. At least a couple weeks of games. Wow. But Jonathan Taylor looked Zach and I in because he was conscious.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, talking normally.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Right. And he looked at us, Coach, and he told us. He said, you know, we got a good team. I said, yeah, you know, we're like we need you and this and that. He said, you got me, and I'm with you all. He said, but don't not play because of me. Oh, wow. And so we called all our players, Zach and I, and we told them, guys, we're
SPEAKER_02:on.
SPEAKER_01:We're going to deliver. We're sitting at three and seven.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And we got to go on the road for five games. And I was like– Probably the best thing is we left town.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Right.
SPEAKER_01:We got out and it was hard, but we, you know, we, we, we talked, we had groups and we did things that, you know, now is normal protocol. Sure. Back then you didn't know. Yeah. I mean, back then we didn't know what to do and how, how you deal with, you And so we just, you know, we were all together. Yeah. And it was amazing. Yeah. And we go on the road. We win at Mercer. We win somewhere. We're flying out. And, you know, Friday night, we're playing Garrett Cole, who's pitching for UCLA. I mean, guy's just still pitching in the big leagues. Sure he is, yeah. And he was the number one pick that year. Wow. Well, we had a pretty good one, too. And Alex Wood. And I never forget, I called, I remember Zach and I called Jonathan. I said, you got any advice for Garrett Cole?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And, you know, I was like, this guy's really good now. He's going to be the first pick at 18. He's like, hey, do it all together, coach. Do it all
SPEAKER_02:together.
SPEAKER_01:Meaning you're going to have a window. Sure. And he said, you always taught me this, that when you're facing someone really good, when the opportunity presents itself, you can't miss.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:Because you're not going to get many. Yeah. And he no-hits us through five innings. But our guy's pitching pretty good, too. Yeah. I think it's 2-0.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:The sixth inning, we show a little life. Our kids did a pretty good job of battling, fighting off a pitch. They would strike out, the majority of them. But it was five, six pitches. All of a sudden, you're in the seventh inning. He's had 100 pitches. All right? It's big. So Kyle Farmer is coming to the plate. I said, I got my guy up. We got runners on him. It's a home run. We take the lead. We never give it back. Wow. I think we end up winning 4-2. Unbelievable. And it just was that one, you know, just doing it. We kind of time it. Yeah. Did it right. We beat USC the next day at their park. We beat St. Mary's at Dodger Stadium. The next day, all of a sudden, we're 7-7, and we look like a different team. Yeah. And to this day, it was– Jonathan Taylor, it was divine intervention. We get in, we qualify, we get picked. They send our ass to Oregon State for that regional that year. But it was just incredible feat that our kids hung in there and Despite all those challenges of that year. Everything we've been through and the year before and how, you know, it just got away from us. And I was determined not to feel sorry for our story. Yeah, right. And so we end up, and I tell you, the SEC coaches, Kevin O'Sullivan and Tim Corbin and Ray Tanner, you know, you could tell. And I mean, it wasn't like, They wanted us to win. But you could tell when we got that Saturday, all those coaches, you know, were– and, you know, it was close game and fight. But I just think we had a lot of good spirits for us that day. Yeah,
SPEAKER_02:floating around.
SPEAKER_01:You know, all the World Series, everything, it's hard press for me– to be more proud of a team than that 2011 team, what they had to overcome and that journey with that team. I mean, the World Series is incredible and extremely, such a remarkable experience and playing from that, all that is great. And those teams, I'll never forget those guys, but to see these kids fight and hang in there without one of their best players and accomplish what they accomplished that year. It was
SPEAKER_02:tough. It's tough to be, I'm going to go, I'm going to go all the way back. So I met your, I met your brother, uh, Don Perno, who's, who's head pro over at Peachtree golf club. I met him, his wife and my wife, right. Our cousins.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:And he, He's been telling me your story way, way, way, 13, 14 years before the thought of even having a show. So I've been hearing this almost as it's unfolding throughout, which is incredible.
SPEAKER_01:It's been bizarre. Because we're
SPEAKER_02:going to get into the two, you had two trips to the White House, which is incredible, right? But how did it all get started for you? Where was baseball in your family?
SPEAKER_01:Well, it was huge when I was younger. But part of the reason it was is because of my brother. I mean, he just got it. Yeah. You know, just like his hand eye was different. Yeah, to be a great golfer too, right? I mean, you know, he picks up golf. And my father was like, y'all going to play golf? There was no Phil. We didn't know who Phil Mickelson was. So there were no left-handers. We were left-handed hitters. My dad, when we were young, he turned us around. Oh, he did? Oh, yeah. And so we were two years old. We were hitting left-hand, even though we both threw right.
SPEAKER_02:Intentionally? Yes. He turned you around?
SPEAKER_01:My dad was...
SPEAKER_02:What did he want to... Why? To make you like...
SPEAKER_01:He knew left-handed hitters just were better. And then he figured that if we had to, we could switch it a lot easier. Oh, no. We never did because... you know, in the eighties, there just weren't a ton of lefties at that time that would give you problems. And we were so comfortable, but, um, and so when my brother wanted to play golf, he said, well, you're gonna have to play right in. I'm not special order and golf clubs.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Yeah. So what year was like, where was that? Was
SPEAKER_01:he in high school? He, no, he was probably, I didn't, I, I, I didn't have not have the mentality for golf.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So I didn't even want a pair of gloves. Sure. I mean, it was not. Was it all baseball for you? It was baseball, football, basketball, which was crazy to me. I don't know. It was just because I could score. I mean, and, you know, here's the thing. And I try and tell people, basketball you can do by yourself growing up.
SPEAKER_03:I
SPEAKER_01:mean, that's why I loved it because you always had a ball. Sure. It didn't matter how cold it was. I'd go out there and I could shoot great baseball. You know, I wasn't going to hit on a tee.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:You know, because you couldn't do it by yourself. Yeah, you'd need fielders and everything else. So I kind of– I really loved– at that young age, I loved basketball. My brother was, you know, golf, football. And baseball. And he was good at basketball. We did it all. We were, you know, it depended what season it was we were going to play. Yeah. So there wasn't a lot of time for golf. Right. And once I, you know, but my brother, I mean, he gets a right-handed set. And, I mean, you know, like in a week, he looks like he knows what he's doing.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I'm not surprised. I couldn't. That wasn't my style. Right. I mean, I just didn't get it. Yeah. Anyway, he picks it up, and when he got really good, then eventually, all right, I got someone that will help me. But I get kicked out of a junior tournament because, you know, I'm playing it like it's me against you. Right. You know, we're out there and this dude. Wrong etiquette. Yeah, yeah. Wrong sport. I didn't have that. I didn't have that deal.
