Baseball Names Gordon Director of Player Development
COLUMBIA – The University of South Carolina baseball team and head coach Paul Mainieri have hired Chris Gordon as the Gamecocks’ Director of Player Development, it was announced this afternoon (Monday, July 22). In his role, Gordon will be the Director of Analytics as well as the Camp Coordinator for the Gamecocks.
“Chris is going to be a valuable member of our staff. In today’s game, analytics, technology, and statistics play a vital role in player development, recruiting, scouting reports, and game strategy,” Mainieri said. “Chris’ proficiency in all of the developmental systems we have at our access such as Trackman, Bats Video System, Edgertronic Cameras, Newtforce Mounds and Hitting Force Plates, Rapsodo, and Blast Motion for hitters is outstanding and his ability to analyze the data to make recommendations to the coaches will be critical. In addition, Chris will be tasked with growing our camp program at Founders Park and his significant experience in the past as a camp director will lead to great success on this front.”
Gordon comes to the Midlands after spending two seasons on the baseball staff at the University of Texas as the Coordinator, Hitting and Pitching Development. Gordon was elevated to the on-field coaching staff during the 2024 season and worked directly with the pitchers.
The Longhorns saw several pitchers have breakout seasons and fill significant roles in 2024. Relief pitcher Gage Boehm was named First Team All-Big 12 after leading the Longhorns with eight saves, while recording a 2.53 ERA with 60 strikeouts in 53.1 innings pitched. Andre Duplantier II also had a resurgence out of the bullpen in his senior season, making a team-high 29 appearances and posting a 3.09 ERA with a 2-2 record, three saves and 53 strikeouts in 43.2 innings. Starting pitchers Max Grubbs and Ace Whitehead were both named Honorable Mention All-Big 12 after their first seasons in the weekend rotation. Grubbs led the team with six wins and held a 3.67 ERA in 73.2 innings, while Whitehead went 4-2 with a 4.16 ERA in 67 innings pitched.
In Gordon’s first season at Texas in 2023, the Longhorns returned only two everyday starters in the lineup and just 23 home runs from the previous season and still came just one game short of advancing to a third-straight College World Series. Despite featuring an almost entirely new lineup, the Longhorns batted .293 as a team and averaged just over seven runs per game. On the pitching side, the Longhorns finished the season ranked 10th nationally with a 4.18 ERA and second in the Big 12 with a .245 opponents’ batting average. Lucas Gordon was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and earned first team All-American honors, while Lebarron Johnson Jr. was recognized on the All-Big 12 First Team and received second team All-America recognition.
Gordon served on the Duke baseball staff from 2017-22 and was elevated to the program’s Pitching Coach in February 2021 after four seasons as Special Assistant to the Head Coach.
In 2022, Gordon led the pitching staff to break the program record in strikeouts per nine innings set the season before, producing 10.60 strikeouts per game to rank third in the ACC and in the top 15 nationally. Overall, the Blue Devils struck out 563 batters to rank third in program history and third in the ACC, in addition to ranking fifth in the league in strikeouts looking (120). Gordon mentored Fox to become the third Blue Devil in program history to record 11+ strikeouts per nine innings in back-to-back seasons, joining major leaguer Marcus Stroman (2011-12) and Art Bradshear (1904-05).
Gordon’s first season as the pitching coach was a historic one, helping lead the Blue Devils to the 2021 ACC Tournament Championship title, the first in program history. As a team, Duke’s pitching staff broke the school record in strikeouts per nine innings (9.81) and ranked third in strikeouts per walk (2.62), fourth in fewest hits allowed (471) and fifth in saves (14). Individually, Gordon oversaw the development Freshman All-American southpaw Luke Fox and right-handed pitcher Marcus Johnson, who tied each other for third in the ACC in ERA (3.05). Johnson finished the 2021 season with a 0.93 WHIP, the second-best in program history, while Fox’s 12.21 strikeouts per nine innings placed sixth in school lore.
In his previous position from 2017-20, Gordon coordinated team travel and meals, assisted with the recruiting process and on-campus visits, facilitated the team’s statistics and analytics technology, and coordinated all Duke baseball camps.
Gordon moved to Duke from East Tennessee State University, where he served four seasons as the program’s pitching coach and recruiting coordinator (2014-17). In his final season as the pitching coach at East Tennessee State, Gordon’s staff threw a school-record 461 strikeouts to help the program to their first winning season since 2013. Gordon first joined the Buccaneers as volunteer assistant coach in 2013.
Prior to his time at ETSU, Gordon served as an assistant coach at Milligan for five seasons. He coached the hitters and catchers during his first season before transitioning to the team’s pitching coach and recruiting coordinator in 2010.
Gordon also coached in the Alaskan Baseball League, serving as the Mat-Su Miners’ pitching coach in 2011 and head coach in 2012. In 2008, Gordon accepted his first coaching position as an assistant at Science Hill.
Gordon played at Milligan College from 2003-07 and completed his Bachelor of Art’s degree in history in 2007. He was a member of the Buffs’ record-setting 2004 team and 2005 NAIA Region XII runner-up squad. Gordon and his wife, Kelley, have one son, C.J.
