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Baseball:
Mike Gillespie Named Head Baseball Coach at UC Irvine
Oct. 9, 2007
IRVINE, Calif. --- Mike Gillespie was introduced as head baseball coach at UC Irvine during a Tuesday afternoon press conference in the Newkirk Pavilion at Anteater Ballpark. "Mike Gillespie is the right choice for UC Irvine," said Paula Smith, UCI's interim director of athletics. "I am thrilled to have a steward of the game, a baseball authority and an educator join our staff. UCI is a quality program that will be represented by a quality coach. I am confident in his ability to continue our pursuit of national prominence and to build on the character and pride that defines UCI Baseball," added Smith. "Coach Gillespie's dedication and commitment to baseball equals his same standards for the student-athletes' academic success and personal growth." Gillespie, 67, signed a three-year contract with UCI. He was manager of the Staten Island Yankees last season after a storied coaching career at USC that spanned 20 years (1987-2006) and included 15 postseason appearances, four College World Series appearances (1995, 1998, 2000 and 2001) and a national title in 1998. Gillespie was named National Coach of the Year that year by Collegiate Baseball and the American Baseball Coaches Association. He posted a 763-471-2 (.618) record in his 20 seasons guiding the Trojans, producing 28 major league players, including five who were voted to the All-Star Game in 2003 (Mark Prior, Barry Zito, Aaron Boone, Bret Boone and Geoff Jenkins). "This is a great opportunity for me to come to one of the nation's great universities in a spectacular location, and to a program that has enjoyed remarkable success in a short period of time," said Gillespie. "The support of the program has been outstanding, and we look forward to only ever-increasing the numbers of students and families from the community who come out to see exciting baseball.
"John Savage and his staff did a fabulous job of starting the program back up after UCI had gone several years without a team, and Dave Serrano and his staff continued the successful building of the program, culminating in the team's magical run to Omaha in '07. Through their efforts the program is recognized as among the elite in college baseball."
Gillespie's reign at USC began in 1987 and in just his second season, guided the Trojans to the West Regional, falling just one game shy of the College World Series. USC made four consecutive regional appearances, including winning the conference title in 1991. From 1993, Gillespie led USC to an impressive 10 consecutive postseason appearances that included back-to-back College World Series appearances in 2000 and 2001, marking the first time USC accomplished the feat since 1973 and 1974. His teams won five Pacific-10 titles with Gillespie garnering Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors four times (1991, 1995, 1996, 2002) and the West Region Coach of the Year accolades twice (1996 and 1998) by the American Baseball Coaches Association. In 2002, Gillespie directed his talents to the USA Baseball National Team, leading the team to a 27-3-1 record and posting the highest winning percentage (.900) in history until the mark was surpassed by the 2003 team. The national team reeled off a 21-game unbeaten streak at the end of the season, including the Haarlem Honkbal Week championship in the Netherlands, where Team USA captured the crown with an 8-5 win against Cuba. For his efforts, Gillespie was nominated by the United States Olympic Committee as the baseball Coach of the Year. It was his second stint with USA Baseball, having served as an assistant coach with the 1997 USA team. He is only one of two men (Arizona's Jerry Kindall) to both play for and coach an NCAA-championship baseball team. He was the left-fielder for USC's 1961 national-championship squad and coached the 1998 team to the program's 12th title. Gillespie moved to USC from College of the Canyons, where he built the program from scratch. In his 16 seasons at Canyons, Gillespie compiled a 418-165 (.717) record and won 11 Mountain Valley Conference championships, including six consecutive from 1981-86. He captured three state titles and finished as the California runner-up twice. His teams finished with 20 or more wins in 13 years of his tenure, posting 30-plus wins six times. His final squad won 41 games in 1986, the most-ever by a California community college at that time. His term included three California Community College Co-Coach of the Year awards. Gillespie served as Canyon's athletic director from 1977-86 and taught English, physical education and health education. He earned his bachelor's (1962) and master's (1963) degrees from USC. Gillespie and his wife, Barbara, have four children, Kelly, Mitch, Matt and Tiffany and have two grandchildren, Cade and Cole. Coach Gillespie will earn an annual base salary of $140,000. In keeping with UC policy, he will also be eligible to earn additional compensation of up to $150,000 from athletic shoe, apparel and/or equipment agreements. Other additional compensation incentives will include bonus payments totaling $27,000 for participation in post-season competition, the College World Series and achieving National Coach of the Year honors. |