SPEAKER_02:So you guys, what's amazing, Don is such an incredible golfer, right? But he played ball. He played
SPEAKER_01:professional baseball. He played pro ball. Yeah. So he gets drafted. Jeez. And goes out like Everett Washington. He's playing with the San Francisco organization. Yeah. And I never forget. So I'm calling him, you know, what's it like, this and that. He's like, man, they keep playing this guy in front of me. I'm better than this and that. I said, what's his name? He goes, Robbie Thompson. Well, Robbie, he ends up being the rookie of the year six months later. And so anyway– But the gist of it is Don is actually, so I think after two years, he gets released. He actually is going to coach baseball at the College of Charleston. Hugo hits, washes their field away.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, my goodness.
SPEAKER_01:Everything. I mean, it was the Charleston hurricane that hits.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So he said, all right, I'm going to play golf.
SPEAKER_02:And that's what
SPEAKER_01:it was. I got no baseball, John. I'm going to go play golf. That's incredible. And then he ends up getting a job, and he plays in tour events. He played in the Bell South like two or three times.
UNKNOWN:Wow.
SPEAKER_01:It's just incredible. Yeah. And what
SPEAKER_02:are you doing at that time? Are you in baseball?
SPEAKER_01:I'm at Georgia. He actually did come back to finish his degree at Georgia and help coach. And I had gotten hurt. That's when I hurt my ankle. Okay. So I missed 89 season at Georgia. Played in 88, missed 89, come back in 90. And that's when his golf– takes off and we win the national championship at
SPEAKER_02:Georgia. What position, what did you play?
SPEAKER_01:I was kind of a backup that year. Um, I, I backed up his second, third and outfield.
SPEAKER_02:So were you considered, what is that called? A utility Swiss knife? What would you say to parents right now, or even to young kids that might, that might be listening to this? Like what, if, if you're showing strength in multiple positions, should you just, what should you do there?
SPEAKER_01:Um, Well, I'm not your normal baseball junkie from a standpoint of I just refuse to believe in specialization at 12, 13, 14 years old. Play as many sports as you can for as long as you can. I just do not believe. I think they throw their arms out. And granted, my best players and the guys that improved the most, i.e. Kyle Farmer, i.e. Gordon Beckham, they were football guys, man. In high school. Really? Yeah. They didn't play just baseball year-round. They were quarterbacks. I mean, that's who I recruited. I wanted quarterbacks that weren't maybe D1 quarterbacks, but they were D1 baseball players.
SPEAKER_02:Interesting. So when you were out recruiting, I'm really curious to know that. What are you looking for in a player?
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Is it obvious? Is it just real
SPEAKER_01:obvious to us? It is for me now.
SPEAKER_02:What is it?
SPEAKER_01:They just got it. I went to see Gordon Beckham, and I'll never forget this. Ray Tanner's there, who at the time, he's coach of South Carolina, because his father, Gordon's father, played quarterback at South Carolina, and the mother was a cheerleader.
SPEAKER_02:Wow.
SPEAKER_01:But now they live in Georgia. And I got to get him. Yeah. I mean, he's my guy. You got to get him. I mean, I got to flip this. Yeah. You know, and I mean, fortunately, we went to the World Series in 04 or 06, or we would have never got him because Ray Tanner and South Carolina were juggernaut at that time. That's who I was– I was close friends with him, and I thought the world of Coach Tanner, and he helped me a lot going up. But we're at a game. Both of us happen to be at a game watching Gordon. He makes an error. He strikes out. They got him switching. He's hitting left-handed, and he ain't the same player left-handed.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And I know it. Yeah. When you see him turn around right-handed, he hits balls to the moon.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:But he's left-handed. They catch a rain delay. Ray leaves. Oh. I said, okay. They come back and play. And now, granted, up until this point, and then Jack.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and the opposite.
SPEAKER_01:So I'm thinking, you know, Ray's got a bad visual. And I stay, come out of delay. I see him hit right-handed. I see him make some plays. I'm like, that's our guy. And so we put the press on him.
SPEAKER_02:You did?
SPEAKER_01:Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And what does that entail?
SPEAKER_01:I just try and get him to campus as quick as I can.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. So you invite, you call him or his parents?
SPEAKER_01:I call them both.
SPEAKER_02:You know, you
SPEAKER_01:get one phone call. I talked to them all back then. Actually, it might have progressed at that time a little bit because you're talking about 2004, 2005. So the rules might have changed a little bit. So it was just working the parents, working. Now I knew that I really had to follow that summer team, his summer team. He played with the East Cobb Yankees, and I knew I had to– We had to sell out for this guy.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. He was our future.
SPEAKER_02:Who's the best player you tried to recruit and didn't get?
SPEAKER_01:Didn't get? I would say it probably... Back in the day, it was Khalil Green who ended up going to Clemson. Okay. And then had a good professional career. But... Could have been Micah Owings, which is a Georgia kid. I mean, we recruited him hard.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:You know, and he had a great professional career. Where did he go? He went to
SPEAKER_02:Tech. Oh, to Tech.
SPEAKER_01:But we beat him to go to the World
SPEAKER_02:Series. We'll get
SPEAKER_01:to that. Well, I think he started, he ended up at Tulane or vice versa. He ended up going to Tulane and then transferred back to Tech either way, but he was really talented.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Such a good player.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. All right. So 2002 is your first year on. When you got selected, which is a story in and of itself. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, you walk out of the room. You were just named the head coach of UGA. You had this split decision. You were either getting that job or you were getting out of everything and going to do investments, right? Get your Series 7, you were saying. You just walk out of the office. What's the first thing that you do? I
SPEAKER_01:went back and I talked to people that I trusted. What to do. And one of the people that always was there for me and really kind of shaped my thing outside of my parents. I mean, I was very blessed to have tremendous parents, but was my high school football coach, Billy Henderson, who we were similar in the sense he played baseball at Georgia. But he was a legendary. He became a legendary player. High school football coach.
SPEAKER_02:A high school football
SPEAKER_01:coach. Okay. At Clark Central. And I think he was probably my first call asking him what he thought.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Like what?
SPEAKER_01:You know, I told him that Coach Dooley said, and then I finished it with, hey, he did say when I was leaving that stranger things have happened. So he gave me a little bit of hope, Coach. And I remember Coach saying, hey, do what he told you. Keep the program in line, and your answer will become clear. Interesting. What you want to do.
SPEAKER_02:Did you know– I'm going to just assume there was a hallway when you walked out, and you're– oh my gosh, I'm the head coach. This is
SPEAKER_01:incredible. Oh, when I first got the job?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, like walking down that hallway, did you know what needed to happen with the team? Because the team was in last place or they had bottomed out. What were you thinking? What were you so excited to get to work at? Staff. Staff.
