Oklahoma State University Athletics
Gajewski Speaks with the Media
June 17, 2015 | Cowgirl Softball
Oklahoma State softball coach Kenny Gajewski spoke with select members of the media during a teleconference on Wednesday. His comments:On the last couple of weeks:
"It's been a crazy roller-coaster ride. We had an incredible run with our Florida team, and it was an incredible experience. That's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. On top of that, getting a phone call the next day about trying to gauge my interest with Oklahoma State was very intriguing. It has been a whirlwind. I ended up only having one day at home and had turn around fly back the following day. I got to meet with Coach Holder and the search committee, and I felt like everything went really well. As the days went by, I got more and more excited. At the same time, I got a big knot in my stomach from now knowing what was going to happen. Getting the final call on Saturday was kind of like the culmination, and it's been absolutely nuts since then. I've got 185 texts on my phone now, and that's unlike anything I've ever experienced. Right now, I'm just trying to jump ahead and get with my team. Overall, my family and I are thrilled, and I can't wait to get myself situated with my new job."
On his strong familiarity with Oklahoma:
"I was in a good spot at Florida, and I feel like I had one of the best assistant coaching jobs in America. I never thought I would leave. When Oklahoma State called, though, it was different. It was different from the first day. When this came about, it was pretty apparent that this was going to shape up to be a pretty good deal. Being in Oklahoma for 19 years, I've got my family out there, my wife's family is out there and we go back a couple of times each year. We've been back the last three years with the Florida team, so it really has almost turned into my home. Even though I wasn't born and raised there, Oklahoma has turned into a home. We're all familiar with it, and I think that's one of the biggest things that made this job so enticing at first."
On his to-do list for the next few weeks:
"The first thing, obviously, was to contact all of my new kids. We've got 14 returners and four incoming kids, so I made those phone calls as soon as I could. I'll tell you, I had butterflies when I was talking with them. It was a very exciting experience. Once I made the first call, I could feel their energy, and I could tell that each of them were so excited. There were a couple of calls that lasted well over an hour. I just wanted them to hear how excited I was to be their head coach and how excited I am to be the head coach at Oklahoma State. I tried to tell them that this was a job that I really wanted. Now that I've got it, I'm going to do everything I can to make their experience be what they thought it was going to be when they came here. Putting together a staff is next on the list. I'm hoping to have an announcement here in the couple of days regarding our first coach. I'm reaching out to a pitching coach now, and I'll take my time there. I feel like it's a crucial hire, and I've got a ton of interest. My phone is ringing off the hook. Basically, I'm trying to make a list of what is most important to me for that spot. I've also got to get with my Director of Operations, Kaylan, and just kind of filter through everything that has been going on over the last month or so. I'm heading to recruit tomorrow, first in Alabama and then in California for two days. I'm actually going to get to see three of the four incoming freshman, so that's going to be a bonus there. Then, I'll be in Stillwater on Monday, and I think that's when everything is going to really get going. I'm anticipating being up at the office for a long time, and I'll get a chance to be around the administration and meet everyone there. That's probably the most important thing on the list. I'll also be working with our SID, Austin, in order to get in touch with our alumni. I know about the history here, so I know there's a ton of them out there. It's very exciting to me. As I was going around on my interview, I knew a little bit about the alumni, but I really wanted to get more involved with that. They can really be a huge asset to this program, and I plan on getting to them pretty quick in order to let them know about me and let them know how excited I am. I want them to know that we've got an open door here and that I'd love for them to be involved. There are too many good people that would love to be involved, and I can't wait to hear what they have to say."
