University of Georgia Athletics
May 19, 2020 | Baseball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Ryan Gearheart is a high-energy guy. As the strength and conditioning coach for the Georgia baseball program, and the father of a 3-year-old, he has to be.
The Gearheart household normally operates around the Georgia athletics schedule, with Ryan working with baseball and his wife, Paige, working as an assistant athletic trainer for the swimming and diving program. Now, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the whole family is home, spending quality time together.
Prior to coming to Georgia, Gearheart's coaching stops have been in the Midwest, at Ohio State, Eastern Michigan and Kent State, where he first hooked up with Georgia's Ike Cousins Baseball Coach, Scott Stricklin. During a recent Quick Chat, Gearheart talked about becoming a strength coach, staying busy at home, his own days as an athlete and much more.
Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: When you're a strength coach and you're used to spending hours and hours a day helping Georgia student-athletes get in top shape, how do you transition to being at home all day during a pandemic?
Gearheart: Luckily for me, I have a 3-year-old daughter and my wife is pregnant with our second, so the most rewarding part of this whole thing is being able to spend a lot more time with my family. My wife works in athletics as well, so we're both used to being constantly involved with UGA.
It's been really nice to spend a lot of time with my daughter. I think that's probably been the most rewarding part.
Frierson: Every strength coach I've ever met is such a high-energy person, what are you doing to get that energy out since you're not working with the Bulldogs all day?
Gearheart: I'm fortunate to have a great relationship with a lot of our other strength coaches. Coach (Ben) Sowders, he lives a couple of doors down and Coach (Brandon) Hummer, who we just hired, the three of us work out together four or five days a week. They actually just left.
We have a home gym in my garage and Coach Sowders has a gym in his garage, so we alternate days, and luckily we have pretty much all the dumbbells and kettlebells we need. We've had to get creative which has been fun.
I've definitely still been able to train and that's been nice. I don't know what I would do if I wasn't able to.
Frierson: When did you know that this was the path you wanted to take, in terms of coaching and working with student-athletes?
Gearheart: I took a strength and conditioning class my junior year of college at Middle Tennessee State, and in the class, you have to do a lot of practical stuff. I had to go train with the athletes and I knew immediately, like day one when I actually got out there, it was like a light went off in my head.
I got chills talking to you about it right now. I remember it like it was yesterday and I've never looked back.
Frierson: What was it that made the light go off in your head?
Gearheart: I just think it's the effect that you can have on the athletes. Wins and losses, that's what a lot of people see, but a lot of people don't see the grind that student-athletes go through. From waking up early in the making and having to train and having to go to classes and practice and deal with all that stress — we get to work with these kids in a different light.
You get to really know them, you get to see a different side of them and you get to see their character and their perseverance. It's being able to make an impact, that's the biggest thing to me, making an impact on an athlete's life.
Frierson: I would imagine seeing that progress, from when they come in as freshmen to when they leave as seniors, there can be huge physical transformations and that has to be rewarding.
Gearheart: It is amazing to see. You hit it on the head, to see them as a freshman and then to see them leave, you're seeing these young men and women transform into young adults and you see the progressions. I've been fortunate, this is the first place I've been long enough to see kids go through multiple classes, from freshman to senior, and it's sad in a way because you don't ever want to see them go you love them so much.
They're here for a short period of time and hopefully we can have a big impact on them while they're here.
Frierson: Working with multiple sports over the years, how hard is it to come up with different programs for the different sports?
Gearheart: It's interesting, working with baseball and softball for as long as I have, there are a lot of things that you have to take into consideration when you're training these athletes. One of those things is risk versus reward.
I look at baseball and softball and you take the sport emphasis out of it and you look at more of the logistic of the game that they play. Throwing a ball, it's an unnatural movement for the shoulder, so you're not going to want to do anything that causes any issues while they're throwing.
You start looking at baseball pitchers, they're doing an unnatural movement at a very high velocity all the time. We've got to make sure that we're doing the right things to protect that. You do have to kind of step back and think about if this is a movement that's going to put them at risk for something, so it's a little bit more tailored to risk versus reward.
Frierson: Were you a sports-obsessed kid?
Gearheart: I was, man, I love sports, but I was plagued by the injury bug my whole career. I think that's one of the other reasons why I went in this direction. I played football, baseball, track and field, I dabbled in martial arts — I have always been obsessed with sports.
Everyone will boo me for this one but I have been an Ohio State Buckeyes fan since I was a baby. I was born in Columbus, Ohio, my family's all from Columbus and I watched football religiously. It's a way of life for me, it's the same with baseball, and I'm very competitive. My whole life revolves around sports.
Frierson: What's the best meal you've ever had? Is there one that stands out above the rest?
Gearheart: I love steak and one of the best steaks I've ever had was when we went to Mickey Mantle's restaurant when we went to the College World Series (in Oklahoma City) with softball. We went to Mickey Mantle's restaurant and they had a ribeye steak that was insanely good. That must be the No. 1 because it popped right into my head when you said that.
Frierson: If you could be great at anything for a day, just to experience it, what would it be?
Gearheart: I'm going to have to go back to sports and say that I would probably want to be the heavyweight boxing champion of the world. I really like boxing and martial arts, so either a UFC champion or the heavyweight champion of the world, either one of those would good. I'd just like to see how that would feel.
Frierson: If you could have played any sport for Georgia, what would it be?
Gearheart: That's a tough one. I don't know, football is amazing and I love football, but to be a starter on the mound for Georgia baseball would be pretty freaking cool. Man, that's a tough one. I'm going to go with baseball because I work with baseball and I don't want them to think I don't love it, but football would be a tie, honestly.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Staff Writer
Ryan Gearheart is a high-energy guy. As the strength and conditioning coach for the Georgia baseball program, and the father of a 3-year-old, he has to be.