SPEAKER_01:Coaching staff.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. And what about coaching staff?
SPEAKER_01:It was tricky for me. And that's what, you know, and Coach Dooley and I talked about that because of my age. You know, and that was part of the deal I've told you about the contract.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, I didn't feel right bringing in a guy. And, you know, one of the questions a coach is going to ask is how many years you got. You know, and what do I tell him?
SPEAKER_02:I'm brand new.
SPEAKER_01:Four. But privately, we got two, you know? Oh, they
SPEAKER_02:want to know
SPEAKER_01:your coach. Yeah. But no one's going to come. No proven coach for sure is going to come and work at the University of Georgia. And you got a 30– I think I might have just turned 34. 34, okay. Yeah, I just turned 34. And no proven coach is going to come, a 34-year-old coach, has two years to turn a team around that just lost everybody. We lost two catchers, first baseman, second baseman, shortstop, third baseman, and a center fielder, and our top four pitchers. I mean, we're, yeah. Oh,
SPEAKER_02:you lost everybody.
SPEAKER_01:We're dismantled.
SPEAKER_02:You're a new team. You're a brand
SPEAKER_01:new team now.
SPEAKER_02:So they want to see that you have longevity. Okay, so this helps. That's like a leader in a company.
SPEAKER_01:Correct.
UNKNOWN:Correct.
SPEAKER_02:Right? I want to know that they're vested into the company. Okay. That makes perfect sense. So who was the first person you brought in?
SPEAKER_01:Butch Thompson, who is head coach at Auburn now. Wow. And he was good. But he was young. And see, that was the other thing. I wasn't going to get some... I wasn't going to be able to attract some 50-year-old guy that's been through the ringer and gets to SEC. So I had to go young guys too.
SPEAKER_02:What did you see in him?
SPEAKER_01:Butch was just well-grounded. And he grew up in that he had a connection. He had worked for a guy who had spent a lot of time with Coach Polk. And I had just... work for coach Polk. And I knew that that group coach Polk was really good. Oh man. You know, lights out, but, and I knew Butch, there was a connection and obviously I'm leaning on him too. Now at this point, I'm asking coach Polk and I'm asking, uh, talking to coach Henderson and just all my, you know, people who really there. And so I end up, uh, We end up landing them. We get them. Yeah. Because I needed to make sure of my pitching, and he was going to take over the pitching.
SPEAKER_02:So he's taking over pitching. Next up was who?
SPEAKER_01:David Eckstein. I mean, Ricky Eckstein. David Eckstein was the guy who played shortstop, was his brother.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, his
SPEAKER_01:brother. But I had met Rick. He was working for Lopez at Florida. And Andy Lopez, I was– I looked up to him in a big way.
SPEAKER_02:Sure.
SPEAKER_01:Basically, him leaving Florida opened up the job for me because now the Mississippi State guy takes the Florida job. Polk leaves Georgia, goes to Mississippi State. And I slide into Georgia. Wide open.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. All right. Do you think people out there were going, what's up with this Georgia organization? They just made a couple good moves. Do you think people started to see?
SPEAKER_01:No.
SPEAKER_02:Or you still have more to prove?
SPEAKER_01:And I think to this day, and this is my take on Coach Dooley, because look, and I need to say this, there was nobody like him. I thought he was the best athletic director. And it kind of, you know, it hurt my career and my ability to, I guess at times, to quite understand what these other ADs were thinking because it was just so good and Coach Dooley was so good. I think he ran the job search well. The way he did and ended up back at me to take pressure off. And here's why. He's like, look, because I remember sitting next to him, and I'm thinking this when I'm at the press conference and he's announcing me. He said, I interviewed so-and-so, so-and-so, so-and-so, so-and-so. We ran a committee to interview all these other guys, right? And this is our decision. And we feel very good about it. And it did take pressure because he tried. He tried to get other people. But it just wasn't a great job. I mean, we went to the World Series in 87. We went to the World Series and won a national championship in 90. But there had only been three regionals in the 1900s. I mean, the program, it was nothing.
SPEAKER_02:Wow.
SPEAKER_01:It was nothing.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so this is a significant turnaround.
SPEAKER_01:Yes.
SPEAKER_02:This is a significant
SPEAKER_01:turnaround. And so Coach Polk comes in. His first year, it's obviously 2000.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And it elevates the program. But we don't go to a regional his first year. It was the next year.
SPEAKER_02:The next year, regional.
SPEAKER_01:Regional World Series, and we win the SEC. And now he's gone. But there's excitement. And like I said, and then Coach Dooley runs the gamut. He tries to get four of the top coaches in the country. And all they do is get pay raises back at their schools. Oh. But Coach Dooley was smart enough to know these guys weren't leaving. Why would someone leave Florida State? They're already established to come to Georgia.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Or Miami. Right. The U, they just won a national championship. So these guys, they weren't leaving their places.
SPEAKER_02:No.
SPEAKER_01:To come to a lesser
SPEAKER_02:program. So it was like a game, a little game was happening. What's it like to win, I can't even imagine, a World Series? What's that minute like? What was the last thing that happened? Was it an out? Was it a hit? Was it a
SPEAKER_01:home run? It was an out in 90.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so 1990 and balls
SPEAKER_01:hit. Yeah, in 90 it was an out. And what happens then? We went crazy. It was different back then. It was a one-game deal. And by the time 2000 rolled around, it became the best of three. In the finals. So we got beat third game.
SPEAKER_02:Who did you?
SPEAKER_01:Fresno State. Fresno State. Yeah, we get, you know, the irony of that in 2008 is we had a tough year in 2007. I mean, that was another struggling year. So 2007 and 2010 were bad years. The rest of them were good, solid years. But I knew 07 was going to dive. And it was because, you know, we had this group from 04 to 06. We lost 15 guys to the draft in 06.
SPEAKER_02:Wow.
