With the departure of previous head coach Matt Markovich, SF State Director of Athletics Michael J. Simpson needed to find a new coach for the baseball team, and he picked a winner. Literally.

Coach Tony Dress is the newest Gator on campus and brings a tradition of winning with him. Last season, he brought the Los Medanos Mustangs to the playoffs for the first time in 16 years. Now, Dress is looking to breathe life into a Gator baseball program that finished the 2005 season with 22 wins and 31 losses, by instilling quality values and respect for the game.

“We look to create student athletes who are not only successful on the field, but in the classroom,” Dress said. “If we can do that, we will all be successful.”

He believes by holding his players accountable and getting them to set individual goals, he can monitor their productivity and help them along the way. This will ultimately translate into achieving goals as a team.

“We want to win the league, that’s the goal,” Dress said. “Everything is one step at a time, we have to learn to crawl before we can walk.”

Coach Dress grew up in the East Bay as an Oakland A’s fan. He still wears the number 26 to this day to tribute former Athletic Joe Rudi.

“I pretty much wanted to change my name to Tony Joe Rudi Dress,” he said.

Dress learned the intricacies of the game from his father, who was also a coach.

“There are so many other great people that have played the game, and if you can’t respect the game then we will have problems,” he said. “That’s when we will take a walk.”

Coach Dress’ impressive achievement list in baseball includes working overseas as the regional game developer for Major League Baseball and working as the assistant to the general manager for the Wichita Wranglers, a minor league affiliate to the Kansas City Royals. He draws from these experiences in his coaching and brings a genuine enthusiasm toward sharing his knowledge with the people he works with on the field.

“The greatest opportunity is being a coach,” Dress said, “because I am doing what I love.”