Gary Gilmore

Head Coach: Coastal Carolina University

Coastal Carolina head coach Gary Gilmore, who is entering his 14th season with the Chanticleers, has seen the program continually rise in the world of college baseball to a national power. Six NCAA berths, seven 40+ win seasons in the last nine years, 10-straight winning seasons, numerous draft picks with more to come and a stadium that will become one of the nicest in the country are just a part of the exciting things going on in Coastal Carolina baseball.

Gilmore took the reins in a rather precarious position in 1996. The Chants were coming off a 17-37 season, their first losing season in 18 years, and had little in the way of returning talent, especially on the mound. Coastal finished a respectable 24-29 in his first season, and 23-31 in his second. By 1998 though, his recruits, especially the pitchers, began to step up, and Coastal's winning ways returned. His 1999 squad posted 43 wins and found themselves nationally ranked towards the end of the season, earning Gilmore Big South Coach of the Year honors.

"As long as your philosophy is sound, then you need to stick with it and be patient," Gilmore said. "Everybody thought we were crazy because we wanted to bring pitching to Coastal Carolina. But we were determined to build this program the right way. We start with pitching and defense, and loaded the lineup with great athletes. The program has been pointed in the right direction. We've been preaching, telling them what winning is about, and now they have a taste for it. Guys leave the program, but when the new kids come in they pick up on the pride and enthusiasm that we have. They pick up on the goals that we have set, and the direction we are moving, and the winning attitude begins to feed off of itself."

Along with the improvements Gilmore has overseen on the field, he is also a main contributor to the improvements off the field. The Chanticleers have had a team grade-point-average over 3.0 in each of the last four seasons, including the fall of 2007. What's more, Coastal's facilities have made tremendous strides under Coach Gilmore, with renovations to the stadium that took place which have included a new fence, new scoreboard, new sound system and new infield. New lights were installed in 2005 at Charles Watson Stadium/Vrooman Field, while new turf in foul territory as well as chairback seating.

Kevin Schnall

Assistant Coach: Coastal Carolina University

Kevin Schnall enters his eighth season on the Chanticleer coaching staff. A former All-Big South performer for Coastal from 1998-99, Schnall coaches the catchers and will split the hitting duties with assistant Brendan Dougherty. Schnall also enters his third year as the recruiting coordinator after assisting with recruiting for five seasons.

Coastal's catchers had another excellent season behind the dish. Matt Rademacher was an All-Big South First Team selection, while Dock Doyle was on the All-Myrtle Beach Regional Team and was drafted by the Atlanta Braves. Under Schnall's tutelage, Coastal's catchers have thrown out 43 percent of runners trying to steal. Coastal's catchers also have handled one of the nation's best pitching staffs, which ranked among the top-20 four of the last seven seasons.

Schnall is credited with developing individual players such as catcher Randy McGarvey, Jr., who started his career as a walk-on and finished as a two-year starter and 2002 draft pick of the Houston Astros, and Chad Oxendine, who started his Coastal career as a middle infielder and went on to become an All-Big South catcher in 2004 and played in the Chicago White Sox minor league organization. Schnall also coached Mike Fuentes in 2005-06, who was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 29th round of the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft.

Schnall also boasts successful stints as a summer league head coach. In 2001, he coached Front Royal (Va.) of the Valley League and led the Cardinals to the playoffs. In 2002, Schnall was tabbed by the Baseball Factory to coach one of its select summer teams. In addition to his coaching duties, Schnall also had served as Coordinator of the Gary Gilmore Baseball Camp until 2004, which features several summer camps and year-round clinics.

Brendan Dougherty

Assistant Coach: Coastal Carolina University

Brendan Dougherty is in his third season as an assistant coach of the Coastal Carolina baseball team. Dougherty is in charge of the infielders as well as handling the team defense.

Coastal's infielders had a great 2007 season. Chris Raber was an All-Big South first baseman while Derek Martin, Tyler Bortnick and Adam Vrable all were named to the All-Big South Tournament Team. Vrable, Bortnick and Martin also set CCU record for assists by position, while Vrable had the putouts record at second base. Coastal's fielding percentage led the Big South and was in the top-35 in the country.

Dougherty is no stranger to Coastal, having played for the Chants in 1996 and 1997. Dougherty had a .287 batting average for CCU with 40 runs-batted-in in 104 games, most of them at shortstop. He was an excellent defensive shortstop, setting CCU's single-season and career records for assists. Dougherty received his degree in interdisciplinary studies from Coastal in 1998

Dougherty returned to the Conway campus in 2005 from a two-year stint as an assistant at Army, where he coached the infielders and worked on hitting. The Black Knights won the Patriot League Championship and advanced to the NCAA Regionals in both of Dougherty's years. In 2005, Army went to the NCAA Tallahassee Regional and went 1-2 with a win over South Alabama. In his first year at West Point, Dougherty helped second baseman Nate Stone to an All-America honor from the American Baseball Coaches' Association, the first Army player in 40 years to accomplish that feat. In that first season, the Black Knights set school records for base hits, doubles, home runs and total bases.

Dougherty spent the 2003 season at Auburn, working with the Tigers' infielders, outfielders and catchers, while assisting with bunting and baserunning. Auburn hosted a regional in that year and went 42-21 with an 18-12 record in the Southeastern Conference.

Dougherty began his coaching career at Elon University, spending four years as the Phoenix's hitting instructor and recruiting coordinator. During that time, he coached six all-conference performers and helped the Phoenix to their first NCAA Regional appearance in 2002.

Drew Thomas

Assistant Coach: Coastal Carolina University

Drew Thomas begins his second season with the Coastal Carolina University baseball coaching staff as the pitching coach.

The Coastal pitching staff enjoyed tremendous success in 2007, finishing 18th in the country in earned-run average. Bobby Gagg was named Big South Pitcher of the Year while Gagg, David Anderson and Andy DeLaGarza all were named to the All-Big South teams. Gagg was a Second Team All-America by Collegiate Baseball and a Second Team All-Region selection by the ABCA. Freshman Nick McCully also was named to the All-Big South Tournament Team and was an All-Freshman Team selection by Ping! Baseball.

Thomas comes to Coastal from the IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla., where he had worked since 2003. He was the roving pitching instructor for the Florida Collegiate Instructional League and also was the pitching coach for the Pendleton Academy. Thomas helped develop Chris Perez, a first round draft pick by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006, and also worked with former Chanticleer Steven Carter.

Thomas was a private pitching instructor in Springfield, Ill., from 2001-02. He also was the head coach of the Mason County Legion in Springfield.

He pitched in the San Diego Padres organization in 1998-99, and played for the Canton Crocodiles of the Frontier League in 1999-2000. While with the Crocs, Thomas was the 2000 Frontier League Relief Pitcher of the Year, a League All-Star, and a Second Team Baseball America All-Independent Team member.