SPEAKER_01:Okay? But, you know, this team had gone to two World Series and won an SEC championship. Right. So 07 was a rebuild.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:We had to go get guys, and that turns in the story of 2008. So my point is we get beat by Fresno State, and when we show up for the World Series, for the National Championship Series, they're making it out to be this David and Goliath deal because we're from the SEC.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah,
SPEAKER_01:sure. Okay? Right. We were picked to finish 11th in the SEC. Right. That year. All right. They're picked. They're preseason top 12. Oh, my God. They just had a tough go. Right. You know, and they were fighting it. They had a couple injuries early. Well, towards the end of the year, they start getting everybody back. And they win their conference tournament. And they beat, you know, the teams they beat to get to the World Series is incredible. And I'm like, I don't get it. How we're this Goliath now all of a sudden. We're picked second to last in our league before the season starts, and they're preseason ranked.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, you know, come on. This team, they beat– they went on the road and won a regional. They went on the– we were at home. They went on the road, win a regional. They went on the road to win a super. And then they beat North Carolina, Rice, and someone else in their bracket to get to the finals. And I'm like– Incredible. Yeah. So, and, you know, we win the first game 7-6. And the second game is just a slugfest.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And we give that one up. And the third game's kind of a pitching duel. And, you know, we're like– we give up a three-run homer that basically was the game.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And, you know, we're one, two pitches away. But they were better. Sure. I mean, or as good, if not better, than
SPEAKER_03:us.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And, you know, so we end up finishing runner-up in 2018.
SPEAKER_02:What is it like for you? I mean, your journey is incredible, the setbacks. You hold that trophy for the first time. What emotions? I can't even imagine.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no, it was a lot. That 04 was overwhelming in my sense. I'm trying to hold it together. At this time, I think I was 38 years old. And here we are. And I ended up getting in 2004 National Coach of the Year. Wow. And, you know, we're on stage. I'm coaching against Augie Garrido in the semifinals in 2004. And I'm this– and he's a legend. I mean, of legends. Right. You know, this guy is like–
SPEAKER_02:Is he the Nick Saban of college
SPEAKER_01:baseball? He was at the time. Him, Skip Burtman. I mean, you know, I coached against these guys, and I'm like, you know, I never really thought about it, you know, other than if I do think about it, I'm probably going to think too much about me and
SPEAKER_03:get
SPEAKER_01:selfish. And, you know, I did– I tell you, and, and this was the thing, those, you know, and I love their stuff to read their stuff, but you know, John Maxwell and Zig Ziglar and even the Tony Robbins and the deal. But, you know, it's just, it's, it's a self, it's a selfish and self-centered thing. You, I, you know, I was caught up in that and, and I, I, I had to realize that to me, it didn't work.
SPEAKER_02:It
SPEAKER_01:did in a sense because I had success and we were winning, but I wasn't the type of person. that I wanted to be. It was always checking boxes. And I'm like, you know, it can't be like, oh, I got to read this 10 minutes, you know. I'm like, no, I don't want to live that. I want the experiences. I want the relationships with people. And, you know, and so it was, I did it with one team. And And exactly what I said. So I learned it. Oh, five is the one year we're, we're, we're preseason top five. First time in, in the school, the program's history that were preseason top
SPEAKER_02:10. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And, and we're there and I got this guy comes in and, They were the selfishest team I've ever seen in my life. All they were trying to do is worry about their craft that this guy's telling them their goals. And I'm like, oh, and so, you know, fire them. And we end up underachieving in 05. Yeah.
UNKNOWN:Threw that out. You can't.
SPEAKER_01:The culture suffered.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. But the longer I had coached, the more I realized, man, it was about the relationships. The relationships. With the players, my relationship, and their relationships. Yeah. And the culture is first and foremost.
SPEAKER_02:What's the hardest thing about it?
SPEAKER_01:The hardest thing, it kind of changed. The hardest thing to me was... for coaching college baseball was dealing with 11.7 scholarships and trying to get, and then, you know, right. The irony of, of the whole deal is here. I am in Georgia with the hope for scholarship, what was covering their tuition. Sure. I could get, I could get 40 kids and, and, Everybody be happy scholarship-wise because you just had to have a pretty good student. And then, you know, yes, we would have to finagle some things. Well, in 2010, there's this committee. They're changing. What's happening in college baseball is you're bringing kids in for books, right? Because they get the hope. They want to play there. We're the hot team. We're going to the World Series, so kids want to come. So we're getting them. Well, what's happening, yes, kids aren't playing. Some of them don't play, and some of them it doesn't work out. And it's not just at Georgia. It's all over the country. All
SPEAKER_02:over,
SPEAKER_01:yeah. So they're leaving. So your real-time graduation rate is bonkers, right? Wow. So they're like, this has got to stop.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:So they come up with these three rules only for college baseball. Only 27 guys can be on scholarship aid. You have to give everybody a minimum of 25%. Wow.
UNKNOWN:Wow.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, it's bizarre. And your roster can only be, got to be capped at 35. So you got to get eight walk-ons that pay their way. And I'm like, really? I mean, this is bizarre. Why? Like, ultimately, what is this proving? It was graduation rate. Well, and here was the other piece. You could transfer and play immediately. Like they can now. But back then, they did away with it. But baseball, they let you one time.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, one time in baseball. One time. Oh,
SPEAKER_01:that makes sense. Well, now they, you know, we were like all the other sports, but they added these other two elements
SPEAKER_02:that
SPEAKER_01:really crush you. Jeez. Hinder you. Right. I mean, because you're dealing with the draft. Because pre- pandemic, there were 55, 50 rounds in MLB draft and tons of free agents would sign. And there wasn't really a cap. You could go in the 16th round and still get seven 50,$750,000 to sign.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:And so, so your uncertainty, the type of kids we were signing were all prospects, right? They were all could go in the draft. Yeah. And so you're trying to juggle this. And then, you know, so what comes up? Chance Feezy. All right. That's the first year. So not only do we lose him, can't replace him.
SPEAKER_02:I
SPEAKER_01:lose Alex Wood, who's my number one recruit, because he gets hurt in high school and has to have Tommy John. So, you know, in 2010, we are playing with probably, out of my 27 guys on the travel roster, I got 18 on scholarship. That's it. That's it. Yeah.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, the injuries and whatnot. I mean, it was– and I'm like, it couldn't– and then Jonathan Taylor. And you just got no means to replace him. But when I was signing, when we had– I live– The major league rules. I would have a 40-man roster. I could keep 40 guys engaged. Yeah. You know, you had a travel roster. You had a practice squad. You had redshirt guys. And we had a system. Right. And we could keep guys. We could continue to develop, you know, player 30 through 40. Mm-hmm. And that next year... they would be good players for us.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:And when all this went down, and you're dealing with two kids getting paralyzed and a plethora of other injuries, you don't have the pieces to compete in that league. Everyone talks about how difficult the SEC is in football. No comparison. Baseball... Much tougher for a much longer period of time because there's nobody shortchanged. Vanderbilt's got more resources than anybody.
SPEAKER_02:In baseball.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, but not in football and basketball. But in baseball, they do. The Mississippi schools, a lot of years are limited in football and being able to compete. Not in baseball.