On leaving an extremely competitive conferece, the SEC, only to go to another with a high level of competition:
"I've looked at the numbers that we've had the last couple of years. For starters, we've got to pitch. That's the bottom line. We'll get in here and we'll evaluate what we've got. Everything starts in the circle, and the defense will be the next thing. [Florida head coach] Tim Walton and I always used to joke about this, but the statement that says, 'If you don't give up any runs, you'll never lose,' is very true. So, we're going to focus on our pitching and our defense. We're also going to focus on cutting our walks down, playing better catch and competing in the strike zone with our pitching staff. As I looked at the box scores from last year, I saw numerous one-run games, and probably 90 percent of those games were losses. I'm a defensive guy, so if we can shore up the errors, I think that will help in those close games. With this team, the offense isn't something that's going to light you up, but it's also not horrible. We've got a lot of good players back, and we've got a number of good kids coming in. The bottom line is, we're going to take these 18 kids and we're going to convince them that they're good and ready to go. We'll do a lot of the same things that I did here [at Florida], mainly because I know it works. A lot of that boils down to hard work. There are a lot of good teams in this conference, though. Once I'm able to break down the video and get a good idea of what we've got, I'll know more about what we need to do in order to improve."
On being on the other side of Bedlam:
"It's kind of funny. I've been getting all these texts, and one of the coolest things I've come across is getting to tell my friends, 'Hey, I guess I'll be wearing some orange and black now'. We're definitely going to be rooting for OSU softball now. With Bedlam, I know how important it is. People have asked me if I'm going to be able to hate OU as much as they do, and I just say, 'Hey, I'm a Cowboy now, and I'm going to hate them just as bad as I hate Texas, Baylor, Kansas, Iowa State and whoever.' I'm going to hate them all. We're going to compete against OU like we compete against everybody else. We're also going to keep our girls locked in on focusing on the game, rather than just trying to beat OU. I think that's one of the most important things about a rivalry. We are very well aware of what it takes to play in these rivalry games, but I also know that if you're trying to beat somebody simply because you hate them, things don't always go the way you want. I'm just going to try and keep them focused on playing the game and keeping their emotions in check. I'll tell you, though; I want to beat OU just as bad as anyone else does. I want to beat Texas, and I want to beat all these other schools. The season is so far away from now, but for the people of Stillwater, the people of Payne County and all Oklahoma State fans, I know Bedlam is important, and I'll embrace that."
"It's been a crazy roller-coaster ride. We had an incredible run with our Florida team, and it was an incredible experience. That's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. On top of that, getting a phone call the next day about trying to gauge my interest with Oklahoma State was very intriguing. It has been a whirlwind. I ended up only having one day at home and had turn around fly back the following day. I got to meet with Coach Holder and the search committee, and I felt like everything went really well. As the days went by, I got more and more excited. At the same time, I got a big knot in my stomach from now knowing what was going to happen. Getting the final call on Saturday was kind of like the culmination, and it's been absolutely nuts since then. I've got 185 texts on my phone now, and that's unlike anything I've ever experienced. Right now, I'm just trying to jump ahead and get with my team. Overall, my family and I are thrilled, and I can't wait to get myself situated with my new job."
On his strong familiarity with Oklahoma:
"I was in a good spot at Florida, and I feel like I had one of the best assistant coaching jobs in America. I never thought I would leave. When Oklahoma State called, though, it was different. It was different from the first day. When this came about, it was pretty apparent that this was going to shape up to be a pretty good deal. Being in Oklahoma for 19 years, I've got my family out there, my wife's family is out there and we go back a couple of times each year. We've been back the last three years with the Florida team, so it really has almost turned into my home. Even though I wasn't born and raised there, Oklahoma has turned into a home. We're all familiar with it, and I think that's one of the biggest things that made this job so enticing at first."
