Press Conference Quotes
6/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 5, 2004
Athletic Director Ron Wellman's opening statement:
"First of all, let me thank you for attending this afternoon's press conference. I know it is a beautiful day outside so we will do our best to keep this as brief as possible. I think you all know why we are here."
"For the last 17 years, George Greer has been our head baseball coach. During those 17 years, there have been many, many accomplishments when you think back about his career with us. You think of the span from 1998-2002 when we won three ACC championships and went to five NCAA Tournaments. You think about the number of All-Americans that George has produced - 19 All-Americans were in our program during George's tenure. When you have 19 All-Americans in 17 years that is one heck of an achievement."
"George is moving on from the baseball program to another department within the athletic department as the fourth winningest coach in the history of the ACC. He was only the fourth coach to get 600 wins as an ACC coach. He was the winningest coach in Wake Forest baseball history. His achievements on the baseball field are quite, quite impressive."
"We are so very appreciative for what he did as our baseball coach. If I had to describe George to anyone it would be he remained a student of the game. So often, coaches as they get into their senior positions, if you will, they become less a student of the game. George never did that. He studied the game as hard as anyone I have known."
"I have always enjoyed talking to him about baseball. George was current with the game of baseball, whatever it might be techniques or strategies."
"We are very fortunate that we are not losing George Greer from our department. George may be resigning as our baseball coach, but he is moving over to our development office and will serve as Assistant Athletic Director for Development in charge of Special Projects. I am really excited about that because I think George will be a tremendous development officer for the athletic department. When you think about the amount of people he knows, the contacts he has, the respect he has amongst our fans, players and supporters he will act as a wonderful development officer. We look forward to his next tenure with us in the Development office because I think it will be equally impressive as his baseball coaching career at Wake Forest."
Former Wake Forest Head Coach George Greer's opening statement:
"I just want to thank Mr. Wellman and Dr. Hooks for allowing me to coach baseball at Wake Forest. It has been a wonderful experience for me and my family. I have really enjoyed the coaching camaraderie with the fellow coaches and parents and of course the players. I look forward to cultivating those relationships further in my new job in the development office."
"I hope that I can call on some of those people for guidance in some areas. I hope we will be able to move forward with some of our projects. It is a very, very exciting time to be here because we have a lot of new things coming. Predominantly, the new things coming are three new teams to the Atlantic Coast Conference. When you do that, one needs to have a plan in place and guidance and I think that with Ron Wellman's guidance and Barry Faircloth's expertise that we will be able to meet our goals and compete in the new Atlantic Coast Conference."
Greer on the difficulty concerning the decision to step away from this baseball program:
"It is always hard to leave something you love, but to remain at Wake Forest was a deciding factor. Mr. Wellman offered me the position and, as soon as my wife returned from her overseas trip, we were able to discuss it. It was a no-brainer. We wanted to do this. We wanted to continue our relationship here in the development capacity. It was not that I could not stay on as baseball coach. Mr. Wellman was kind enough to offer me a contract extension, but I thought professionally and personally and for the department I thought it was a good move for us at this particular time. I look forward to it with great anticipation."
Greer on the biggest difference in the college game from when you first started here 17 years ago:
"The kids are definitely bigger and stronger now. The difference in weight training and conditioning. I remember the uniforms when I first got here were like sizes 38-42 and maybe a 44, but now they are always 44-52 in size. If you take a look at that, I think it is the biggest difference is the strength and conditioning portion of the program and the emphasis placed on that."
Wellman on the time table with the search process for the new coach:
"We have begun the process. I have no idea how long it is going to take, but as with all other processes like this we will do it as quickly as possible, but also do the best job possible."
Wellman on the kind of person that will be brought in as the next baseball coach:
"Someone who is a good fit with Wake Forest. Someone who understands the game as well as George Greer understands the game. Someone who can teach the game just as George has taught the game for 17 years. The important factor as we have said many times is someone who understands Wake Forest University and follows its values, ideals and standards. A person that recognizes the benefits at Wake Forest."
Wellman on how the entire process came about:
"It evolved through the end of the year conversation that we have with all our coaches. When we had that discussion with George, it was obvious he was interested in doing other things inside the athletic department. In fact, when I asked him if he ever thought about anything other than baseball coaching. I think his response was 'I think that is the first time anyone has ever asked me that.' It was obvious he wants to make a contribution to our department. He wants to see our department excel. So we started exploring different possibilities for him and we think we hit upon something that plays to George's strengths. We are very excited about it."
Greer on the one thing he will miss most about being a baseball coach:
"Probably pitching batting practice. Billy Massey, who played for me a number of years ago and was an All-American, is the manager of the Tampa Bay team in the Florida State League. We were in a conversation one time and he asked 'how many batting practice pitches do you think you have thrown? I don't know, but Billy was a math major and he said he had figured it out. He said between throwing batting practice in the majors for one year, coaching in the Cape League and here and at Davidson, you are working on a 1.2 million. That was a few years ago, so I am up to about 1.5 million. I probably got another 500,000 in me before I hang that up."
Wellman on Greer's involvement with the search:
"George is a tremendous resource. His network is pervasive in the baseball world. For us not to include George and get his input would be short-sided on our part."