SPEAKER_03:And
SPEAKER_01:then you throw your LSU, you throw your Arkansas, you throw your South Carolina, you throw your Florida. Everybody can win. Kentucky went to the World Series this year in baseball. So, listen, when people talk about how difficult the SEC and what a challenge is, I know it's tough in football. Correct. But there's no comparison to how difficult it is in baseball.
SPEAKER_02:Right. Now, are those guidelines set by the university or the NCAA? Or neither? No, they were NCAA. Like that you have to have like 18 of this?
SPEAKER_01:The NCAA. All three of them in one year. All they really had to do to clean up the graduation rate is say, hey, from now on, you got to sit out if you transfer, unless you go down. That's all they had to do. And everybody's graduation rate would improve. But if I can go play at Middle Tennessee or even a bigger school or somewhere else and I'm not playing at Georgia,
SPEAKER_02:I'm
SPEAKER_01:going to go.
SPEAKER_02:Was it common back then for guys to skip college and go right to the big leagues? Big time. About how many? Like one in 30? No,
SPEAKER_01:no, no. Say I sign. Say we sign. Seven, eight freshmen.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. Uh, 50%. 50%
SPEAKER_01:of the ones that we would sign. Okay. That you would sign pro
SPEAKER_02:would sign pro. What about guys that would get recruited before even going to, they would have, they'd skip college and go right to the bigs.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. That's it. That's that. That's what you're talking about. Yeah. Yeah. That's what I'm talking about. And you had to work it. Yeah. The, the, the, the deal was though, here was the, Here's where we got hurt. We were pretty good at being able to assess the high school kids, who would sign, who wouldn't. Okay. Just like pro teams do what is called signability. Okay? So they go in their house, they meet. And, you know, at this point in time, I'm pretty– We always befriended scouts, and we treated them well. And they would communicate, hey, you're not going to get him, coach. We're going to sign him.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:You know. Now, where it got tricky was when they were 21 or third year in school, junior. Those were the guys. You know, those were the ones– They really didn't communicate a ton if they were going to take your guy because they're antsy. Do you follow me? So pro teams could come in and take them a little later. High school kids, if their family's good, upbringing's good, school doesn't spook them, they can handle the schoolwork, they're going to have to draft them high, and they're going to have to pay them. But I've been in college three years. I've played. I've done this. Now I've got a chance to go and$100,000, a lot of money, 16th round, I'm gone.
SPEAKER_02:You're gone. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And so you never knew that dynamic. And so you could be sitting there. We always tried to cover it. So if I had a junior shortstop, a shortstop is probably a bad position because I knew those guys were going. You know, like Beckham. And, of course, Farmer came back for his senior year. So we ended up keeping him. But we would cover it with a high school freshman. And so when the pandemic hits, it changed the whole– it changed college baseball.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_01:And it changed the age. I'm coaching 18– maybe a few 21s, 18 to 21. Sure. It's now they're 21 to 24.
SPEAKER_02:Huge difference.
SPEAKER_01:Huge.
SPEAKER_02:Huge.
SPEAKER_01:They're men.
SPEAKER_02:Wow.
SPEAKER_01:They're huge. And it's incredible because there's 20 rounds.
SPEAKER_02:Is that still till today?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, since they came out of the pandemic. Wow. They cut it to 15 the first quarter. Two years out of it, 20. I guess they're drafting 20 and they're drafting 21. Then they went up to 15. It's gone the other way. They're just not taking the 21-year-old mid-marginal
SPEAKER_02:player. Right. What's a good story when you went to visit the White House? Well,
SPEAKER_01:90, I happened to read an article because I was like, you know, we're going to White House. I'm going to do something. Every good story starts like that. And so I read, and he played 18 holes in 245 or something, two and a half
SPEAKER_02:hours. Who's this, George H.? The father. George
SPEAKER_01:H., yeah, okay. So I read that, and he never took the flag out, which is common practice now at times. But back then, he never took the flag out. And so he walks out, and someone introduced, ladies and gentlemen, we're standing there in a little semicircle, and he's going to come through. He said, the President of the United States, and everybody, yeah, we're clapping. And right when it got quiet before he spoke, I said, he's also the fastest golfer in the world. And he looked at me and he said, you have to be when you're president. I'll never forget
SPEAKER_02:it. Oh, that's awesome.
SPEAKER_01:And they, you know, guys were like, give me a hard time. We shook our hands. We go around.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So we go to the world series in 01 and W is, you know, it's back in 01 and see off it. Hereford base is there. And we had him that year. I mean, they take us to the bottom. You know, off at Air Force Base, it looks like an ordinary building.
SPEAKER_02:Sure.
SPEAKER_01:But I think they put the, in the chaos or whatever, I think they put the vice president there. I'm not sure. But either way, that year, they take us all the way down. underneath ground to the bottom. Yeah. All these screens and you got to understand, I mean, it's 2000 technology. I mean, I just, phones are really just elevating and whatnot. And, um, and so a couple of kids are, talking trash and, you know, about, man, what are they going to do, whatever. And I give them one of my kids' address, who's kind of smart, and, boy, he types that address in. He said, who lives here? There's a little truck, you know, and they're just messing with it. You know, they bring it up and they zero in on his home. You can see everything. And they're freaked out. But anyway, all that changes.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Obviously in two, three months.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:Two months. This is June. But we're in the locker room, one of the locker rooms, and he's coming through.
SPEAKER_02:W. W, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Shaking everybody's hand. And he gets to me and I said, I can't believe you fired Bobby Valentine. And he keeps moving. He turned around and he said he still voted for me. Or I still got his vote.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Oh, he had a process. He kept
SPEAKER_01:shaking hands. So it was neat. It's just a neat little thing. Not too many people can say you shook hands with two presidents.
SPEAKER_02:Two? Yeah. Neat that they're in the same family,
SPEAKER_01:too. Yeah, how about that?
SPEAKER_02:Wow. So ups and downs and ups and downs and ups and downs all throughout. How did it all happen? Two World Series. Three. Three World Series.
SPEAKER_01:Five in a total. You know, the one thing. So I went back kind of the first time to Georgia baseball because, you know, the one regret I ever had. We're coming down. We're in 2013. And obviously, it wasn't the type of year. But when you go– 2010, you get a kid paralyzed. 2011, you get a kid paralyzed. 2012, my mom takes a turn. Cancer eats her up alive through the season, and she passes in June 2012. So, I mean, it was three years, and I never had experienced anything remotely like any of those struggles. And I don't mind a struggle. I embraced them. I learned that at a young age, whether it was injuries or setbacks. You know, there's something. There's silver lining. But I could not find. I'm looking at this. I could not find any silver lining at this point. I really couldn't. And we roll into 13, and it is just a tough year. Sure. I got kids out. The moral of the story is Saturday night, The last week of the year, we actually, the last three weeks, we start playing. You know, we start playing really good because I'm playing freshman and sophomores.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. They're progressing through the year.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. We're taking our– and I'm playing freshman and sophomore because I got two seniors in wheelchairs. Yeah. I only had five.
