Gordie Gillespie: Master Teacher and Coach

Part 3 of 3: Evolution

When I first heard their names, I thought it was pretty funny.  I was a skinny Braidwood kid just entering a high school in Joliet where I was a freshman. It was funny because I was sitting in the old gym bleachers with perhaps 200 other 13-14-year-old boys when the faculty were being introduced. The coaches seemed to rhyme with their names: Gillespie and Zalejski. It was September of 1954. At the time, I didn’t have a foggiest idea of how the first one named, “Gillespie,” would become a most significant force in my life. 

His athletes were always aware that they were playing for a great coach. From the first time that we stepped on the baseball field or into the gym we instinctively knew that we were in the company of a master leader, a teacher who would bring out the best in us.  Wherever and whenever he was with us, Gordie Gillespie was the overwhelming presence, one who would make the rest of us part of his universe.

After our playing days were over, four of us – Tony Delgado, Pat Sullivan, John Morrey, and Tom Kennedy – had occasion to work with Coach at different times. As individuals, we were on the bench as his assistants, we were in the administration offices, we were his colleagues and assistants.  We ate lunch and traveled with him, went to movies together, and discussed the problems and opportunities in our world and in our schools. We became his friends who continued to grow together. We learned from him, and he would say that he learned from us.

As we got older and chose difference life and career venues, the four of us continued our relationships with one another despite geographic distances and job demands. We also maintained our relationship with the man who had created the strong bond among us. Our times for being together would become irregular but ongoing. It might be breakfast or lunch or a telephone call.

Whatever the occasion for being with one another, our conversations would invariably turn to Coach Gillespie. We might be reminiscing about a game, our families, or our well-being. But our conversations consistently would circle around stories about how this man had dramatically influenced our lives and the lives of so many other people.

What were the factors that played into his own development as the person that he became? What were the key ingredients and events that transformed him into what he became? How did he remain humble while he received more accolades than anyone we knew? How did he become arguably the greatest coach, the unparalleled master teacher/coach who possessed wisdom beyond anyone we had ever known?

Tough Times, Hard Work, Dealing with Adversity

Undoubtedly, Gordie was born with special gifts that separated him from the rest of us. Was it his first 25 years on earth that set the stage from which he would grow intellectually, socially, and emotionally while honing those special gifts?

Born in 1926, he and his family endured the Great Depression and World War II. As with our own parents, Gordie’s family would experience the humility, hardships and suffering that beleaguered his formative years. The Depression was roughly between 1929 through 1939.  The friendships of his youth, the camaraderie that endured for life was a display of loyalty that became a trademark for deep relationships, relationships that extended to his players. The trinity of Pete Corless, George Leddy, and Gordie Gillespie lead to a template for the Coach and for the thousands he touched.

In addition to his parents and brother Earl, Gordie’s teachers and coaches defined his teaching methodology.  “I probably played for the greatest coaches of all time,” he told us many times. Because of his experience with these men, men who were his mentors, Gordie knew the profound influence that a coach can have on his players. And like his mentors, Coach was diligent about shaping and forming his athletes into quality human beings.

As true disciples, Tony, Pat, John, and I attempted to emulate our beloved Coach in everything we did. Each of us would be coaches of athletic as well as leaders within educational organizations, applying the Gordie principles of teamwork and individual efforts. Certainly, all of us, along with countless other Gordie disciples, tried to match his leadership, coaching skills, and humility. All of us have fallen short to greater or lesser degrees. He was, and remains, matchless. 

As long as Tony, Pat, John, and I live, we will still be trying to solve the riddle of the evolution of a great man, a great coach, a great teacher.