Craig Gibson is an American
college baseball coach and former
first baseman. He has been the head baseball coach at
Mercer University since the start of the
2004 season. Under Gibson, Mercer has appeared in its first two
NCAA tournaments. A
Macon native, Gibson is a Mercer alumnus and played baseball for the Bears from 1983–1986, winning a
conference player of the year award as a junior.
Coaching career
After he completed his playing career and
undergraduate degree at Mercer in 1986, Gibson spent the next two seasons as an assistant coach at Mercer while earning his
graduate degree. He left after the 1988 season and spent the next six years as a high school coach in
South Florida
South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...
. He returned to Mercer as an assistant for the 1994 season.
After a ten-year stint as a Mercer assistant in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Gibson succeeded
Barry Myers as the Bears' head coach for the start of the
2004 season. For his first two seasons,
Link Jarrett, who would later coach against Gibson in the
Southern Conference at
UNC Greensboro
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. UNCG, like all members of the UNC system, is a stand-al ...
, served as one of Gibson's assistants. The Bears made their first postseason appearance under Gibson in
2006
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, when they finished 3rd in the
Atlantic Sun Conference (A-Sun) to qualify for the
A-Sun tournament. As the second seed (second-place
North Florida was ineligible), Mercer went 2–2. They defeated
East Tennessee State
East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a Public university, public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. Although it is part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee, the university is governed by an instit ...
in the opening game, then lost to
Stetson
Stetson is a brand of hat manufactured by the John B. Stetson Company. "Stetson" is also used as a generic trademark to refer to any campaign hat, in particular, in Scouting.
John B. Stetson gained inspiration for his most famous hats when he ...
, 6–5 in extra innings, in their second. In the losers bracket, the Bears knocked out top-seeded
Jacksonville before being eliminated with another one-run loss to Stetson.
Mercer made three more A-Sun Tournament appearances from 2007–2009 before reaching its first NCAA tournament in
2010
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. At the
A-Sun tournament, Gibson's team went 4–0 to win the conference's automatic bid, defeating East Tennessee State and Jacksonville two times each. Gibson said of the win, "It’s an unbelievable feeling to win here and to be going to the NCAA tournament. It’s about those 27 guys that care for each other, love each other and play hard for each other. It’s the best group I’ve had, as far as chemistry goes. I’m really proud of them." As the third seed in the
Atlanta Regional, Mercer went 1–2. Georgia Tech shut them out in the opener, then defeated
Elon
Elon commonly refers to Elon Musk.
Elon may also refer to:
People
* Elon (name), a given name and surname
Places in the United States
* Elon, Iowa, an unincorporated community
* Elon, North Carolina, a town
* Elon, Virginia, an unincorporated ...
before being eliminated by
Alabama. The Bears returned to the NCAA tournament in
2013
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and went 0–2 in the Starkville Regional. Gibson was named the 2013
A-Sun Coach of the Year, and Kendall Rogers of
Perfect Game named him a rising college coach after the season.
Gibson's players have received many individual honors during his tenure, including major conference awards.
Third baseman Chesny Young was named A-Sun Rookie of the Year in 2012 and Player of the Year in 2013.
Shortstop Michael Massi was the 2014 Defensive Player of the Year. Between 2004–and 2014, 14 Mercer players were taken in the
Major League Baseball Draft.
Cory Gearrin, taken in the fourth round in the
2007 Major League Baseball Draft
The 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players and was held on June 7, 2007 and June 8, 2007. The first day session of the draft included the f ...
, played for the
Atlanta Braves from 2011–2013.
Head coaching record
Below is a table of Gibson's yearly records as a collegiate head baseball coach.
See also
*
List of current NCAA Division I baseball coaches
*
Mercer Bears
References
External links
2014 Interview with Gibsonat Macon.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Craig
1960s births
Living people
Sportspeople from Macon, Georgia
Mercer Bears baseball players
Mercer Bears baseball coaches
Baseball coaches from Georgia (U.S. state)