- Dusty Rhodes (baseball coach)
-
Jack "Dusty" Rhodes Sport(s) Baseball Current position Title Hitting coach Record 827-363 Biographical details Born 1946 Coaching career (HC unless noted) 1988–2010
1975-1982North Florida
Palm Beach Junior CollegeHead coaching record Overall 1424-670 Accomplishments and honors Awards Member of American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame
Peach Belt Conference Coach of the Year-1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005
Florida Sports Amateur Coach of the Year-2001Jack "Dusty" Rhodes (born 1946) is a retired American baseball coach and the former head coach of the University of North Florida Ospreys college baseball team. He was the first coach in UNF baseball history, having founded the program in the 1980s and serving as head coach from 1988–2010. UNF's baseball field, officially Dusty Rhodes Field at Harmon Stadium, is named in his honor.
Life
Dusty Rhodes started his coaching career in the minor leagues, working in the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers organizations. He then shifted to college baseball, coaching at Palm Beach Junior College. He was hired by UNF in 1986 to start up the school's first baseball program.
As the coach at UNF, he saw the program through its days in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), NCAA Division II, and finally NCAA Division I. While in the NAIA he led UNF to three Number 1 rankings in NAIA and the Number 1 ranking in NCAA Division II in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. He coached the Ospreys to two NAIA World Series, and three Division II World Series, with a second place finish in the team's final year of Division II competition. In 2005, UNF's first season of Division I play, he led the Ospreys to a 34-21 record. In 2008, the Ospreys defeated four in-state opponents (the Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles, Miami Hurricanes, and South Florida Bulls).[1]
In 2004, Rhodes was the coach of the Greek national baseball team for the 2004 Athens Olympics.[2] The team finished in 7th, with one win over Italy. He has also worked with the USA national team as an assistant. He also operated a baseball camp each year that takes place at Harmon Stadium.[3]
Rhodes announced his retirement after the 2010 season. That summer he married his longtime girlfriend, a UNF employee.[4] He was succeeded as head baseball coach by Smoke Laval.[4][5] In 2010 UNF named its baseball field Dusty Rhodes Field at Harmon Stadium after Rhodes.[6]
References
- ^ http://www.unfospreys.com/coaches.aspx?rc=24&path=baseball
- ^ http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/081904/spo_16404696.shtml
- ^ http://www.dustyrhodesbaseball.com/index.html
- ^ a b http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/401949/gene-frenette/2010-05-16/gene-frenette-college-baseball-wont-be-same-without
- ^ http://www.unfospreys.com/news/2009/8/24/BB_0824093742.aspx
- ^ http://jacksonville.com/sports/college/north_florida_ospreys/2010-02-19/story/coach_dusty_rhodes_optimistic_entering_final__0
External links
Athletics Atlantic Sun Conference • North Florida Ospreys • UNF Arena • Hodges Stadium • Harmon Stadium • Hayt Golf Learning CenterCampus Thomas G. Carpenter Library • Student Union • Housing • Fine Arts Center • Coggin College of Business Administration Building • J. Brooks Brown HallStudent life People Categories:- University of North Florida
- 1946 births
- American baseball coaches
- Living people
- North Florida Ospreys
- People from Jacksonville, Florida
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
