Podcast: Mike Gambino on 1-year anniversary of Penn State hire

Mike Gambino led Penn State to a 29-24 record in his first season as head coach. (PSU Athletics)

July 3 marks the one-year anniversary of Mike Gambino’s hire as the head coach at Penn State. The former Boston College coach joined Dan Guttenplan on The Base Path Podcast to reflect on his first year in Happy Valley, Pa.

“I had been (at BC) for 13 years,” Gambino said. “That was a really hard decision at the time. Leaving players that I love, my alma mater, the alumni that were all my friends, there was a lot of stuff about leaving Boston College.

“It was really, really hard and emotional for us. I said (to my wife): ‘If we knew then what we know now, think about how much easier the decision would have been. Because personally and professionally, we’re both so happy.”

Gambino had a historically successful first year as coach of the Nittany Lions, leading the squad to a record of 29-24, more wins than any first-year coach in Penn State history. He also led the eighth-seeded Nittany Lions to a run to the Big Ten Tournament championship series for the first time since 2000.

“I don’t want us to be a program that nobody thinks we can win, and we’re always out to prove everybody wrong,” Gambino said. “I don’t want us to be that in the long term. I want us to believe we’re going to go to the ballpark, and we’re going to win. We’re going to execute at a high level and try to win baseball games. Towards the end of the season, we embraced that.”

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Listen to the entire podcast with Mike Gambino.