Letter from Mike Fox to the UNC Community

August 7, 2020
Letter from Mike Fox to the UNC Community:

Serving as the head baseball coach at my alma mater for the past 22 seasons has been one of the greatest blessings of my professional life. I have been in love with the University of North Carolina since I was a young boy. To see my dream of becoming a Tar Heel student, player and coach is hard for me to even comprehend.

I came to Chapel Hill in the fall of 1974 as a true walk-on, eventually made the JV baseball and basketball teams, played in the College World Series as a senior and returned as head coach for 22 unforgettable seasons. The experiences I have been so fortunate to live out and the relationships I have made as a player and coach have gone way beyond anything I could ever have imagined. Those experiences have exceeded even my dreams to this very day.

I have been extremely fortunate to have coached outstanding young men and incredible players. They took me on a wonderful ride from my first game to the last. It would be impossible to single out players, as they all have played a part in putting our program where it is now. I cannot thank them enough for what they did for Carolina baseball and my staff and me each and every day. They inspired and amazed me every day with their extraordinary play, how they gave so much to the program, fared so well academically and gave back to the community, as well. I am also very proud that a vast majority of these players have earned their degree from the University of North Carolina.

I would like to thank Dick Baddour for hiring me and providing me the opportunity to return to Carolina and lead the baseball program. His belief and trust in me, his advice and wisdom and our continued friendship will always be appreciated and cherished. Larry Gallo has been my mentor and one of my strongest supporters. He is a special man; I was fortunate to have an administrator in Larry who coached college baseball and had incredible knowledge and experience to pass along to me. Larry always listened and had my back. Beth Miller was my direct supervisor for more than 15 years and I thank her for the support and friendship. Even after retirement she is still a mainstay at Boshamer Stadium on game day, which tells you all about Dr. Miller.

I have been so fortunate to work with only six full time assistant coaches while at UNC. To begin my tenure with Roger Williams and Chad Holbrook, two great former Tar Heel players, already on staff was invaluable in helping me transition to Division I. I will always be indebted to them for their insight, loyalty and dedication and helping me with that transition.

Scott Jackson and Robert Woodard and Bryant Gaines were incredible assistant coaches. Each is hardworking, loyal and dedicated to their core. They were responsible for recruiting each and every great player I have had the pleasure of coaching. Scott was with me for eight years, Robert for five and Bryant is currently the pitching coach and is in his second stint totaling five seasons.

These five men have been an integral part of the success of Carolina baseball. I am so proud to see Chad, Scott and Robert as head coaches of their own college programs, and Roger is one of the finest pitching coaches in the nation.

Our 'volunteer' coaches – Ned French, Alex Marconi, Jason Howell, Matt McCay, Jesse Wierzbicki – have also played a major role in our success. These are all extraordinary men and coaches. Jesse continues to serve in this role for us and is a tremendous teacher and is well respected by our players.

And of course, our new head coach, Scott Forbes has been by my side for the past 23 years. He was an outstanding player at N.C. Wesleyan and has been part of my coaching staffs in every conceivable role – assistant at Wesleyan, volunteer coach for four years in Chapel Hill and assistant coach since 2006. He has served as pitching coach, third base coach, hitting instructor, recruiting coordinator and associate head coach.

Scott has been the mainstay for any and all success of Carolina baseball since 1998 because of his loyalty, work ethic and passion. I have been so very blessed to work with Scott and consider his wife, Mandy, and him and their daughters, Hannah and Ally, as members of my family. Scott is a great coach, but a better person.

He turned down several opportunities to move on to other jobs to stay at Carolina. He is more than ready to be a head coach and will do an excellent job. I am very grateful to our Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham for rewarding Scott's loyalty, believing in his ability to lead the program and keeping the consistency within the program.

I am equally grateful to the entire Carolina community for all of your support. My coaching colleagues are a phenomenal group. The bar is so very high with every Carolina sport and it has been both exciting and challenging to 'keep up' with them all. I have sought and received counsel from many of these incredible people and coaches and I thank them for that. It is truly a coaching staff that supports one another.

Thanks to Bubba for his support the last 10 seasons. He heads a team that includes countless people in the athletic department who work with our players in academic support, athletic training, sports medicine, strength training, community service, spiritual guidance, operations, equipment, sports information, marketing, radio and every area that helps our program. To athletic trainer Terri Jo Rucinski, Drs. Mario Ciocca and Alex Creighton, strength coach Greg Gatz, administrative assistant Joan Holt, director of operations Dave Arendas, marketing director Michael Beale, equipment manager Tyler Puryear, director of grounds and turf management Casey Carrick and sports nutritionist Kelsee Gomes – I thank you for caring so deeply about our players' well-being and development. It showed daily and we were successful in all areas because of you.

We built Bryson Field at Boshamer Stadium in 2008. With the help of John Montgomery, Ken Mack and the Rams Club staff, project manager Mike Bunting and alumni Vaughn and Nancy Bryson, we were able to design and construct one of the finest college baseball facilities in the country. I am so very proud that our fans, donors and former players contributed nearly $24 million for this project. Suite revenues and ticket sales helped us completely fund the renovation. It has been an absolute joy to practice and play at this beautiful stadium for the last 12 years. I cannot thank Vaughn and Nancy enough for all their generosity, not only with the stadium, but their overall and on-going support of the program.

I owe an unrepayable debt of gratitude to all those players, coaches, support staff and teachers/coaches who I started with at Millbrook High School and then N.C. Wesleyan College. There are too many to list, but I know I would not be at Carolina without each and every one of them. My 15 years in Rocky Mount were some of the best years of my life as I began my career in college coaching, and Cheryl and I started our family. I was associated with some incredible people, including two of my most impactful mentors in Don Scalf and Moe Bauer. Both were strong men of character and faith who taught me so much. My N.C. Wesleyan players were so dedicated and played for the love of the game. They are most directly responsible for my having the opportunity to return to Chapel Hill. I will be forever indebted to them all.

Most importantly, I would never had made it this long in coaching without my family.

My father and mother, Lou and Barbara Fox, are certainly on my mind. They set me on this path many years ago. I learned toughness, courage and resiliency from my dad, who unfortunately passed away the day before I was offered the position at UNC. He put a baseball uniform on me at 4 years old and has been with me every game since. We had many a 'talk' on my way home from a game.   I learned love, compassion and tolerance from my mom. She was my biggest fan and I am so thankful we experienced both Carolina and Omaha together until her passing in 2011. I will always be grateful to our 2011 team for honoring her during the NCAA regional.

My wife, Cheryl, has been with me every step of the way. She has supported me, encouraged me, challenged me, leveled me and consoled me but, most importantly, rejoiced with me. She sacrificed much our married life for me to be able to follow my passion. She has been my best friend for 36 years and I look forward to spending more time with her. These last five months we have had such a good time together, especially being grandparents. She is an incredible woman and did an amazing job raising our two children, Matthew and Morgan. I owe my children so much because they were very supportive of me coaching and understood the time demands and necessary sacrifices. They loved coming to games and cheering on dad's teams and for that I am so grateful.

I am still very much in love with everything about the University of North Carolina and, of course, I will always be a Tar Heel.

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