The Gearheart household normally operates around the Georgia athletics schedule, with Ryan working with baseball and his wife, Paige, working as an assistant athletic trainer for the swimming and diving program. Now, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the whole family is home, spending quality time together.
Prior to coming to Georgia, Gearheart's coaching stops have been in the Midwest, at Ohio State, Eastern Michigan and Kent State, where he first hooked up with Georgia's Ike Cousins Baseball Coach, Scott Stricklin. During a recent Quick Chat, Gearheart talked about becoming a strength coach, staying busy at home, his own days as an athlete and much more.
Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: When you're a strength coach and you're used to spending hours and hours a day helping Georgia student-athletes get in top shape, how do you transition to being at home all day during a pandemic?
Gearheart: Luckily for me, I have a 3-year-old daughter and my wife is pregnant with our second, so the most rewarding part of this whole thing is being able to spend a lot more time with my family. My wife works in athletics as well, so we're both used to being constantly involved with UGA.
It's been really nice to spend a lot of time with my daughter. I think that's probably been the most rewarding part.
Frierson: Every strength coach I've ever met is such a high-energy person, what are you doing to get that energy out since you're not working with the Bulldogs all day?
Gearheart: I'm fortunate to have a great relationship with a lot of our other strength coaches. Coach (Ben) Sowders, he lives a couple of doors down and Coach (Brandon) Hummer, who we just hired, the three of us work out together four or five days a week. They actually just left.
We have a home gym in my garage and Coach Sowders has a gym in his garage, so we alternate days, and luckily we have pretty much all the dumbbells and kettlebells we need. We've had to get creative which has been fun.
I've definitely still been able to train and that's been nice. I don't know what I would do if I wasn't able to.
Frierson: When did you know that this was the path you wanted to take, in terms of coaching and working with student-athletes?
Gearheart: I took a strength and conditioning class my junior year of college at Middle Tennessee State, and in the class, you have to do a lot of practical stuff. I had to go train with the athletes and I knew immediately, like day one when I actually got out there, it was like a light went off in my head.
I got chills talking to you about it right now. I remember it like it was yesterday and I've never looked back.
Frierson: What was it that made the light go off in your head?
Gearheart: I just think it's the effect that you can have on the athletes. Wins and losses, that's what a lot of people see, but a lot of people don't see the grind that student-athletes go through. From waking up early in the making and having to train and having to go to classes and practice and deal with all that stress — we get to work with these kids in a different light.
You get to really know them, you get to see a different side of them and you get to see their character and their perseverance. It's being able to make an impact, that's the biggest thing to me, making an impact on an athlete's life.
Frierson: I would imagine seeing that progress, from when they come in as freshmen to when they leave as seniors, there can be huge physical transformations and that has to be rewarding.
Gearheart: It is amazing to see. You hit it on the head, to see them as a freshman and then to see them leave, you're seeing these young men and women transform into young adults and you see the progressions. I've been fortunate, this is the first place I've been long enough to see kids go through multiple classes, from freshman to senior, and it's sad in a way because you don't ever want to see them go you love them so much.
They're here for a short period of time and hopefully we can have a big impact on them while they're here.
Frierson: Working with multiple sports over the years, how hard is it to come up with different programs for the different sports?
Gearheart: It's interesting, working with baseball and softball for as long as I have, there are a lot of things that you have to take into consideration when you're training these athletes. One of those things is risk versus reward.
I look at baseball and softball and you take the sport emphasis out of it and you look at more of the logistic of the game that they play. Throwing a ball, it's an unnatural movement for the shoulder, so you're not going to want to do anything that causes any issues while they're throwing.
You start looking at baseball pitchers, they're doing an unnatural movement at a very high velocity all the time. We've got to make sure that we're doing the right things to protect that. You do have to kind of step back and think about if this is a movement that's going to put them at risk for something, so it's a little bit more tailored to risk versus reward.
Frierson: Were you a sports-obsessed kid?
Gearheart: I was, man, I love sports, but I was plagued by the injury bug my whole career. I think that's one of the other reasons why I went in this direction. I played football, baseball, track and field, I dabbled in martial arts — I have always been obsessed with sports.
Everyone will boo me for this one but I have been an Ohio State Buckeyes fan since I was a baby. I was born in Columbus, Ohio, my family's all from Columbus and I watched football religiously. It's a way of life for me, it's the same with baseball, and I'm very competitive. My whole life revolves around sports.
Frierson: What's the best meal you've ever had? Is there one that stands out above the rest?
Gearheart: I love steak and one of the best steaks I've ever had was when we went to Mickey Mantle's restaurant when we went to the College World Series (in Oklahoma City) with softball. We went to Mickey Mantle's restaurant and they had a ribeye steak that was insanely good. That must be the No. 1 because it popped right into my head when you said that.
Frierson: If you could be great at anything for a day, just to experience it, what would it be?
Gearheart: I'm going to have to go back to sports and say that I would probably want to be the heavyweight boxing champion of the world. I really like boxing and martial arts, so either a UFC champion or the heavyweight champion of the world, either one of those would good. I'd just like to see how that would feel.
Frierson: If you could have played any sport for Georgia, what would it be?
Gearheart: That's a tough one. I don't know, football is amazing and I love football, but to be a starter on the mound for Georgia baseball would be pretty freaking cool. Man, that's a tough one. I'm going to go with baseball because I work with baseball and I don't want them to think I don't love it, but football would be a tie, honestly.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
Wednesday, June 17
Wednesday, June 17
Monday, June 15
Sunday, June 14