Former Tulane Head Baseball Coach Rick Jones on the ABCA Hall of Fame and Green Wave Baseball

NEW ORLEANS – Former Tulane baseball head coach Rick Jones was recently inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame at the ABCA Convention in Anaheim, Calif.

In 21 years as head coach at Tulane, Jones compiled 845 wins – most in program history – along with 12 NCAA postseason appearances, Tulane's only two appearances in the College World Series. Jones' teams won four Conference USA regular season championships and C-USA five tournament titles.

Jones' collegiate coaching career spanned 40 years, including head coaching stops at Ferrum College in Virginia and Elon University in North Carolina. He compiled 1,121 wins, winning seven conference championships, and making 19 postseason appearances. He earned conference coach of the year honors six times, district or regional coach of the year four times, Louisiana Sportswriters Association Coach of the Year five times, and was the Baseball America National Coach of the Year in 2005.

Jones spoke with TulaneGreenWave.com about his recent ABCA Hall of Fame induction and his career at Tulane.

What does it mean to you to be honored by the ABCA - inducted in the Hall of Fame by your peers?
"It was gratifying, being there among my peers, and having so many of my former assistants who are now either head coaches or in some kind of leadership position in college baseball or professional baseball – having all those guys there, and being able to reminisce. It's hard to explain, but it was really a positive weekend. I was able to bring my 84-year old mom, and she was able to be at the banquet and hear Jim Schlossnagle kick off Saturday morning – a former player of mine at Elon who was with me my first eight years at Tulane, and has the No. 1-ranked team in the country at TCU. It ended up being a really special weekend, being able to spend some time with all those guys. The banquet was great. The ABCA does a great job. I attended my first clinic when I got the job at Ferrum College in Virginia in 1982, and that's 35 years ago, and it's special being part of that."

Describe your experience at the ABCA Hall of Fame banquet, and having all of those former players and coaches in attendance for that ceremony
"It meant a lot. We were able to spend time together afterwards. The next night they all took me out to dinner, and we traded stories, and it was just a really special time. So many of those guys are doing so well. I worked 18 years before I got the job at Tulane. I was a junior high coach, a high school coach, junior college coach, the head coach at Elon when it was an NAIA school, then I went to Georgia Tech and was the assistant head coach. Tulane was my dream job and I was there for 21 years. It was special for me to be able to not only be honored but also to recognize all the people that had something to do with that while I was at Tulane and beforehand. It was, again, a special time."

To have all those guys that played for you or coached for you or with you throughout your entire career, to go on and be successful coaches, what does it mean to leave that kind of legacy in college baseball?
"Growing up in a sport and doing it for 40 years, you see other coaches, and I'm part of that. I worked with Jim Morris at Georgia Tech, and what he's done at Miami has been incredible. I was on the USA staff with Augie Garrido. There have been so many coaches that have had such a great impact on me. You want to be able to pass that along. The bottom line is, every day you go to work and it's a labor of passion. Never, ever did I once in 40 years feel like I was working. Those coaches that worked for me have the same kind of work ethic. It's not about work, it's about something you're passionate about. It's one of those things where you're dealing with those kinds of people and you know they're going to be successful because they share the same kind of values that you do as far as the sport is concerned, and I was just fortunate to have an opportunity to do it on a daily basis. That's the bottom line."

What were some of your favorite moments in coaching and you favorite parts of being in the college game?
"The one thing I miss now is practice. I enjoyed practice so much. Playing, practicing. When I'm asked to do speaking engagements now, it's mainly about practice. I miss practice now, and the preparation for that, trying to get guys better. There were so many things I miss being able to be a part of – two USA staffs in 1989 and 1990, and then the head coach of the USA staff in 2009. For me, if somebody asked me if I want to relive one day what would it be? That would be June 3, 2001, when we won the Super Regional at Zephyr Field in front of a full crowd against LSU to go to our first (College) World Series. Just to see how our fanbase was so excited, and to be a part of that, something special for the first time, that's a day I would relive over and over if I could."

You never forget your first time, do you?
"No, you don't. In 2005, we were the No. 1 seed, and the No. 1 seed hadn't won since 1999. I don't know if that's a curse or not. But, being ranked No. 1 in the preseason and going 21 weeks ranked No. 1, that was a great year. We didn't win it, and it's still something that concerns me, because I thought we had a good enough club to do so, but it just didn't happen. 2005 was great. So many years – 2004 ... 2006 after (Hurricane) Katrina – coming back and going to Texas Tech. One of things I was able to do in my induction speech was thank the people at Texas Tech for giving us safe haven after Katrina because we didn't know what was going to happen. We took 38 guys to Lubbock, and wound up being in a regional final at Ole Miss that year. There were so many teams and so many players that I'm so proud of and glad I was associated with, but if somebody asked me if I could relive one day, I would say June 3, 2001."

Are you still involved with the game now?
"I'm going to coach one the teams of stars over the summer at the USA complex. They bring in the 80 best high school players and break them into four teams, and I'm going to coach one of them. The former head coach at Clemson is going to coach one, Fred McGriff, former player with the Braves is going to coach one. Past that, I'm not really sure. I've had some chances for some things in pro ball, but because of family obligations, I wasn't able to take them. I'm having conversations every day with my former guys. I'm looking forward to going to Starkville on opening day and seeing Andy Cannizaro coach his first game."

What do you miss the most about college baseball?
"The two things I miss, my wife and I miss the restaurants in New Orleans and we miss the city. And I really miss practice. Not necessarily the games. This will give me an opportunity to do a little bit of teaching and maybe get back involved, but we'll see what happens from there. We do miss all of the people that took care of us, and were so loyal to us and our program. I was hired by (former Tulane Director of Athletics) Kevin White. One of the things he did was he brought in Coach Ron Frazier – the late Coach Ron Frazier – to talk to some of the alumni who were close to my age. He said the right things to them and walked me in front of them. Those guys are still close friends of mine, and they really did a lot to help our program in a lot of ways. To have so many of my former players who are so successful in whatever field, whether it be coaching, attorneys, physicians, business people, whatever – I totally get that. The bottom line for me is: I worked 18 years to get my dream job. Tulane was it, and it worked out well.

"I'm just proud I was able to represent the University in that national Hall of Fame, and the Louisiana Hall of Fame. So many of the fans and the Greenbackers drove up for the Louisiana Hall of Fame in June, and that was a great night. Then, having all my guys there for the ABCA Hall of Fame was special, that whole weekend was special."

Former Tulane Head Baseball Coach Rick Jones on the ABCA Hall of Fame and Green Wave Baseball

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