Newly hired baseball coach knows how to build a program

Before John Cole's arrival at Rowan, the last time the Division III school had won a conference title in baseball it did not even have the same name. The university was known as Glassboro State College when it won the New Jersey Athletic Conference in 1979.

But when Cole became Rowan's coach in 1999, everything began to change. In his first season at the Profs' helm, he led Rowan to the conference crown, a 36-8 record and a berth in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament. For this performance, Cole won the New Jersey Athletic Conference and New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association Coach of the Year honors.

Having named Cole as Bob Seddon's replacement Wednesday, Penn's baseball program hopes Rowan will be able to replicate his success at the Division I level.

"I was very excited because after a look at the guy's resume -- his team is No. 1 in the country in D-III, and they are undefeated right now," said Penn junior infielder Sean Abate, who was on the search committee. "Success like that isn't a fluke."

Cole appears to understand what it takes to build a program. When he arrived at Rowan, the team had had some regional success in previous years, but the squad was in need of a boost.

He tried to make the feel of the program more like that found at a D-I school, and he immediately began to hold players accountable for their actions both on the field and in the classroom. The atmosphere that Cole created played a big part in recruiting Rowan captain Mike Rucci four years ago.

"Coach Cole made a big impression when I first came here about preaching unity and team play," the senior said. "He brought a group of guys in here that are not only good players but good people. He says if you surround yourself with good people, you'll have a good team."

Cole places great emphasis on leadership and a family-like atmosphere. He believes upperclassmen must show the younger players not only how to play the game, but how to handle life.

Still, he realizes that character alone can not win ball games and that a large onus lies on the coach to recruit the best players possible. And Cole's recruiting experience aligns well with the environment at Penn.

"It doesn't get any tougher to try and recruit players than at the D-III level," said Cole, who played a year of Class A ball in the Northwest League.

He was the top assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at William & Mary for seven seasons. The school gives limited scholarships and recruits from all over the country.

Cole also worked as an assistant at Dartmouth from 1990 to '92.

As a result, he already has a great deal of experience with the situations he will face in his new job. He understands how to recruit for a school with no scholarships -- D-III schools, like the Ivy League, do not give athletic scholarships. He is also familiar with the Ivy League and with the area since Rowan is located just 30 minutes away from Penn in Glassboro, N.J.

"It definitely helps knowing the caliber of student you must recruit," Cole said of having worked in the Ivy League. "It gives you a better understanding of what they go through day in and day out with the balancing of academics and athletics."

Since Seddon announced that he would retire after this season nearly a year ago, Penn has been able to take its time finding a coach -- a luxury not normally available. The Quakers first whittled their list of candidates down to eight. A list of three was then formed, from which Cole was chosen.

"His experience was perfect," Athletic Director Steve Bilsky said. "That's as close to an ideal background as we can get."

After coming off a disappointing 10-27 season last year, the 6-11 Quakers are looking to climb back to the top quickly.

"We've told him to build a program and do it the right way," Bilsky said.

Although it may be easy to look ahead, both the Quakers and Cole are focused on the task at hand. Cole's Profs are currently 15-0 and are ranked No. 1 in Division III. Meanwhile the Quakers have an important four-game homestand against Dartmouth and Harvard.

Cole plans to catch his future team in action as much as possible. He will also try to meet with the players to establish goals before they leave for the summer.

Cole hopes to "get to know the players very quickly and to install loyalty and leadership in a quick but stabilizing fashion."

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