OSU softball coach Kenny Gajewski
Kenny Gajewski had not coached softball prior to 2012 and spent more than a decade in field and turf management. But the second year Oklahoma State coach has led OSU to consecutive NCAA postseason appearances. He discusses his journey in his collected wisdom.
Kenny Gajewski is a Los Alamitos, Calif., native in his second season as Oklahoma State’s head softball coach after spending three years as an assistant at Florida. He is a former University of Oklahoma baseball transfer, a pitcher, who helped lead the Sooners to a 1994 College World Series title. Gajewski had not coached softball prior to 2012 and spent more than a decade in field and turf management.
Gajewski led OSU to consecutive NCAA postseason appearances. Entering regional play this week, the Cowgirls ranked inside the top20 nationally in on-base percentage (.342) and led the Big 12 with 11 First Team All-Academic selections.
My dad had a lot of influence on my work ethic. A guy that was always in the car business and he never missed a game. He coached all my teams, never missed a practice. That’s one of the cool things I look back on, how he was able to do that.
I had some great memories of playing in the Catholic baseball league, and I wasn’t a Catholic kid growing up. Just met some great people and some of those guys are still my best friends today.
I think I felt early on that I would have a chance to get a
scholarship. In California at that time, the biggest path for all of us was the junior college route. For boys, we all think that we’re going to play pro baseball.
To go to Cerritos Junior College and play for coach (George) Horton and coach (Dave) Serrano and coach (Bill) Mosiello, it completely changed my whole life. I always thought I was a worker,
but hard work is relative to what you’re used to.
Off that team, four guys
pitched in the big leagues. I ended up having to redshirt. That wasn’t the plan.
Right then I knew I wanted to be a coach.
I knew Larry Cochell when he was the head coach at Cal State Fullerton and then he left there and went to OU. So there was already some familiarity there.
It was a super easy transition. I had great teammates. I had great structure and met some great people fast. People here are so welcoming. It’s one of the reasons why when this job came open, it was an easy choice, an easy decision.
I came in as a control guy,
throwing strikes. I didn’t throw very hard. I was 85, 88 on a good day.
Our national championship was the most special thing. You can’t replicate that. Every team has its own identity and there were so many moments in that year. The highlight for me, personally, beside the team deal was I got to start opening day.
My path is not the straightest path to being a head coach
at the Division-I level. After OU, I went to K-State as
a volunteer, I came back to OU to be the field guy and GA. Ten years later, I’m the head of athletic grounds, I’m over all the fields and I’m the head of facilities.
I stumbled around for a couple years. I left OU to go work for a synthetic turf group. Chasing money is what I was doing. I quickly realized after three years, that this is not the path I wanted and money was becoming less important.
I got a chance to go to Tennessee as the director of baseball operations … Florida coach Tim Walton flew to Knoxville to surprise me. We kind of sat down and talked then, and at the end of his year, he had a staff change.
I ended up going there and the rest is history. The three years there got me to where I’m at.
There are a lot of people that will probably say, ‘Hey, I didn’t
deserve this.’ They could be right. I don’t care. This is what I felt like I was destined to do. I feel like I’ve always been a coach.
I think this is a unique place and nothing that anybody could prepare you for. I think there is a fit here. This is not a stepping stone place. If it is, then you’re going to get chewed up here.
Mike Holder is a treasure
chest of knowledge. You just have to understand how to hear what he’s saying. It may not always be the way you want to hear it or want it said, but there is a message every time I talk to him, which is a lot. I try to get around him as much as I can.
How could you be in a better place? A bunch of these coaches were athletes here.
They understand the dynamic, they understand the fan base, they understand Stillwater. I lean on those guys a lot. How can we do this the right way?