SPEAKER_02:They come in the games?
SPEAKER_01:Well, they're getting honored. So Saturday, and the whole deal, we beat Georgia Tech. We win the Georgia Tech series. Okay. We got Florida Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Saturday being senior night, senior day.
SPEAKER_02:Senior day, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. McGarity, the AD at the time, is at senior. I've been trying to set a meeting with him. Because I'm going to tell him that he would never give me money to pay my assistants. And it's 2013. Neither one of my assistants make$100,000. And I got guys in the league making close to 200 assistants. And how do you expect me to compete? Because all you want, all you can ask for as a coach is resources match expectations. That's all you want. Okay. And, you know, I feel very good about what's coming in. Fourteen, we got one of the best classes in the countryside. Coming in, and I got about three or four freshmen, about five, six sophomores, and then, you know... yeah, we're, we're, we're good. This is the wheelchairs, you know, we're, we're going to be, we're going to find a way and to be very good again. So we're playing Florida. It's Saturday, all the seniors. And of course there's a big, big to do because of the Jonathan Taylor and chance VC. Sure. Now they're not graduating until December, but, Nonetheless, so, you know, we're visiting parents, whatever. I walk up to dugout, and I look over in Florida's dugout, and Greg McGarrity's in Florida's dugout. Here I got two kids, parents that were paralyzed. I understood it for a little bit. He stayed in there 15 minutes. He comes by our dugout and said, what? Are there parents here? Talking about the kids paralyzed. But I didn't think nothing of it. I'm still thinking, and I've been telling my supervisor to tell him, you know, I'm going to make changes. The alumni just... offered me$150,000 to upgrade my coaching assistant salaries. I'm going to bring back Butch Thompson, and I'm going to go get another guy, and this deal's taking off again. This ship is going to roll. So he won't meet, he won't meet, whatever. Long story short, we beat Florida. So we finished the year, but winning the series with Tech and beating Florida. You know, a lot of people consider that a successful season. In and of itself. Yeah, you beat Florida and Tech. I mean, that's it. You know, it's considering. Yeah. All right? So there's a trend in the right direction. So I get– we win– I'm getting ready to hit the road like no tomorrow back in my old days and realize I haven't done this because my back and forth is shepherd. So I haven't been out there like I, you know, that was the one thing. Even when I became a head coach, I was like, I ain't giving up recruiting. That's my deal.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:You know, I want to meet these parents. I want to meet the kid. I want to make certain they're the fit. I want to make certain they know and there's, you know, nobody is– I felt like that was my strength. Sure. So I didn't want to lose that. And so I was excited. You know, get me into new fresh coaches. We're going to have new ideas. We're going to move forward. So I call my supervisor on Sunday because I want to hit the road. I got state tournament high school all over. And it's perfect. So I call him and I said, Ted, I said, I'm hitting the road first thing in the morning. If Greg wants to meet with me, any way he can do it early. Because I've been trying to meet with him. And he said, I'll call you back. Let me check. He calls me back, and he said, yeah, he wants to meet with you at 7.50. I said, perfect. And he goes, no, not really. I said, what do you mean? He said, he wants to meet with your assistants at 7.55. I can't say what came out next, but I'm like, really? I
SPEAKER_02:said, I
SPEAKER_01:remember saying, I'm one of your own now.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:You know, I got a degree there. I was on. I said, that program's never been to the World Series without a perno on the team.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, my brother was on the 87 team. I was part of 90. I was part of 01. I was head coach in 04, 06, 08. Yeah. I said, really? I had two kids paralyzed. My mother passed away last year. He's like, I know. I didn't see it coming. I said, okay. I said, I'll tell you what. I said, I ain't coming at 7.50. Yeah. I said, that gutless son of a bitch wants to meet with me. I said, I'll meet with him right now. Yeah. I mean, if he's going to do it, let's do it now. Yeah. All right. He said, all right, I'll call you back. So he said, yeah, meet me at my office, which was in the academic center, and meet you there. And like I said, my only regret is that I allowed him to spin it. Like I resigned. Yeah. And, and it looked like I quit.
SPEAKER_02:Right
SPEAKER_01:now. I think it's gotten out there, but initially, you know, and, and part of it was, I just, I didn't trust him. I didn't like him. So, you know, a little bit of, When he said, you know, we're going to make a change. And out of one, he says, you know, he said, you just have done an incredible job and this and that. And I'm looking at him and I'm like.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:No, obviously I haven't.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:I said, you didn't get me. You know, it goes back. I go back to the 11th. I said, you don't do me field ventures.
UNKNOWN:Right.
SPEAKER_01:I got no salaries to pay my coaches, and you think I'm going to go to a regional every year? I said, I just had two kids paralyzed. I was like, Ted, you endorsed this? You know, Ted White was his name, and I was like, forget it. He said, well, we'll print up a resignation. I'll have Chris Lakos. At that point, I was just like, you know, they still owe me for a year. Yeah. And I regret that because– I needed people to put heat on him because no one was holding him accountable for what he was doing. And he did a horrible job. His time. And it was. He was shady and didn't communicate. In my opinion, he was gutless. And I don't dislike him. I just... It's just tough for me to not forget the way he treated me for those years. I mean, it was like he treated me to fail.
SPEAKER_02:How did that tie into the Florida dugout thing? You said he was in the dugout for
SPEAKER_01:15 minutes. Well, he had been at Florida. For 22 years prior to taking this job. Right. So he knew them.
SPEAKER_02:Got it.
SPEAKER_01:And so he went in their dugout and spent more time.
SPEAKER_02:Than
SPEAKER_01:with you. Than with his
SPEAKER_02:coach. That's right.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. So that's when I started thinking, but like everybody around the program were like, ain't no way, man. Right. You're like the guy here.
SPEAKER_02:You're
SPEAKER_01:here. Like Damon, Damon was going to give me a lifetime. And, you know, but anyway, it happens. And I get it. People get hosed every day. Yeah. And, you know, and that's when my wonderful TV career started.
SPEAKER_02:So I want to, yeah. So everything, everything went full circle for you, right?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So
SPEAKER_02:the school that you attended.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Well, middle Georgia, I, you know, I've been back everywhere now. Yeah. My next deal when I get fired at Clark is I got to go to the YMCA. Yeah. Tell me about what
SPEAKER_02:you're doing. So what do you do now? Tell me about, um,
SPEAKER_01:at Clark central, uh, head football coach. And like I said, you know, uh, That was a full circle, Gil. I looked up for the Billy Henderson was like, I mean, he was the man.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And then I met Coach Dooley. And understand, from a coach's standpoint, if you played for Billy Henderson, you worked for Coach Dooley, you had relationships with both and got advice from both, I couldn't fail.
