1. Kolin McMillen
October 8, 2015
One man, few teams, and many life lessons
Jack âDustyâ Rhodeshasbeenrewardedthrough hisjobinmanyways.He givescredittohis father,his
mentors,andhisplayersforhissuccessinbaseball andinlife.BorninTalladega,Alabamain1946,
Rhodesdidnotalwaysplanon becomingabaseball coach but rather,a cowboy.What the twodifferent
careershad incommon,was winning.
Whenaskedto describe hismotherandfather,Rhodes saidleaningbackonthe couch lookingtowards
the back wall reminiscing,âMymomworked,she wasa secretaryand mydad workedfora yacht
company.He builtinteriorsonyachts.My dad wasin WorldWar IIhe wason Okinawawiththe Marines.
He wasa prettytoughguy.â
Rhodesgrewupon farms,workingandplayingwithanimals.He enjoyedrunningaroundthe freedom
that came withit. He expandedonwhata typical dayconsistedof forhimas a child,âOhGee,well we
kindof livedouta way,my grandfatherownedafarmand he wasa firemanintown.So mymom
workedandso she wouldtake me overto my grandmotherâshouse soIjustwason a farm.So I mean,I
had animalsandstuff andI was justout there playingaroundall dayandgettingdirtyandthatâs about
all I did.â
Rhodeswasintroducedtosportsby hisfatherand he fell inlove withthe game of baseball.However,
growingupon a farm causedRhodesto findhisheroesincowboys. Rhodesdescribedhisheroeswitha
smirk, âMost of âemcowboys.All of âemcowboysreally.Iwasaroundhorsesand mulesandthatâswhyI
likedcowboys.âRhodesstill enjoysoldwesternfilmsstarringcowboys.
Althoughhe viewedcowboysashisheroesgrowingup, Rhodesalwayslookeduptohisfather.He has
taught himto alwaysworkhardfor the thingsinlife thathe wanted.There isno planB because
anythingispossible.âThe thingaboutitisthat he [Rhodeâsfather] wasnotsomuchstrict but there
were rightwaysand wrongswasand you justdidnâtdothemthe wrongways [ashe sat backon the
couch and laughed].Butitreallymade adifference because thatâshow Igrew up.So thatâsthe way I run
it.â
ErnestDonini playedforRhodesatthe Universityof Floridain1985 whenRhodeswasan assistantfor
the Gators. Whenaskingabouthow Rhodeshaschangedsince hisdaysat Florida,Donini merely
exclaimedwithagrin,âHe hasnât!âWhenaskedto expandonhisanswer,Donini described
enthusiastically,âWe hadto doeverythingright,if we didnât,we ran.We were taughthow to be
disciplinedonandoff the field.We learnedasa teamthat thereâll be hardtimesbutwe were taughtto
fightbe bulldogsoutthere.âDonini isnow the presidentof SuperiorSeafood,asuccessful shrimpselling
company.
Rhodestookhislife lessonshe learnedfromhisfatherandappliedthemtohislife,impactingothers
withhisboldnessandsternness.ThisledRhodesdownthe careerpathof coaching.AfteraskingRhodes
if he had alwaysplannedongrowingupto be a coach, Rhodestooka deepbreathalmostanalyzinghis
life.âIthinkwhenImovedtoFloridain1959 and we wonthe Little League State ChampionshipwhenI
was a part of a team,the ideaof winningwasreallyawesome.The ideaof coachesandwhattheydid
2. was reallyawesomethattheytaughteverybodyhow toplayasa team and be a teamand you couldsee
howwell we playedbecause of those coaches.WhenIwentawaytoplayin college,Iplayedforaguy
namedHal Smeltzly andhe wasa Hall of Fame guyin the College Baseball Hall of Fame.AndIknewthen
thatâswhat I wantedtodo. He gave me the firstjobI had in coaching.â
As a player,RhodesplayedatPalmBeachJuniorCollegepriortofinishinghiscollegiatecareeratFlorida
Southern.
âI coachedthe JuniorVarsityteamatFloridaSouthernandhe [Hal Smeltzly] gave me thatchance. When
youplayyou justworryabout whatyou do andwhenyoucoach youâve gotto worry abouteverybody
and I kindof likedthatandI knewthenthatâswhenI wasgoingto coach.â
Rhodesadmitsthatthe true successincoachingcome fromthe menhe workswithandhisplayers.
