Gordie Gillespie

American baseball, football and basketball coach

Gordie GillespieBiographical details

Born| (1926-04-14)April 14, 1926
Died| February 28, 2015(2015-02-28) (aged 88)
Joliet, Illinois, U.S.
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1959–1985| Joliet Catholic HS (IL)
1986–1993| St. Francis (IL)
Basketball
1951–1965| Lewis
Baseball
1951| Joliet Catholic HS (IL)
1953–1976| Lewis
1977–1995| St. Francis (IL)
1996–2005| Ripon
2006–2011| St. Francis (IL)
Head coaching record
Overall| 48–33 (college football)
1,893–952–2 (college baseball)
220–117 (college basketball)
222–54–6 (high school football)
Tournaments| Football
0–1 (NAIA D-II playoffs)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Baseball
.NAIA World Series (1974, 1975, 1976, 1993)
College Baseball Hall of Fame
Inducted in 2009

Gordie Gillespie (April 14, 1926 – February 28, 2015) was an American baseball, football and basketball coach. He was a head baseball coach for 58 years at Lewis University, Ripon College, and the University of St. Francis. With a career coaching record of 1,893-952-2,[1] Gillespie had the most wins of any coach in college baseball history until being passed by Augie Garrido of Texas in 2014.[2][3][4] He had held that record since 1993 when he passed the prior record set by USC's Rod Dedeaux.[5][6] He won his 1,800th game in April 2009 at age 82. He was also inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009.[4]

## Playing career

[edit]

Gillespie graduated from Kelvyn Park High School in Chicago, Illinois, and enrolled at DePaul University.[7] He played basketball at DePaul under coach Ray Meyer and toured with the College All-Stars when they played the Harlem Globetrotters.[3][8]

## Coaching career

[edit]

At age 26, Gillespie began his head coaching career at Lewis University in 1953. He was the head coach at Lewis from 1953 to 1976 and compiled a record there of 634 wins and 241 losses. His Lewis teams won three straight NAIA World Series championships in 1974, 1975, and 1976.[7] His Lewis baseball teams also finished among the top five teams nationally in 1962 (3rd), 1963 (5th), 1966 (2nd), 1971 (3rd), and 1972 (5th).[3] Gillespie also coached the Lewis Flyers basketball team from 1950 to 1965.[7]

Gillespie was the head baseball coach at Ripon College in Wisconsin for 10 years from 1996 to 2005. In 10 years at Ripon, he led the Ripon Red Hawks to a record of 239 wins and 130 losses. His Ripon teams advanced to the NCAA III playoffs six of his last seven years and won five league titles.[7]

Gillespie served as the baseball coach at St. Francis from 1977 to 1995 and again from 2006 to 2010. During his first stint at St. Francis, he led his team to the World Series on eight occasions. His 1993 team won the National Championship, winning 38 of their final 39 games.[7] His team finished in 5th place in 1978, 3rd place in 1985, 2nd place in 1989, 3rd place in 1990 and 5th place in 1995.[3] Gillespie also served as the head coach of the women's basketball team at St. Francis from 1976 to 1993.[3]

Gillespie has also had a successful career as a football coach. He was the head football coach at Joliet Catholic High School for 27 years and compiled a record there of 222 wins 54 losses and 6 ties. His Joliet football teams won five Illinois Class 5A state championships in 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1981.[3][7] In 1991, Gillespie was selected by the Chicago Tribune as the head coach of the newspaper's All-Time Illinois High School Football Team. Gillespie also started the football program at St. Francis University in 1986.[7]

In 1998, Gillespie was named the NAIA "Coach of the Century" by Collegiate Baseball Magazine.[9]

Asked about retirement in 2006, Gillespie said, "God will retire me. He'll tell me when it's time."[8]

Gillespie passed the St. Francis coaching reins to his assistant coach, Brian Michalak, for 2012.[10] He died on February 28, 2015.[11]

## Head coaching record

[edit]

### College football

[edit]

Year  | Team  | Overall  | Conference | Standing  | Bowl/playoffs  | NAIA#

|
|
|
|
|
|

St. Francis Fighting Saints (NAIA Division II independent) (1986–1991)
1986 | St. Francis  | 6–4 |  |  |  |
1987 | St. Francis  | 8–3 |  |  | L NAIA Division II First Round | 13
1988 | St. Francis  | 6–4 |  |  |
1989 | St. Francis  | 8–2 |  |  |  | 13
1990 | St. Francis  | 5–4 |  |  |  | 25
1991 | St. Francis  | 6–5 |  |  |  |
St. Francis Fighting Saints (NAIA Division II independent) (1992)
1992 | St. Francis  | 4–5 |  |  |  |
St. Francis Fighting Saints (Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference) (1993)
1993 | St. Francis  | 5–6 | 5–5 | T–6th |  |
St. Francis: | 48–33 | 5–5 |
Total: | 48–33 |

* #Rankings from final NAIA Division II poll.

