ROCK HILL, SC—Tom Riginos was formally introduced Wednesday afternoon as Winthrop University's new head baseball coach before a large group of Eagle fans and media members, and he promised that he would build a program that everyone will be proud to support.
He accepted the job as the third head coach in the 30-year history of Winthrop's baseball program last Friday.
The 42-year-old Florida native is taking over his own program as a head coach following a 17-year career as a full-time assistant at Stetson (9 yrs.) and Clemson (8 yrs.). He also served as a graduate assistant at Eastern Kentucky University for two years while earning his master's degree. In his remarks, Riginos thanked the three head coaches at those schools who have helped prepare him for the Winthrop job.
Riginos also announced that Mike McGuire and Jeff Stanek will be retained from last year's Eagle coaching staff and that he is working to fill the pitching coach position. McGuire, who has served as a Winthrop assistant for 11 years, will remain as the assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator. Stanek has been at the school for one season as the volunteer assistant.
Here are some excerpts from the Riginos press conference:
On What Attracted Him To Winthrop:
“I just knew it was going to be the right fit. Rock Hill is a good area to bring up a family. With my family and my wife's family and relatives being in Florida, staying in the Southeast was important to me. It's about family, relationships and contacts and this is the right fit. The overall program here at Winthrop, the facilities and the size of the school reminded me so much of where I got my start as a player and a coach at Stetson University. Those are my roots and Winthrop is so similar in so many ways.”
On The Three Coaches That He Served Under:
“I want to thank three very special men who have been so important in my coaching career. Jim Ward, the former head coach at Eastern Kentucky gave me my first coaching job as a graduate assistant when I was just 21 years old. Pete Dunn, who I played for at Stetson, actually gave me the opportunity to be a recruiting coordinator at 24 years old. He threw me out there and let me learn on my own, and of course Jack (Clemson head coach Jack Leggett) was a very special person, a lifelong friend, like a father who taught me a lot. He put the blueprint together on how to run a program. The blueprint that he has, the type of person that he has, how you deal with players, how you deal with media, the relationships that you develop, how you communicate are all important. It's not just about the X's and O's on the baseball field. It's the whole thing and that's one thing I am here to do and that's not just to build a team, but to build a program.”
On What Will Help Him Build A Successful Program At Winthrop:
“I have been with three head coaches who have probably more than 3,200 wins. There's probably not too many assistant coaches that have been under coaches like that. That right there gives me the experience to build the Winthrop program. I'm not going to come out here and make any guarantees and promise how many W's and L's we'll have this year. The one thing that I will promise is that our guys will play hard, they will be competitive and they will represent Winthrop University in a first-class manner. I can guarantee you that.