Beingextremelysincere whenacknowledgingthe mostrewardingpartof coaching. âThe guysthat
playedonthe teamsI coached.Because theyseemlike theyâveall beensuccessful.Imeanninety-nine
percentof themhave beenreallysuccessful people.Andtheyâve beensolidcitizensandyouknowI
thinkseeingthemandtheirfamiliesandhow theyâve turnedouthave reallymade me proudof these
guys.â
Expandingonhisjoband leaninginweighingthe prosandconsof coaching.âThe easiestpartâscoming
out everydayandbeingon the fieldwiththe players,andthe hardestiscomingouteverydayand being
on the fieldwiththe players[laughing].The worstpartof it isseeingguysthatyoureallythinktheycan
be betterthan theyare but theyjustwonâtadd thatpart or getbetterontheirownso itâskindof
tough.â
Rhodeslookstogetthe mostout hisplayers.He seespotentialinanyone andeveryone,hopingthathe
can draw theirpotential outof themtoallow the playersandthe teamto be successful. âYouknow,
theydonâtrealize howgoodtheycouldbe andtheyâre notwillingtopushthemselvestothe pointthat
theycan see howgoodtheyare⊠theycause themselvesnottobe good. If theywouldjustpush
themselveshardertheycouldrealize thattheycouldbe betteranditmakesthembetter.â
Rhodesfeelsthatthe biggestobstacle forhimself inhiscareeristhe same for all coaches.He explains
usinghandgesturesashispassioncomesout, âThe NCAA [National CollegiateAthleticAssociation] and
the administratorsthatdonâtreallyunderstandhow importantitiswhenyougetguyson athleticteams,
because theycome in, andtheyusuallydonâtdropout.Theyusuallyhave ahighergrade pointaverage
and theyusuallygraduate ata betterlevel.Justbecauseof athleticsanditmakesthemmore disciplined
and a lotof timesyouknow,administratorsonlylookatwhathappenswhenbadguysgo and theydonât
evercheckthe reallygoodonesoutso Iâve alwaysbeenaroundprettygoodathletesthatwere really
goodstudents.AndsometimesIdonâtthinkthattheyget enoughcreditforwhat theydo.â
His philosophyoncoachingstemsfromhisfatherâssternness.Rhodesis,andalwaysviewedwinningas
the onlyoption.He believesthathardworkwill payoff if youwork hard enough.ThisplaysintoRhodeâs
biggestdisappointmentthusfarinhiscoachingcareer.Whenaskedwhat hisbiggestdisappointmentor
failure hasbeeninhiscareer,he bitterlyanswered, âNotwinningaNational Championship.Beingthere
five timesandhavinganopportunityandyouknow,if Isaid itreallydidnâtmatter,itdoesmatter.Andit
mattersbecause of me but itmatter because of the teamsI had,those guysworkedand theydeserved
to winit.Andwe just didnâtdoit.â
3. On January8, 2016, Rhodeswill be awardedthe 2016 AmericanBaseball CoachesAssociationLefty
GomezAwardat the annual inductionbanquet.He wasinductedintothe ABCA Hall of Fame in2009,
however,the prestigiousLeftyGomezAwardisawardedtoonlyone coach whohas hadsignificantly
contributedtothe game of baseball locally,nationallyandinternationally. Rhodeshumblyexpandedon
howhe wonthe most prestigioushonorincoachingcollegiatebaseball. âIbecame a memberof the
AmericanBaseball Coaches Associationover40 yearsago and beingaHall of Fame member,thereâsfive
or six thousand members,itâsjustanhonorto dothat. To be recognizedwiththe guysthathave been
there now,youknowthatâstalkingaboutRon PolkandFrazierand SkipBerkmanandjustto be
mentionedinthatgroupisprettygood.â
Rhodeslearnedfromthe bestcoachesinbaseball throughthe organization.Theyhave taughthim
systemsandphilosophiesthathasallowedRhodesopportunitiesveryfew have beenable toexperience.
Rhodescoachedthe AustralianOlympicteamin1996 andeventuallycoachedthe GreekOlympic teams
in2000 and 2004.
Rhodeshumorouslydescribedhisyearsspentpriortocoachingat the collegiate level before expanding
on hisaccomplishmentswiththe Universityof NorthFloridabaseball program.âIspentsevenyearsasa
juniorhighguy.Well, beingajuniorhighcoachyou have to tell themhow toput theirshoesonandhow
to put there haton and so youâre learning.IstartedatNorthFloridaandwe were NAIA.FromNAIA we
wentto Division2to Division1.Andto have the opportunitytostartyour ownprogram and doit the
wayyou wantand be successful thatâsgreat,butthe ABCA,if it wasnâtforthemI wouldhave never
done that.â
Whenaskedwhathe wouldlike tobe rememberedfor,Rhodesgave asmirkbefore hisveryserious
response,âThatI wasa winner.â
Rhodes is now a proud assistantto the Flagler Saints Baseball team
Rhodesenjoysgettingawayandtravellingaroundthe country.He hasalwaysbeenpassionate about
huntingandfishing. âIâve alwaysbeenahunter.Ihuntedandfishedwithmydadsince I wasa little kid.
AndnowI still doit. I got a place inMontana and I go up there andflyfishinthe summertime nowandI
4. go huntinginthe winterandwhenIgot marrieda couple yearsback,my wife lovestofishandlovesto
huntso we have a greattime doingitand thatâswhat I do.â
Rhodesentertainingly describeshismarriage toJennyJohnson, âImarriedJenny,well Igotmarriedin
2009 or 2010, somewhere aroundthere andyouknow,Iâmnotrememberingalotof things[laughing
and leaninghisheadback].The thingaboutitis the years,there were alot of yearsin there where
nobodywasin myway andI didnâthave any responsibilitiessosomebodycame tome andsaid âlook,do
youwant to coach withthe US teambecause weâre goingtobe gone all summerâandI saidâyeahâand
Iâdjust go.Andso I coulddo all that stuff.â
Rhodeshasno regretsinhislife.He startedfromthe bottomof the coachingtotempole andwas able to
buildhiscoachingdynastybasedoff of hardwork and commitment.Whenaskedif he wouldeverhad
wantedtobe anyone else ordoanythingelse,Rhodescleverlyrepliedinasoftspokenandsincere tone,
âI donâtknowthat I wouldwantto be anythingelse ordoanythingelse,Iâdjustlike tostartto start over
and do itagain.â