The Unrecognized Coach Gillespie

Most people who have known or read about Gordie Gillespie are aware of his coaching records and outstanding leadership accomplishments. (18 Halls of Fame!) He was a teacher and a true gentleman. At a deeper level there are people who played on his teams, were his students, and worked alongside him as his assistants, associates, or colleagues. 

But seldom do we think of Gordie as a man who worked behind the scenes, who did more… and whatever it took… to get the job done. When no one would see him as he labored to make a few extra dollars to supplement his paycheck. Or send the rest of us home while he finished some chores around the gym. There were those unrecognized times when Gordie was the maintenance man, the janitor, the work-study, the student, and the groundskeeper. Anything but the greatest coach and teacher in the nation.

I have been thinking about the times when I was fortunate to witness Gordie as a commoner, a guy just like the rest of us, hidden from a spotlight that he could barely elude. Here are some of those moments:

• In the Spring of 1958 at Lewis College during a baseball scrimmage between Lewis and Joliet Catholic, I was a 17-year old senior and Coach Gordie was the catcher.
• Meeting with Coach while he was a lifeguard at Nowell Park, and I approached him about going to Lewis.
• Working alongside him spending hours cleaning the storage facility at the baseball field in the summer heat. Taking out bushes around the outfield.
• While I was playing semi-pro baseball in Joliet, Gordie was an umpire for the Park District.
• His athletic office in the basement of the Lewis chapel.
• Directing intramural basketball games in the evenings at Joliet Catholic.
• Sitting in his Lewis office studying for a Professor Vince Howard college history exam for credits to maintain his part time teaching/coaching status at Joliet Catholic.
• Lending his car to a student who needed to go to Chicago and see his dying father.
• Riding in a van on our way to yet another Chicago-area field to teach baseball skills to pre-teens and teenagers in the Ernie Banks Baseball School.
• A Lewis swimming instructor in the evening at the Diamond K Ranch pool in Joliet.
• Stapling programs in his office 3 hours prior to a college basketball game when he was the assistant to Coach Paul Ruddy.
• Chauffeuring his basketball team to games in Dubuque, Quincy, or Davenport. (No interstate highways.)
• The hundreds of evenings driving to yet another speaking engagement at a VFW, a grade school PTO meeting, old timers’ baseball group, or Rotary/Kiwanis/ meeting where he was paid little or nothing.
• In the early morning at the Bellarmine College dormitory, I glanced through the window to see him pulling a drag over the dirt part of the infield attempting to dry it so we could play the doubleheader. No one else was there to see him or help him. 
• At the request of a former baseball player, going to a Little League game to watch the son or daughter play.
• Sitting alone in his office, with head in his hands, pondering yet another problem posed by the upper administration or crying softly upon learning that another former student or player had died.

There are numerous ways to judge the quality of a human being. The easiest way may be to look at his public record of accomplishments. To witness his ability to bring out the best in others. To hear the words that inspire and lead. The way he genuinely cared for others. 

Perhaps we fail to take into account those hours and days when he passed as just another one of us in silent humility just like our parents. Day to day, hour to hour without fanfare and accolades. Sacrificing and putting others ahead of himself. Unnoticed and doing more than it takes to get the job done.