TAMPA, Fla. – An energy crisis resulted in long lines at the pump with a gallon of regular unleaded gas soaring to 86 cents. At least you could buy a dozen eggs for that price and have a penny left over. On a grander scale, the average price of a new home was approaching $72,000.
The year was 1979. Ken Eriksen made his way from Long Island to the University of South Florida, which was a year away from opening the doors of its basketball venue, the Sun Dome. This summer will mark 46 years since Eriksen arrived on the campus. He has passed the time very well.
“I look in the mirror, and I go, ‘Who the hell is that?’” said the 64-year-old softball coach.
Learning, Growing Under Robin Roberts
When Eriksen left his dorm for baseball practice at Red McEwen Field, the original ballpark that had home plate backing up to the corner of Elm Drive and Bull Run Drive, he often ran through sandspur-filled fields to get to his field of dreams. When he arrived, it was time to learn about more than baseball.
“Robin espoused professionalism,” he said of his coach, Robin Roberts, who won 286 games as a Hall of Fame pitcher, most with the Philadelphia Phillies, and skippered the Bulls for nine seasons. “He always had the aspect about him that if you want to be a professional, act like a professional. If you arrive at practice five minutes early, you were five minutes too late. It was structured discipline, and the way he acted as a pro rubbed off on a lot of young guys.”
Eriksen was one of those young guys. While helping lead the Bulls to the NCAA tournament in 1982 and posting career marks that included a .315 average at the plate and a 2.48 ERA on the mound, he absorbed what Roberts said about professionalism and becoming a responsible adult.
“That’s what I try to do here as a coach,” said Eriksen, who has led the Bulls to 16 NCAA tournament appearances since taking over the program in 1997 after serving as an assistant to the only other coach the program has known, Hildred Deese. “Amateur sports are very different with respect to trying to understand what professionalism is. The years after high school are a very instrumental part of young people’s lives.”
Eriksen commends the coaching staffs at USF for understanding the importance of their role in helping student-athletes transition to, as he put it, “the real world.” Sure, wins and losses are important. The scoreboard matters. However, there is much more to it.
“This is serious business and at the same time you have to have fun, right?” he said. “Making a great environment is a big deal in my mind. To keep it professional on the ballfield and professional off the field has been a mantra that I got from coach Roberts.”
READ: USF Baseball, Lacrosse Host Top 10 In-State Opponents Tuesday
University Growth
USF was less than 25 years old when Eriksen arrived, so it was inevitable he would see development over time as both the school and the region grew. Still, the degree of growth he has seen, especially of late, can only happen if the people in place foster that growth and pass the baton to those who share the passion. That is how an indoor practice facility becomes a reality, why several elected officials were present for an on-campus stadium groundbreaking and how in 2023 USF joined the Association of American Universities (AAU), an elite group of leading research institutions.
For all of the above, Eriksen credits the tireless work of former USF presidents Betty Castor and Judy Genshaft, who oversaw a tremendous transformation, and Rhea Law, a USF grad raised in Tampa who spent the past three years heading a group of university leaders energized by a shared vision like never before. Also, athletic directors including Paul Griffin, Lee Roy Selmon and Michael Kelly, who has been in the role since 2018.
“It is easier to get people in the community to work for you and work with you when you have the roots that she has,” Eriksen said of Law, who on February 17 announced she was stepping down. “She did nothing but continue to create the green and gold magic that Judy brought, and people jumped on board with that the past couple of years.”
Such leadership and vision creates a can-do environment that bolsters an athletic department. Championships and post-graduation success in a given field are not mere hopes, but attainable goals.
“We are now going after a different type of student-athlete that’s academically inclined not only with their want of jobs and so forth after (they graduate), but to be challenged in the classroom and challenged by coaching staffs,” said Eriksen. “It has been quite a journey the last 45 years. It has been a meteoric rise for the athletic department and the university as a whole.”
Eriksen would like to see the rise continue with the next university president. He wants the individual to, like Law, have a firm understanding of Tampa’s growth, that of the larger Tampa Bay community and the impact it has had on campus.
“It’s important to have a knowledge base of Tampa,” he said. “To know Tampa is a commodity, in my estimation. If you do not know Tampa and do not know the university and all the great things that have taken place here, it is kind of tough to do business in the area.”
READ: USF Coach Alex Golesh Uses Transfer Portal For Specific Needs While Upholding Program’s Standards
Mitch Hannahs
It did not take long for Eriksen to appreciate the values of first-year baseball coach Mitch Hannahs. As a former USF player, Eriksen maintains a high level of interest with what is taking place on the ballfield field adjacent to his. He found that Hannahs, who arrived at USF after 11 years (five NCAA tourney appearances) at the helm of Indiana State, has a similar level of knowledge and set of beliefs when it comes to the larger picture of managing student-athletes.
“He is old school and reminds me a lot of what we were doing here with Robin,” he said. “He knows the game really, really well and it is a pleasure to get into a cerebral conversation about the game, the players nowadays and how to get them to play their best.”
As was the case when Eriksen took the mound or grabbed a bat during practice while playing for Roberts, the objective is clear: make yourself and your team better while leaving distractions outside the confines of the field of play. After all, succeeding as a team requires an unwavering sense of persistence and dedication. Not distractions.
“Can you keep out the noise and focus on the main thing?” he said. “If we can do that on the baseball diamond and on the softball field, we are going to be successful. All of the other stuff, such as the distractions of NIL, being on ESPN and ‘I can be on the air and be all-conference.’ Folks, that doesn’t matter. If you are to get recognized and have those type of opportunities, you have to win as a group and let the other chips fall as they may. That reminds me a lot, once again, of coach Roberts.”
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