Torero skipper readies for year four at the helm in San Diego after leading USD to WCC Championship in 2024
SAN DIEGO — It’s fall, the air is getting crisp, and Major League Baseball postseason action is in full swing. Next to spring’s college baseball championships, the MLB playoff season may be Coach Brock Ungricht‘s second favorite time of year. He would be quick to say it’s all especially sweet in 2024 since USD ended May by taking home the West Coast Conference (WCC) championship trophy, which was followed by a gratifying major league season for the San Diego Padres, capping off with a trip into the playoffs. For a hometown San Diegan and the ultimate baseball enthusiast, it’s definitely been a year to look back on with satisfaction.
Baseball lovers around the globe remember the joyful faces of Coach Ungricht’s team as ESPN captured the Toreros’ celebration in the pool at Las Vegas Ballpark after they clinched the WCC tourney. The 2024 Toreros baseball team was reveling in a thrilling win over Portland, making them the undisputed champ of the conference for the second time in three years. San Diego ended the season with 41 wins and battled through the conference championship games and were enjoying some hard-earned horsing around in the water.
The soaking wet Toreros team went on to land further accolades all around. Jakob Christian was named the WCC Player of the Year, Ariel Armas earned the WCC Defensive Player of the Year, and Logan Reddemann was named the conference’s Freshman of the Year.
Those kinds of awards and recognitions aren’t new for Ungricht-coached teams at USD. During his tenure at USD, eight Toreros have been named to the All-WCC First Team, two have been named First-Team All-Americans, and 10 players have been selected in the annual MLB Draft.
But the wins, team stats, and even the honors don’t tell the full story of a team under Coach Ungricht and what he means to Torero baseball. He’s not just a coach but a firm believer in building up the lives of his student-athletes.
Just try going into the baseball offices at Fowler Park and attempt to get past the front door of Ungricht’s lair without stopping to say hello and report how you’re doing. He’s positioned all the coaches’ offices to be the first thing players encounter when they come in for the day. Stopping to chat is a must-do with Ungricht. He works hard to finish up his administrative tasks early because the stream of players arriving is his favorite part of the day. The check-in is not only part of the respect and courtesy he believes one is taught, but it’s also because he genuinely cares and wants to know how their day is going. And it’s contagious: It’s hard to get past one of his Toreros players without them extending a hand and pleasantly introducing themselves.
Now, get these same players on the field and they will turn into a competitive nightmare for opposing teams. But off the field, in the classroom and community, Ungricht reminds them they still represent the name on the front of their jerseys. There are no off-days from representing San Diego and who Ungricht believes Torero players should be.
While his workouts can be intense, so are his teaching methods. He believes his job is not just winning games, but also about building character and offering an education to players for a lifetime. How to treat others. How to respect yourself. How to work as a team, no matter what the effort may be. How to live a life admirably and fully. Whew. That’s demanding, but Brock Ungricht learned the same lessons from his father, a Hall of Fame Cross Country and Track & Field coach right here in San Diego. His dad, Dan, is a legend in these parts, and Brock, a teacher as well as a coach just like his Dad, admits he’s always still learning from him.
If one hears Brock Ungricht talk baseball or life, he always returns to a few foundational principles. He believes in coaching his players with love, and loving them hard, but also coaching them hard. He believes every one of his coaches – himself included – and every one of his players has a responsibility to be accountable to each other and to themselves. He wants to know how each player is doing in every class – and he doesn’t tolerate absences or tardiness. He even expects a USD player to cut his hair, tuck in his shirt, shave daily, and to be polite to everyone, every day, everywhere. His assistant coaches meet with each player every two weeks to go over their individual “player plans.” Each is accountable for his plan and his performance.
“How you do anything is how you do everything,” Ungricht says. He says it with conviction, like everything else, and a listener cannot help but believe him and sit up a little straighter in his presence. He has that effect.
Ungricht also emphasizes what he and players refer to regularly as “FICAR,” or “Family, Integrity, Competitiveness, Academics, and Respect.” Both he and his players have deeper meanings attached to these words.
He says, simply, “We love our players but we also believe in discipline.” Without the first, he says, the second would make everything just hard work or punishment. The result of his mantras, without question, is winning results. And, he smiles when he says, “It pays to be winners.” His players know it well.
Brock Ungricht‘s teacher-coach relationships with his student-athletes go deeper than performance on the field, or even performance during their time playing for him at USD.
Sitting under a signed Tony Gwynn jersey, Ungricht talks about his influences and his goals. He talks about his Dad, and about coaches and mentors who helped shape him. Gwynn was one of them. Growing up in San Diego, like anyone else during the ’90’s who loved baseball, Ungricht couldn’t miss the giant presence of the Padres’ Gwynn. Gwynn, an MLB Hall of Famer who spent all his pro days in San Diego and remained here to coach San Diego State, gave a young Brock – back then a talented player for the Aztecs – his time and his advice. Brock soaked it all up.
“Everything you do matters,” Ungricht says. “Gwynn taught me a lot about baseball, but probably more about teaching and about how to work with others. He was a mentor to me long after my playing days. I learned from him – like I did from my Dad – that caring doesn’t end with the task you’re working on. Caring is a full-time job.”
When asked what from his career or lifetime makes him most proud, he hesitates and grows a little introspective, if not emotional.
“Oh, personally, it’s always about my faith, and my family, first,” he says. “With my players it’s about their lives. It’s about watching young men come through here and grow as athletes and as men. I love seeing them come back after graduating to tell us about their lives. That’s what it’s all about. If we’ve in any way better prepared them for those lives, tapping into the value of love and accountability, then it makes me very happy.”
Brock Ungricht says he felt great joy watching his Toreros jump into the pool in Las Vegas after winning the WCC Championship last season. He knew their joy came from the efforts they had put in all year, working hard alone and together, to be the best. He knew their joy came from the relationships they had with each other. He knows it will be those relationships and memories that will be with them forever.
And, with him.
