With over 28 years with the Allegheny College baseball program under his belt, head baseball coach Mike Ferris is heading for the sidelines.

Ferris has been involved on the Gator diamond as a student, student assistant coach, volunteer assistant coach, assistant coach and, for the past 11 years, head coach. But the grind of being a head coach began to wear on the 45-year-old and thoughts of resigning began to creep into his head. Still, actually leaving the Gator dugout didn’t truly materialize until this season finally came to a close.

“Most people don’t realize what goes into being a head coach other than showing up for practice and games,” said Ferris. “There is a lot of administrative work, recruiting, doing fundraisers. It really doesn’t leave a lot of time for a personal life.

“I just felt it was time to do something different.”

Ferris is not exactly sure what he will do next.

He said he would like to stay involved with athletics, as that is his field of expertise. He did say that remaining with Allegheny was unlikely.

“My qualifications are as a baseball coach,” he said. “I don’t think there is anything else (at Allegheny) I would be qualified for.”

Ferris did not rule out relocation, nor did he rule out a return to the diamond.

“Not really sure,” said Ferris. “Right now I am leaning towards not coaching. But that could change in a couple days or even in a couple years. But I am not sure what I am going to do yet.

“When you spend so much of your life in one spot, you don’t really know the opportunities that may be available out there.”

As for his replacement ...

“I am sure that Allegheny will open a broad search and choose the best person for the job,” said Ferris.

Ferris spent five seasons as the assistant coach to Rick Creehan. Creehan groomed Ferris to take over the position when he left. Ferris said if he had known he was going to leave, he would have liked to do the same thing.

“I would have done that if I knew I was going to leave,” said Ferris. “But, I was groomed to take over for five years. But if you look at our program over the last several years, (assistant coaches) are in and out. So I didn’t really have an opportunity to groom anyone, either.”

Since 1998, Ferris and the Gators have built one of the strongest baseball programs in Division III.