John Anderson Celebrates Unique Milestone With Gophers

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Gopher baseball team opened Big Ten play this weekend. It is John Anderson's 35th season as head coach.

It's quite a milestone and to do it in his home state the whole time, Anderson considers himself a lucky man.

You don't keep your job for 35 years in competitive sports unless you win a lot of games. In all that time, John Anderson's had a grand total of two losing seasons.

"We've won because we've been able to recruit kids who trust us and believe in our culture and believe in the way we do things," Anderson said.

To hear Anderson tell it, what he's most proud of isn't how well he's done it or how long he's done it, but how he's done it.

"It's not about the winning to me. The winning's a byproduct of creating the right culture, being a consistent, strong leader. Taking an interest in the kids other than whether they can help you win a game, but developing a relationship with them where they really sincerely know you care about them, as a person. You care that they earn a degree," Anderson said. "My core philosophy is through baseball, I've tried to prepare people for the next 50 years of their lives, I'm very patient, I don't get rid of kids because maybe they don't come here and play at the level we'd hoped they would.

"It's never been just about the wins and losses for me, it's more been about trying to help young people grow up," Anderson said.

Anderson signed a five-year contract extension in March through 2021 -- that would take him to 40 years leading the program. A milestone to be sure, but Anderson's not sure about reaching it.

"I'll be honest with you, I signed a 5-year contract, my goal is to finish that contract, but I've told people within the university as well as people in the recruiting world, that my goal is to continue to be the baseball coach here as long as I feel like I have the energy.

"I've seen people stay too long. It's ugly. I don't want to be one of those guys. So this is going to be year by year, and only because the kids deserve my best effort," Anderson said.