Tom Nozica has been head of the Athletic Department since
1998, having served as a coach since 1969.
Nozica told John Hingsbergen that the change in his schedule
is not exactly retirement, "You know I've invented that eight-day week and now that
we've given this part of it up, we'll get back to seven days. It should
give me a little more opportunity to get a line wet. I like to fish on
occasion. It's time to slow down a little bit."
Nozica came to Charleston as
a coach for what was then the Morris
Harvey College. His 42-year coaching tenure is believed to be the longest standing
coaching career in NCAA Division II history.
Highlights of his career have involved coaching UC’s
baseball team to over 630 wins and two West Virginia Conference baseball
titles.
But, for Nozica, his work has not been about championships
and winning games, but preparing students for life. "The highlights have been the kids, the players. Within the past week, (I've heard from) an infielder that graduated in '85, a catcher that graduated in '92 and a pitcher that graduated in the early '90s. They're physicians assistants, lawyers, this type thing. And that's what it's about.
Yeah, you like to win games. You like to win 'em all. That's not gonna happen but it's what these kids do after they get their degrees. Any way you look at it, they're gonna have more work days in their future than they do ball games, so we want to help put them in that position to be successful when the games are over."
Milestones in Nozica’s career at UC include the resurrection
of the school’s football program after a 50-year hiatus, the renovation and
renaming of UC Stadium, and renovation of baseball, softball and soccer fields.
Tom Nozica is a graduate of the Ohio
State University
and spent two years coaching baseball at Howard
University before coming to Charleston 42 years ago to
coach baseball and soccer. Before the
men’s soccer program was discontinued in 1982, his teams had earned a total of
69 wins, the second most in the program’s history.
He says baseball has been an important part of the athletic
program at UC.
“I think baseball fits right in with the other sports from the standpoint that, we want these kids to have a good collegiate experience. When graduation comes, and you're on the riverbank and everybody's taking pictures and huggin' and cryin', the one question that I like to ask is, 'If you had to do it over, what would you do?' The games are important but it's having the good time while you're here, getting the degree and then making something of yourself.”
During his term as Athletic Director at the University of Charleston, Nozica
has dealt with a number of issues, including making sure athletic and sports
programs are available for both men and women.
“Equity is always an issue. It should be. We're very conscious of that. The other thing is facilities. Then, of course when we added football, eight or nine years ago, that was a definite challenge without a field facility and staff. So, it's been a fun run.”
After his official retirement as Athletic Director at the
end of this year, Tom Nozica will continue as baseball coach at the University of Charleston.