## See also

[edit]

* List of college baseball coaches with 1,100 wins

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "St. Francis' Gordie Gillespie Announces Retirement". NAIA.org. June 2011. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
2. ^ "Winningest college baseball coach going strong at 80". espn.com (Associated Press story). May 12, 2006.
3. ^ a b c d e f "Gordie Gillespie". City of Joliet. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
4. ^ a b "Gillespie earns 1,800th victory". espn.com (Associated Press story). April 4, 2009.
5. ^ "Gillespie reaches coaching milestone". Chicago Tribune. April 29, 1993. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012.
6. ^ "Ripon to land winningest coach". The Milwaukee Journal. February 15, 1995.
7. ^ a b c d e f g "COACHING STAFF: Gordie Gillespie, Head Coach". St. Francis University. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
8. ^ a b Barry Temkin (March 12, 2008). "Nearing 80, Gordie Gillespie is back where he began his 56-year career, in the Joliet area, still driven by his love for young athletes and a desire to help them succeed ; Coming full circle". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013.
9. ^ "GORDIE GILLESPIE NAMED NAIA BASEBALL COACH OF THE CENTURY". Herald-News (Joliet, IL). March 28, 1998.
10. ^ "University of St. Francis (IL) - 2012 Baseball Coaches". gofightingsaints.com. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
11. ^ "Former Ripon baseball coach Gillespie dies at 88". Press Gazette Media. Associated Press. March 1, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2015.

## External links

[edit]

* St. Francis baseball profile Archived 2010-10-09 at the Wayback Machine

* v
* t
* e

St. Francis Fighting Saints head football coaches

* Gordie Gillespie (1986–1993)
* Mike Slovik (1994–2004)
* Mike Uremovich (2005–2011)
* Joe Curry (2012– )

* v
* t
* e

Members of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame

Players|

* Jim Abbott
* Rusty Adkins
* Bill Almon
* Steve Arlin
* Joe Arnold
* Doug Ault
* Chris Bando
* Sal Bando
* Eddie Bane
* Alan Bannister
* Floyd Bannister
* Pete Barnes
* Lance Berkman
* Bill Bordley
* Tom Borland
* Tom Brennan
* Lou Brock
* Tim Burzette
* Joe Carter
* Rick Cerone
* Dave Chalk
* Will Clark
* Casey Close
* Ron Darling
* Rich Dauer
* Andre Dawson
* Matt DeSalvo
* John Deutsch
* Darren Dreifort
* Kirk Dressendorfer
* J. D. Drew
* Alex Fernandez
* Mike Fiore
* Terry Francona
* Eddy Furniss
* Mike Fuentes
* Nomar Garciaparra
* Ralph Garr
* Gary Gentry
* Jim Gideon
* Danny Goodwin
* Alex Gordon
* Dick Groat
* Neal Heaton
* Don Heinkel
* Todd Helton
* Al Holland
* Condredge Holloway
* Wally Hood
* Burt Hooton
* Bob Horner
* Dick Howser
* Pete Incaviglia
* Roy Lee Jackson
* Tim Jorgensen
* Mike Kelly
* Steve Kemp
* Terry Kennedy
* Brooks Kieschnick
* Mark Kotsay
* Barry Larkin
* Fred Lynn
* Dave Magadan
* Russell Martin
* Tino Martinez
* Ben McDonald
* Oddibe McDowell
* Paul Molitor
* Rick Monday
* Keith Moreland
* John Olerud
* Gregg Olson
* Tom Paciorek
* Rafael Palmeiro
* Rick Reichardt
* Ken Ritter
* Roy Smalley III
* Phil Stephenson
* Mickey Sullivan
* B. J. Surhoff
* Greg Swindell
* Derek Tatsuno
* Jason Varitek
* Robin Ventura
* Frank Viola
* Billy Wagner
* Todd Walker
* Tim Wallach
* Rickie Weeks
* Brad Wilkerson
* Dave Winfield
* Rich Wortham

Coaches|

* Bob Bennett
* Skip Bertman
* Robert Braddy
* Chuck Brayton
* Jim Brock
* Roger Cador
* Pat Casey
* Ed Cheff
* Jack Coffey
* Rod Dedeaux
* Ken Dugan
* Bibb Falk
* Ron Fraser
* Augie Garrido
* Gordie Gillespie
* Wayne Graham
* Cliff Gustafson
* Larry Hays
* Bill Holowaty
* Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones
* Wally Kincaid
* Jerry Kindall
* Robert Lee
* Danny Litwhiler
* Andy Lopez
* Demie Mainieri
* Mark Marquess
* Mike Martin
* Art Mazmanian
* Mike Metheny
* Marty Miller
* Jim Morris
* Ron Polk
* Frank Sancet
* Don Schaly
* John Scolinos
* Dick Siebert
* Lloyd Simmons
* Gene Stephenson
* Tommy Thomas
* Bob Todd
* Frank Vieira
* Gary Ward
* Bill Wilhelm
* John Winkin
* Bobby Winkles

Veteran players
(pre-1947 era)|

* Jack Barry
* Owen Carroll
* Billy Disch
* Lou Gehrig
* Christy Mathewson
* William Clarence Matthews
* Frank Quinn
* Branch Rickey
* Jackie Robinson
* Joe Sewell
* George Sisler
* Charlie Teague

Executives|

* Everett Barnes
* Dave Keilitz
* Dennis Poppe

Umpires|

* Randy Christal
* Jim Garman
* C.J. Mitchell
* Tony Thompson
* Dave Yeast

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template