By Tim Robertson & Dan Powell
The sudden resignation of the Pride men’s and women’s tennis coach Bill Gerdts has shocked the administration and disappointed many of the Pride players. Gerdts stepped aside on Feb. 1 in the midst of his 12th season with the Pride men’s team and 11th running both squads.
In his resignation letter, Gerdts gave no reason for his departure. However, when the athletic department contacted him later, he informed them he had found a full-time coaching job closer to his home in Florida.
Gerdts attempted to notify the team members of his resignation through e-mail the day he stepped down, but only a few players received the e-mail due to a mix-up with wrong e-mail addresses. According to players, the e-mail encouraged the team to keep in touch with him. Still, the players’ disappointment seems obvious as they were let down by the timing of the resignation.
“He just left in the middle [of the season], not the beginning or the end, but the exact middle,” Pride senior Matt Schor said.
The seniors seemed especially disappointed. “He quit us in our last semester,” Schor added. Schor and fellow senior Jillian Schalk resent the short notice and timing: the women’s first match is Feb. 24 against Long Island University.
The affect on the team’s performance remains to be seen, but assistant coach Mayo Hosoda is somewhat concerned. “The team may hurt a little bit, but not because of Bill, but because they are upset and unsure with the new direction,” Hosoda said. “Still, the team is strong.”
The administration is working hard to find a replacement for the veteran coach as soon as possible. The athletic department posted the job on Feb. 8 and hopes to have a coach in place in three to four weeks. “Hopefully we will set-up interviews with some candidates and go through the search process as quick as possible,” said Danny McCabe, executive associate director of athletics.
The new coach will definitely have a strong influence on the results of the teams’ upcoming season. “It will be interesting to see how the semester unfolds,” sophomore Valerie McDonald said. “It will depend on the caliber of the new coach.”
According to McDonald and Hosoda, the players are looking for a “more hands-on coach,” a coach with more initiative.
For the time being, Hosoda will be running some of the team’s practices while working around her schedule. The team will have to run its own practices until a permanent replacement is found. In the mean time, McCabe and others in the athletic department will be finalizing practice times and travel arrangements.
Gerdts posted a 100-62-1 record as the men’s tennis coach and 62-104 record as the women’s coach, but the women were only 8-27 in the past two full seasons. Gerdts won coach of the year in 1994, 1999 and 2000. He brought the men’s team to three straight NCAA tournaments between 1999 and 2001.
Gerdts failed to return phone calls from the Chronicle asking for a comment about his resignation.