Georgia Gwinnett College head coach Brad Stromdahl recently won his 300th game at GGC. Coach Stromdahl recently spoke to the American Baseball Coaches Association “ABCA Road Show” to discuss the GGC baseball program and how his coaching style has evolved since he started the school’s baseball team in 2013:
“I get the most out of people, from a leadership standpoint, when I try to be myself. If I’m myself out here, these kids understand who I am, they understand my philosophy.
You know, we’re going to have fun. We’re going to work hard. We’re going to grind. We’re going to work harder than anybody else, but we also go about it a little bit differently.”
Stromdahl continued, “It’s much more of a pro ball atmosphere. I just let them go and we fail. They understand the structure — they understand where they’re supposed to be with their supposed to do… but transfer kids come in — junior college kids come in — and they say, ‘Man, you’ve made baseball fun again.’”
Stromdahl’s approach seems to be working. The Grizzlies have twice reached the NAIA World Series and are currently one of the top ranked NAIA teams in the country. The school’s winning percentage is over .750 since the program began.
“It’s not necessarily what you do on the field. It’s what you do off the field and it’s how you conduct your business, with interpersonal communications. Getting to know the guy on a level that’s just so deep that — you’re friends forever. You’re involved in that guy’s life from the day he steps on campus.”
