For those of us who played competitive sports, there were two types of coaches: those who inspired contempt and those who continued to inspire their players long after they left the sport. The young men who have played – and play – for Tulane University, Green Wave, Baseball Coach Rick Jones would agree that he is someone who brings out the best in them, whether it’s in baseball, academics or life.
Jones’ journey to Tulane – and New Orleans – started back in small town, Bennett, N.C., located in the center of the state. A self-described “country boy,“ Jones was lucky. Unlike a good portion of us who go to college wondering what we’ll do for a career, he was always determined to coach baseball, particularly collegiate. He worked his way through the ranks at colleges such as Ferrum (in Virginia), Elon College (in North Carolina) and Georgia Tech, before landing at Tulane in 1994. Jones was also the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for Team USA in 1990, when the team won a bronze at the Goodwill Games and a silver medal at the Presidential Cup in Taiwan.
Want some more glowing statistics? Jones was recently named Conference USA Coach of the Decade for helping Tulane win four Conference USA regular season championships and the Conference USA Tournament a league-record five times. He has led Tulane to the NCAA Regional in 11 of his 13 seasons, three regional championships and trips to the College World Series in 2001 and 2005. Several of his players have been named to the Conference USA All-Decade Team. Additionally, some have been named Players of the Year and a few have even been named on a national level as All American.
While these athletic accolades are just a few of many, what can’t be overlooked is Jones’ dedication to the concept of the student-athlete. It’s important to him that his players experience more than just baseball and that they also excel in academics and in how they conduct themselves. Green Wave baseball has the highest GPA in the league, as well as in the state, averaging 3.0. Every team member who played for four years under Jones has completed his degree. And in a recent survey, Baseball America gave Tulane an “A” in its conference, one of only 16 teams out of 64 to make that grade – with one of the criteria being academics.
The team went 34-26 last year. This year is even more promising for several reasons. One is that the team’s 36 home games will take place in the brand-new Greer Field at Turchin Stadium, starting on Feb. 22 when the team plays Illinois-Chicago. There will be a whole new field of fresh recruits, and the fans – the diehards and the neophytes – will blissfully rediscover the theater of baseball.
One would think after 33 years of coaching baseball, Jones would be burned out. Not true. “I can’t wait for opening day,” he says. Play ball.
Profession: Head Baseball Coach, Tulane University
Age: 54
Family: Wife, Gina; his mother still lives in North Carolina; two brothers and a sister. Dogs: Rookie (a bichon frise), Sister (Shi Tzu) and Annie Savoy (Schnauzer)
Resides: Old Metairie
Born: Bennett, N.C.
Education: Chatham High School (North Carolina); University of North Carolina/Wilmington; Masters degree from North Carolina A&T.
Favorite book: Three Days in August by Buzz Bissinger. I like biographies of people in leadership roles. I’m currently reading Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy’s Quiet Strength.
Favorite food: It depends on what day it is. I try to eat healthy but I love New Orleans food and try to moderate what I eat. I do miss [North Carolina] barbecue and my mother’s biscuits and gravy.
Favorite restaurant: It’s intoxicating to be a foodie in this city. There’s no way I can name just one, because so many have treated my wife and I so well. To me, a restaurant isn’t all about the food, it also includes the ambiance. (And I used to be on a radio show with Angus Lind where we talked about food and ranked restaurants.)
Favorite movie: The Godfather
Favorite TV show: The Andy Griffith Show and Seinfeld
Favorite musician: Bruce Springsteen
Favorite vacation spot: Las Vegas. I don’t gamble but I enjoy the restaurants and like to people-watch. I also like to go to the beach and the mountains, as well as enjoy cityscapes, such as Chicago, Seattle and New York City.
How many years have you been coaching baseball? I’ve been coaching for 33 years; it’s my 27th year coaching collegiate baseball, and 14th year coaching Tulane.
The team has some tough games early on – University of Louisiana/Lafayette; TCU; and UC-Irvine – how do prepare for that? You don’t get better if you don’t challenge yourself. You need to test your team to find out their capabilities.
What team(s) do you think are going to be a challenge? Rice is always one. East Carolina, Southern Mississippi.
How do you think that the Tulane University baseball program has improved? Tulane is a unique and special place, where there is a commitment to baseball and academics. And I have great assistant coaches and staff.
I’ll be honest: tuition at Tulane is expensive. How does that factor into who you can get as players? We have a saying: “P.P.P.,” which means “Pay, Pass, Play.” Only a small portion of the players receive scholarships. So for a player to come to college here and play baseball, there’s a real commitment.
Do you personally scout players? I send my assistant coaches to check out players. If they think there’s someone I need to see, I’ll go.
What players of yours at Tulane are currently on a Major League Baseball team? Micah Owings, the Arizona Diamondbacks; Michael Aubrey, the Cleveland Indians; and Tommy Giarratano, the Detroit Tigers. Tommy Manzella, who played for Archbishop Hannan High School in Covington before Tulane, is on the Houston Astros AAA team. [Ed. Note: Jones has coached 31 MLB draft picks and 14 free agent signers.]
What do you think of the steroid controversy in Major League Baseball right now? You want your heroes to be heroes, so you don’t want this to turn young children off from baseball. The pressure, the money and it’s so competitive – only a few make it to the major leagues. But it’s hard to truly judge this as an outsider looking in. [However,] baseball today is the healthiest it has ever been.
How many collegiate championship rings do you have as the Tulane baseball coach? Seven rings: For 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 [all for the Conference USA Championship]; 2001 and ’05 [for the Conference USA Championship, Super Regional Championship and for being a College World Series participant] and ’04 [for being the NCAA Regional Champion]. I jokingly say “A different ring for each day of the week!”
You were a pitcher. What was your best pitch? I did breaking balls, which got me through college.
Are you excited about the new stadium? It’s been difficult not having an [on-campus] facility for two years. The stadium is state-of-the-art. And, it’s good to get the team back to a normal routine.
What did a North Carolinian like you find in New Orleans that has kept you here for so long? The first year I came here I was like, “this is really different.” But by the second year I was like, “This isn’t so bad.” I knew I had come to appreciate the city when during either my second or third year in New Orleans, I was on an airplane flight and got some coffee and it tasted like hot water. I had gotten used to the coffee here. To me the rest of the country is very bland when compared to New Orleans. When the team had to relocate for the fall 2005 semester to Lubbock, Texas [because of Hurricane Katrina], I realized it was a very barren restaurant town.
Gum or chewing tobacco? Neither.
True Confession: For three years after college, I taught a self-contained seventh grade class while I went to graduate school at night.