One of the first words to tumble from the lips of University of Akron baseball coach Rick Rembielak is “ironic.”
It’s not ironic that Rembielak, a Cleveland native, returned to the area after spending five years coaching at Wake Forest in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The twist comes from the fact that Rembielak, a member of the Kent State Hall of Fame, left his position as the Golden Flashes’ top baseball man to go south, only to return to coach the archrival Zips.
Rembielak found himself out of a job when Wake Forest declined to renew his contract. Before joining Georgia Tech as a volunteer coach for the 2010-11 season, he put the word out to friends in the area, including his former boss at Kent State, Athletic Director emeritus Laing Kennedy, that he was looking for a coaching gig.
“He helped me out in the process,” Rembielak said of Kennedy.
Rembielak probably didn’t need a lot of help. A three-time MAC Coach of the Year — he has won four regular-season conference titles and three league tournament titles to go with more than 500 career victories — gave UA a good reason to snap him up.
Strange feelings
Rembielak acknowledged that things will feel different with him being in the Zips’ dugout. He still knows people at Kent State, including the team’s pitching coach, Mike Birkbeck.
He remembers Kennedy, too, and how he always lent support that went above the call of duty, and that extended to Akron’s search for a new coach.
Kennedy had little problem recommending Rembielak for the Zips’ job. That doesn’t mean Kennedy is immune to how it will feel when the two teams meet for the first time in the regular season’s closing series.
“It will seem strange, but at the same time, I have very loyal love for [our] coach, Scott Stricklin and for Rick,” Kennedy said. “I just wish them all great success.”
Changing attitudes
Half the battle on the way to that success is winning the minds of the people who follow you. Judging from the reception Rembielak received from his players, that part offers few problems for him. He replaced coach Pat Bangston, who resigned last season after six years and a 16-37 season in 2011. For some on the team, including senior pitcher Andrew Brown, Bangston was the person who brought them into the program. Brown said he has adapted quickly.
“Bangston was much more old school going about things,” said Brown, a native of Painesville. Rembielak “brings a lot of fun to practice, laughing and joking around with us.”
Brown is quick to point out, however, that it’s all business on the field.
Senior third baseman Sam Watkins agreed, adding that Rembielak and his staff have done a tremendous job of communicating with the team.
“It’s huge for me to see how our attitude has changed and how we’re ready to go. Not that we weren’t in past years, but we really feel like we’re going to do some damage in the MAC this year,” he said.
On the attack
It feels different to Zips players, but Rembielak said that his trip south hasn’t changed his coaching style very much. He said that he did pick up a trick or two from watching teams play baseball in the ACC.
“It’s very, very aggressive. You can kind of compare it to football in that you’re getting that 6-foot-5 lineman or linebacker that’s built like a barn, but can run like a deer,” he said of ACC play. “You see more of those athletes in that level of baseball. They’re bigger, they’re faster, they’re stronger and there’s a lot of them.”
For him, it’s not just about what knowledge he can impart to his players; it’s also what he’s learned.
“With what I went through, I’m hoping I’m a better coach. The experience I had down in the ACC was wonderful,” he said. “Why change something if it’s successful?”
The realities
As the season approaches quickly — the Zips open against Elon in North Carolina this Friday — the evaluation of the team is over.
“We really had to feel out who could do what. I think we have a really good handle on that,” he said.
His generally upbeat tone and enthusiasm for the game have rubbed off on his team, but he knows that the thoroughbreds he saw in great supply at Wake Forest are not as easily found here, primarily because better weather leads to a longer player season and better players in greater numbers.
“The thing I’m concerned with more than anything is our depth,” he said. “Right now, we need to get a little bit deeper in certain areas. If someone goes down, someone has to step it up. We can’t lose many people.”
Familiarity will help him in the conference. Despite the issue of depth, there exists little doubt that he expects to win.
“I’m a MAC guy,” Rembielak said.
George M. Thomas can be reached at gmthomas@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Zips blog at http://zips.ohio.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GeorgeThomasABJ and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
