Baseball Coach Greg Goff Has Found His Home At Purdue
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. —Oftentimes, circumstances manifest for the best right before our eyes, but we just aren’t aware of them yet, or even in that moment. Sometimes life can close one door and open another, a metaphorical crossroads in life.
For first-year Purdue baseball coach Greg Goff, that theory is coming to fruition — and he can acknowledge it in the moment, which is special. Goff was promoted to the role of head coach in June 2019 after serving as an assistant for the Boilermakers for two years under current Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski.
Being the head coach at Purdue means the world to him.
“It is an absolute privilege to lead the baseball program at Purdue,” Goff said upon being hired. “I take the responsibility of representing Purdue, our alumni and our players very seriously and gratefully. I am humbled to be a part of what Purdue is and what it means to be a Boilermaker.”
Most coaches, regardless of sport, have similar statements when they inherit a program, but there is believability when Goff discusses his plan at the helm of Purdue baseball. He’s a passionate man who lives his life by the Golden Rule, “treat people the way you want to be treated.” His infectious personality and southern twang is easy to draw toward and want to be around.
He has gotten to where he is because of faith, family and discipline.
Coaching was Greg Goff’s first open door in life. Goff was never a great player, just a good one. After high school, he was a pitcher at Jackson State Community College in Mississippi from 1990-91 and then Delta State University from 1992-93. As his playing career was winding down, coaching became a priority, thanks in large part to what he learned from his mother, a former athlete and coach herself.
“I wasn’t always a great player, so I had to work hard just to make myself into a good player,'' Goff said. "I always knew that I loved the game. I knew I always wanted to try to give back to the game, try to have the opportunity to improve other young men’s lives like baseball improved for me.
"It changed my life forever. I got an education, I got a chance to do something I love on a daily basis. My mom coached me all the way up because, you know, my dad had to work all of the time. My mom was an athlete and so she coached me. I saw how much she loved the players and loved coaching, and I just fell in love with it.”
Goff began to build a coaching resume, hopping from assistant coaching roles at Delta State (1994-97), Southeast Missouri State (1998-99) and Kentucky (2000-03). He became a head coach in 2004 at Division II program Montevallo, leading them to their first ever Division II College World Series appearance in 2006.
In 2008, he got his first Division I head coaching job at Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C.. Goff inherited a mess at Campbell, who was just 11-45 the year before his arrival.
This hardly was a problem for a man as driven as Goff, however. By his second season, Campbell had a winning record. In just his fifth year as a head coach, Goff lead them to a 40-win season. Campbell won 40-plus games its next two seasons as well, and in 2014, they earned an NCAA tournament bid, ending a 24-year long drought.
This past weekend, Goff returned to Buise Creek, N.C., for a three-game series, a homecoming to the school that first gave him a chance at the Division I level.
“Just me and you talking right now, you’re about to get me choked up just thinking about it, to be honest with you,'' Goff said. "My family and I, that’s the longest that we’ve ever stayed at one place and it was my first Division I job. We raised our kids there for a number of years, my wife taught in the school, which was right beside the baseball field.
"We just have so many fond memories of the people there that just embraced us and just allowed us to grow as a young family. It will be very emotional as I walk in there this weekend, for sure.”
As Goff moved on from Campbell, he carried his success with him. He was the head coach at Louisiana Tech in 2015 and by 2016, he coached them to 42 wins and led them to a NCAA Division I Regional, yet again breaking a postseason drought, this time of 29 years.
“I think the most important thing I did at any of those programs, I was able to hire some really good people. I surrounded myself with some really good coaches and, to be honest with you, I could’ve never have done that without them,'' he said. "We took over some programs that had not won in a while, so it really took some hard work in the recruiting aspect of it.
"The winning will take care of itself. I think you have to do the little stuff, the stuff inside, on a daily basis that’s really important in building a championship program.”
Culture is also a key aspect for Goff in creating successful programs. “It’s been a huge part of it. I am very disciplined. I run a very disciplined program. I ask a lot of our players, to be honest with you, and I’ve been so fortunate to have guys respond in a positive way and just so blessed.”
However, sometimes life hands out defeats even to the most prepared individuals. After that success at Louisiana Tech, he was hired at Alabama, one of the top programs in the country that was in a downward cycle. In his first season, Alabama won only five conference games — and he was swiftly fired.
Looking for his next opportunity, Goff was hired as a Purdue assistant coach in July of 2017 and now, after Wasikowski moved on to Oregon, it's his program. His contagious positivity has rubbed off in West Lafayette, and the community has reciprocated the sentiment back.
“Well first of all, they don’t make fun of my accent anymore, which is awesome,” Goff joked. “But other than that, the folks here, when we got here two years ago, were just so kind to us. They allowed us to come here and really embrace our family. We love West Lafayette. It’s been awesome for us to come here, and we didn’t know God had a plan for us to stay, and it’s just amazing how that really has worked out for us.”
Goff’s exuberant nature goes beyond baseball, too. He’s a husband to his wife, Tina, and a father to four daughters, Kara, Kiley, Kolby and Kenzie. When he talks about his wife’s support, Kara’s success playing softball at LSU, Kiley being committed to play softball at Purdue next year, Kolby’s passion for volleyball and Kenzie’s love of cheerleading and softball, there’s a deeper admiration displayed. It depicts what Goff is all about — family.
When he’s coaching, it’s still family first. He brought his youngest daughter Kenzie with him to the opening series in Florida, and she was involved by being the bat girl. When he’s not spending his days on the baseball diamond, he enjoys watching his daughters participate in their respective sports or spending family time on the farm. He even treats his ducks on the farm like family.
“Baseball does take a big part of our lives, but going through these last two years as an assistant has just helped me deal with all that and just appreciate family and life and what God gives us on a daily basis,'' Goff said. "I want my daughters to have fun, and I want to bless them and try to be the dad that I need to be.”
Goff is as authentic as it comes, and he carries the importance of the family bond into his job by creating a culture in the locker room that prides itself on acceptance and accountability. It’s relatively easy to see how he was able to turn multiple baseball programs around, but it hasn’t always come without complications.
As some doors closed along Goff’s path, he moved past them gracefully and has now arrived at an open door at Purdue. It’s in his transparency that you can see that Goff is right where he’s meant to be.
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