SPEAKER_02:You couldn't.
SPEAKER_01:I couldn't. These guys were... That's an incredible list. Ah, Ron Polk. I was like, it was set up. Yeah. And I was lucky and very... And that's why, you know, me... Because it was a screw job. He backdoored me, got me out of there. The window he had and... And then didn't invite me back to the two kids getting paralyzed graduation. I was like, that was the kicker. Happened six months later. They blamed me the next two years. Anyway, but it's not. So I end up, it's the same. That fall, I got fired in 13 SEC Network launched. They needed baseball people. Sure. So I jumped up there and let me tell you, they were phenomenal. Yeah. I mean, cause we ran it out of Charlotte. That's where I had to train and learn and do things. And, uh, and they cut you loose too. I mean, it's not like, you know, you're an analyst, go do your thing. And, um, he, uh, so, uh, I go there and I get the inaugural thing and the people were great. It is run out of the studio where ESPN use run out of. So it's the same, same get up.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And so it was really neat, neat experience. I would do studio. Basically I would do studio a weekend in Charlotte and then the next weekend I would fly and do games.
SPEAKER_02:Very
SPEAKER_01:cool. You know, different places. I got to see different places. And it was really easy for me, except when they shipped me out west because I knew everybody.
SPEAKER_02:Oh,
SPEAKER_01:sure. So if I walk in, I mean, I knew the players, I knew the coaches, and SEC, and even ACC, it was easy. But I had to do some West Coast games. It was a little trickier. But he let me do Oregon and Oregon State, which was a great rivalry, and I knew both of their coaches really well. He let me do Arizona and Arizona State. So it worked for me, and I enjoyed it, but it how do I say it? I missed the juice. Sure. The competitiveness. Yeah. You know, I'm like, I'm in that booth and I'm seeing something that, no, you need, you know, you, you know, I had to bite my tongue several times because you wanted to say, that's the stupidest, you know, you wanted to go crazy. But, and so I said, you know, and, and I was set up I had did it two years, 14 and 15. I get a call from my old high school football coach. He said, I want you to go back and coach Clark Central. I'm like, football? I was like, you know, it was a kind of a bucket list thing for me, for lack of a better term. It was one of my, I loved football.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, my best friend at this time had been coaching. Derek Dooley's, Cowboys, Tennessee, all over. So I'm still eating football.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:You know, I'm living and dying baseball, but I'm still getting my digestion of football.
SPEAKER_02:Of football, right.
SPEAKER_01:And keeping up on it. And when he called me and told me, you're the one.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:You can bring it back. They were
SPEAKER_02:struck. And here you are. How many years have you been doing it? Well.
SPEAKER_01:Nine.
SPEAKER_02:This is your ninth year?
SPEAKER_01:When I originally signed it, I was going to continue my gig. I just wasn't going to do the– I wasn't going to do 60 appearances for baseball. But I was going to do– but there's that SEC rule. You can't.
SPEAKER_02:You can't what?
SPEAKER_01:Do less? Because if you're coaching recruits, football recruits– You can't go on their campus and call a baseball game. There's an actual rule for that? There's a rule. Competitive disadvantage.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know. So the school, if I
SPEAKER_01:go to Auburn to call a game, they're thinking football recruiting, you just can't do it.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, because you're on the same campus.
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_02:Was that always a rule?
SPEAKER_01:That's fascinating. I think it came with the SEC Network.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, at the same time.
SPEAKER_01:When they had the network with ESPN, it didn't have it. But see, that didn't work for them because when you go to do a game, one's ESPNU, the next one's SEC Network, and they weren't going to fly in another guy.
SPEAKER_02:Gotcha. That makes perfect sense. All right. I want to, I want to end on a, this is a big question for you.
SPEAKER_01:All right.
SPEAKER_02:So as you look back your entire, the whole journey, all of it could be business, could be personal. It doesn't matter. What would you say is like the pivotal point for you that maybe you are going down a particular path, something happened and now it changed your perspective?
SPEAKER_01:the paralysis. The two kids. It just shook me to my knees. I was a different kid. I mean, I was a different guy. I was a man at that time. And it took more growth, but there's no way prior to that that I could have done this job. Because it's a Clark Center job. Because it's hard. And you get... you're tested constantly. They don't want to go to class. They don't want to do their work. They, they mispractice. They don't, they're not committed, you know? And so I've, I've learned patience. I've grown tremendously spiritually
SPEAKER_02:after
SPEAKER_01:that deal, because I couldn't understand it. I had to go searching to the silver lining and, and the, you know, the silver lining, uh, it's there. And, and I, and I, I could see it and it, and it, it, it changed me. I, I just, I feel, uh, more joy in my life now. I'm not consumed with my job. I, I was not, I wasn't your good father from, from, I had two kids and they're great children, but from, um, Oh, to, uh, 2000, really 13. Yeah. I was absent. Yeah. I mean, I was there. Yeah. But I wasn't there. It was my wife. Yeah. She was running
SPEAKER_02:this. Your mind was probably
SPEAKER_01:on consumed by just all over the place. And then when I got let go, it, it nice. I saw the silver lining.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. It's incredible.
SPEAKER_01:And you know, it's, Still frustrating for me to quite understand to never have coached in the type of stadium that they gave Scott Strickland and now the type of stadium that they're giving. I really like Wes, the new coach. I think he's a first-class guy. I think he's going to do a good job. But the Strickland thing was a bad experiment, and that frustrated me. I can live with getting fired, but you're going to fire me for someone, and he comes in and has four losing seasons in a row, and he gets a fifth year?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Are you
SPEAKER_01:kidding me?
SPEAKER_02:The math doesn't make
SPEAKER_01:sense there. I wouldn't have got two. I would have got two years.
SPEAKER_02:Right, right.
SPEAKER_01:You know, and I'm like, Sure. Sure.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Period.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:You don't beat it down. You don't make excuses. That is such a loser's limp. Like, I went in the Clark. And, you know, I didn't beat it down. They didn't even make the playoffs two years prior. Yeah. And there was tremendous tradition. And I think that nowadays the ADs don't understand that tradition matters. Right. Sure. Tradition matters. Yeah. And that was always my stick. There was never tradition at Georgia. And I, you know, the first time the same coach took him to back-to-back regionals in the program's history now, it's over 100 years. 100
SPEAKER_02:years.
SPEAKER_01:Was 08, 09. Oh, my gosh. When we did it.
