FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA SPORTS INFORMATION
Tuesday, July 5, 2005

FOUR FINALIST FOR UWF BASEBALL HEAD COACHING JOB SET FOR INTERVIEWS.

Contact: Jake Fish
Phone: (850) 474-2140
July 5, 2005

Four Finalists for UWF Baseball Head Coaching Job Set for Interviews

PENSACOLA, FLA - The search committee has narrowed the lengthy search for a new West Florida head baseball coach to four finalists. For the first time since 1982, the position opened up this spring when head coach Jim Spooner retired following his 23rd season with the Argonauts.
The search committee examined 153 applications for the position. They filtered through an extremely talented and qualified candidate pool to eight potential suitors. The committee conducted eight phone interviews last week, and have reduced the field down to four finalists.

West Florida head assistant coach Mike Jeffcoat, former eight-year major leaguer and Escambia High School graduate Jim Presley, Embry-Riddle University head coach Greg Guilliams, and Southeast Missouri State University associate head coach andTate High School graduate Scott Southard are the four finalists.Jeffcoat has served as the head assistant/pitching coach under Spooner for five seasons. West Florida has a 150-113 (.570) overall record since his arrival, and a 60-45 (.571) mark in Gulf South Conference (GSC) games. The Argonauts had consecutive GSC East Division titles in 2003-04. Pitching has been a huge component to the Argos success. In five years Jeffcoat led the UWF pitching staff to a stingy 3.75 ERA. In 2003 the Argos posted the top ERA in the NCAA Division II at 2.70. Jeffcoat came to UWF following a five-year stint as the head coach at Alabama Southern Community College. He also served as a graduate assistant at Pensacola Junior College. As a player, Jeffcoat was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals following a successful two-year pitching career at UWF.

Presley has worked as a coach within the Arizona Diamondbacks organization since 1996. In 2004 Presley served as manager for the Missoula Osprey, a Rookie League affiliate to the Diamondbacks. From 1998-2000, Presley was the hitting coach for Diamondbacks major league club. In 1999, Arizona won the National League West. In 1996-98, Presley coordinated all Diamondback hitting programs for spring training and minor league seasons. Presley broke into the coaching ranks as an assistant at Pensacola Junior College. He played eight seasons in the Major Leagues, including six years with Seattle, one with Atlanta, and one with San Diego. In 1986, Presley was an All-Star with the Mariners.

Scott Southard has been involved with Southeast Missouri State University baseball since 1999. Southard was the Assistant Baseball Coach from 1999-2003, before being promoted to Associate Head Baseball Coach in 2004. At Southeast Missouri, Southard has helped lead the Redhawks to 168 wins over the past five seasons. He has also assisted 36 All-Ohio Valley Conference selections, one OVC Athlete of the Year, eight All-American student athletes, and 16 student athletes who were drafted by Major League Baseball organizations. Southard played college baseball at the University of South Alabama, and was drafted by the Florida Marlins, where he played for three seasons.

Greg Guilliams has served as the head coach of NAIA Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University since 1991. Since that time, Guilliams has put together a record of 570-217-1 at Embry-Riddle, and this past season, he led the Eagles to a 53-10 record as the NAIA national runner up. In his 15 years as head coach, Guilliams has led the Eagles to five NAIA College World Series appearances. He has also produced seven conference championships, and coached 33 All-Americans, 14 Academic All-American selections and 17 players selected in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. Prior to his arrival at Embry-Riddle, Guilliams was head coach at Pennsylvania State University-Behrend College in Erie, PA. His professional experience includes a stint in the Atlanta Braves minor league organization from 1984-1985.

West Florida athletic director Richard Berg will conduct his own interview with each coach. The UWF baseball team will also meet with the candidates. The Public is invited to attend the following forums for each candidate.

Public Forums

*Presley's interviews were conducted on July 7th.