On his to-do list for the next few weeks:
"The first thing, obviously, was to contact all of my new kids. We've got 14 returners and four incoming kids, so I made those phone calls as soon as I could. I'll tell you, I had butterflies when I was talking with them. It was a very exciting experience. Once I made the first call, I could feel their energy, and I could tell that each of them were so excited. There were a couple of calls that lasted well over an hour. I just wanted them to hear how excited I was to be their head coach and how excited I am to be the head coach at Oklahoma State. I tried to tell them that this was a job that I really wanted. Now that I've got it, I'm going to do everything I can to make their experience be what they thought it was going to be when they came here. Putting together a staff is next on the list. I'm hoping to have an announcement here in the couple of days regarding our first coach. I'm reaching out to a pitching coach now, and I'll take my time there. I feel like it's a crucial hire, and I've got a ton of interest. My phone is ringing off the hook. Basically, I'm trying to make a list of what is most important to me for that spot. I've also got to get with my Director of Operations, Kaylan, and just kind of filter through everything that has been going on over the last month or so. I'm heading to recruit tomorrow, first in Alabama and then in California for two days. I'm actually going to get to see three of the four incoming freshman, so that's going to be a bonus there. Then, I'll be in Stillwater on Monday, and I think that's when everything is going to really get going. I'm anticipating being up at the office for a long time, and I'll get a chance to be around the administration and meet everyone there. That's probably the most important thing on the list. I'll also be working with our SID, Austin, in order to get in touch with our alumni. I know about the history here, so I know there's a ton of them out there. It's very exciting to me. As I was going around on my interview, I knew a little bit about the alumni, but I really wanted to get more involved with that. They can really be a huge asset to this program, and I plan on getting to them pretty quick in order to let them know about me and let them know how excited I am. I want them to know that we've got an open door here and that I'd love for them to be involved. There are too many good people that would love to be involved, and I can't wait to hear what they have to say."
On leaving an extremely competitive conferece, the SEC, only to go to another with a high level of competition:
"I've looked at the numbers that we've had the last couple of years. For starters, we've got to pitch. That's the bottom line. We'll get in here and we'll evaluate what we've got. Everything starts in the circle, and the defense will be the next thing. [Florida head coach] Tim Walton and I always used to joke about this, but the statement that says, 'If you don't give up any runs, you'll never lose,' is very true. So, we're going to focus on our pitching and our defense. We're also going to focus on cutting our walks down, playing better catch and competing in the strike zone with our pitching staff. As I looked at the box scores from last year, I saw numerous one-run games, and probably 90 percent of those games were losses. I'm a defensive guy, so if we can shore up the errors, I think that will help in those close games. With this team, the offense isn't something that's going to light you up, but it's also not horrible. We've got a lot of good players back, and we've got a number of good kids coming in. The bottom line is, we're going to take these 18 kids and we're going to convince them that they're good and ready to go. We'll do a lot of the same things that I did here [at Florida], mainly because I know it works. A lot of that boils down to hard work. There are a lot of good teams in this conference, though. Once I'm able to break down the video and get a good idea of what we've got, I'll know more about what we need to do in order to improve."
On being on the other side of Bedlam:
"It's kind of funny. I've been getting all these texts, and one of the coolest things I've come across is getting to tell my friends, 'Hey, I guess I'll be wearing some orange and black now'. We're definitely going to be rooting for OSU softball now. With Bedlam, I know how important it is. People have asked me if I'm going to be able to hate OU as much as they do, and I just say, 'Hey, I'm a Cowboy now, and I'm going to hate them just as bad as I hate Texas, Baylor, Kansas, Iowa State and whoever.' I'm going to hate them all. We're going to compete against OU like we compete against everybody else. We're also going to keep our girls locked in on focusing on the game, rather than just trying to beat OU. I think that's one of the most important things about a rivalry. We are very well aware of what it takes to play in these rivalry games, but I also know that if you're trying to beat somebody simply because you hate them, things don't always go the way you want. I'm just going to try and keep them focused on playing the game and keeping their emotions in check. I'll tell you, though; I want to beat OU just as bad as anyone else does. I want to beat Texas, and I want to beat all these other schools. The season is so far away from now, but for the people of Stillwater, the people of Payne County and all Oklahoma State fans, I know Bedlam is important, and I'll embrace that."
Wednesday, August 05
Thursday, July 30
Tuesday, July 28
Monday, July 27