UNKNOWN:Jeez.
SPEAKER_01:The first time.
SPEAKER_02:First time.
SPEAKER_01:In
SPEAKER_02:school history. And
SPEAKER_01:then, you know, we get kid paralyzed.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:We get another kid paralyzed. We're going through this time, and I get cut loose in 13. It don't... Bottom line, you don't treat one of your own like that, in my opinion.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And that's what frustrated me about Georgia and... You know, till this day, you know, and I forgive. I don't. But I'm not going to forget. It drives me to this day.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:You know, and I foresee. But it's God's will. But I do foresee. I got one more run in me in college baseball. You do? I feel great. Great. I just got to get an AD that. That sees it like I do. Yeah. That's the tough part. And it may be going– being an assistant. Yeah. And I'm okay with that. But you
SPEAKER_02:got another run. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I just got to get back in it. Because, you know, all intent purposes, we're one pitch away. Yeah. We're one pitch away. I mean, from being the best– Yeah. Right. Such a good story. So anyway, again, it's God's will, and I wouldn't know that if I hadn't gone through what I've gone through and experienced now. But understand, I'm hard-pressed for me to think that any other event has had more impact than going through that. Two and a half year period. Yeah. And all the... And you know what was incredible? When you go to the Shepherd Clinic, there's people worse off. Oh, man. And it is... And like I said, and I lived there. I mean, I really did. And those people, they were awesome. I mean, it was such a... As a matter of fact... the year before I get fired, the Christmas or winter break, I guess it would have been 2012. I'm on graduation stage with the president of Georgia, the now president, giving james andrew an honorary doctrine degree
SPEAKER_02:oh my goodness
SPEAKER_01:okay and wow and and let me tell you i mean this story is so the things that transpired and leading to me getting fired if dr adams isn't out of the country even though he was moving out July 1 and Moorhead was moving in,
SPEAKER_02:it would never happen. Never happen.
SPEAKER_01:I would have at least had a conversation with him. Sure. And he would have done it. And see, at that time, Coach Dooley was the first call because that's what disturbed me the most is I felt like I let him down. Because I was his last hire
SPEAKER_02:as athletic director. Going all the way back, right?
SPEAKER_01:Oh, yeah. I mean, part two, Jeff, there's the dirty deeds and the things that went on behind the scenes and underneath where the things that transpired afterwards, like I told you, to get locked out of the graduation breakfast. And I know for a fact that my name was brought up of– Being there. Because, you know, those kids will tell you, I was there. I was present for them. At the cost of my family.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:You know, at the cost of my kids. And for me, I had to sneak in graduation to see them get their degrees. Wow. And I mean, I'm like, really? And I just, you know, I just felt like I got over 20 something years of service to that school.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. You were a bat boy.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, I
SPEAKER_02:was,
SPEAKER_01:I did everything.
SPEAKER_02:Going way back.
SPEAKER_01:I was assistant player, assistant coach, a head coach, you know, whatever. It's all I knew was SEC in Georgia.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I
SPEAKER_01:mean, that was it. And my best friend was Derek Dooley. And, you know, Coach Dooley was, he said, hey, you know, he was great, obviously, through that situation and moved on. And, you know, it works out. But I did return. So I returned twice now. I returned when they finally honored me. And I don't know the year exactly, JT and Chance. They finally honored, because originally I wanted numbers on the wall.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:They took them down. You know, I mean, Greg deliberately did things to make people forget about them. Deliberately, because he didn't. And that's why I wish it didn't come out, look like I resigned.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:Because I didn't want the perception that I quit on that program or quit on these kids. Yeah. And I think eventually it gets out there. But initially, it took people back. And they finally honored both kids. I guess it was a couple years after. I did go back for that. And then I went back to the Super Regional game. Oh, you did. Because my brother... And Wes, we're good friends. The coach now. And, you know, I enjoyed. I congratulated him. He reached out. And I wasn't going back to the Super Regional game. But someone said, you know, it's the best of three series. And I said, if there's a game three, I'll go. Some bitch if there wasn't a game three. So I had to go. They were relentless. And I go. And it's amazing how time has stood still. I mean, the same coaches. It's 10 years later. The same coach that I coached against, Elliot A. Vance, coach in NC State. We beat him in the Super in 08. To go to the World Series, we strike out Russell Wilson to end the game, who was at NC State and then goes to Wisconsin. I mean, it's crazy. You know, Kevin O'Sullivan was still at Florida. Van Horn's still at Arkansas. Tim Corbin's still at Vanderbilt. Mike Bianco's still at Mississippi. And these are the guys that are winning. And I'm like, ah. So that's why I'm holding hope. Those guys are still doing it, and maybe someone's going to give me a chance, get me back in it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that'd be awesome. Well, I'm so glad you came to the studio.
SPEAKER_01:I appreciate you. I needed to let it go because we ended up... losing our first round in the playoffs. We had a good team this year, but we ran into a buzzsaw. They were a little better. So it was good to me to vent some things this morning.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I love it. Oh, my goodness. I can't wait to talk to Don and say, I didn't know all this other stuff. I just knew a couple of details. What a story.
SPEAKER_01:You
SPEAKER_02:persevered.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Athletic director at Clark Central is phenomenal. John Ward, Dr. Ward, you know, so he keeps me. My assistant coaches, I got a bunch of guys that, former players at the University of Georgia, great, great staff. We had a really good team this year. It was a lot of fun. So I got, but, you know, it's now time to, Put some ears out there and see what's going on in the baseball world.
SPEAKER_02:Well, maybe this show will land in the right hands. You never know. Because
SPEAKER_01:I know I got some in me. The craziest thing is I got a better relationship now with the high school coaches in the state of Georgia than I ever had. Even when, you know, because all your baseball coaches, you got to have your ear on football. Yeah. I mean, it makes everything go. Right. All the other sports go. Oh, absolutely. So, you know, and yeah, so there's nowhere in the state I wouldn't feel good about going in to get a good baseball
SPEAKER_02:player.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Well, maybe we'll see you out there again, Coach. Thanks for coming by the studio today. And folks, once again, just another good story that I feel needs to be told. That's what this is all about, right? Is bringing good stories out to the public. And I use this show just as a vehicle to do that. So thanks again for joining us. Folks, I love it. It really helps the show if you hit like and subscribe. And I love sharing this story at the end. Somebody wrote a comment in on one of the episodes and said, Hey Jeff, would you put a, would you mind telling us how you know the guest? So that was something recent that came up, you know, that came about. So just happy to share this, my passion project with the world. So thanks again for being here.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. Thank you, Jeff. Appreciate it. Thanks for watching the Jeff Opec show. Be sure to subscribe and follow us on all socials.
