How Coach Gerlich Gives Her Girls Staying Power

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The Making of a Champion
Though she graduated high school in Spearman, Texas, a small town of 3,500 just two and a half hours north of Amarillo, Lady Buff’s Head Basketball Coach Krista Gerlich is quick to add, “But from sixth to tenth grade I went to school in Sudan. They get hurt if I don’t mention them, too.”

She laughs at the notion of a city wanting to claim her, to be able to say, “This is her hometown.” Her kindness to oblige is not only indicative of her notoriety but also of her humility.

Krista was born into a family of educators. Her mother, Phyllis Kirkman, taught Special Education and Elementary P.E., or whatever position happened to be available at the school where her father, Jim, coached.

“When we moved to Sudan, that’s when I caught the passion,” Krista says, in the ladies locker room at the First United Bank Center. “It’s such a small town that that’s all you did – play basketball. My dad was my coach, so I grew up dreaming of winning a state championship with him.”

The gym was always open in Sudan, the tiny town west of Lubbock, which meant Krista was always there. With her father’s instruction and a brother who also played, her talent and interest in basketball was cultivated both on the court and at home. She went on to play for Spearman High School her junior and senior years and graduated Salutatorian of her class. Krista accepted a scholarship to Texas Tech, and she returned to Lubbock in 1989.

Krista started her college experience as a business major. While she may have done well in math, she bombed her first botany test and subsequently went home the next weekend in tears. The distress of her first freshman semester continued. Though her father tutored her on weekends and her parents encouraged her to keep trying, she came home at winter break wanting to quit school and move back to Spearman.

“I wasn’t getting to play as much as I hoped to, and some of the seniors weren’t so nice to me, so it wasn’t a great semester. I mean, I was a good student and I found out later that my mom called Coach Sharpe concerned that I might flunk,” she says. “I told my parents I didn’t want to go back, and Dad said, ‘Oh, you’re going back.’”

Mortified over her lowered GPA and further frustrated with her lack of court time, Krista mustered the courage to return in January, and suddenly, things started to look brighter. She switched her major to follow in the footsteps of her father, and after feeling more acclimated to college life and scoring more time on the basketball court, Krista finished her first year of college with a 4.0 GPA. It’s a good thing she stayed, considering a random late-night phone call from Coach Marsha Sharpe.

“She said, ‘Kirk?’ and I said, ‘Yes, Ma’am?’ She said, ‘Are ya with me? Because I only want players who are with me,’ and I said, ‘I’m with you!’” Krista recalls. “That year the team had a major overhaul, so by my sophomore year, we beat Texas for the first time in school history. My junior year, we won conference for the first time in school history. And then my senior year, we won the National Championship. From my sophomore year on, which is when I met Bryan, I had the best college experience ever.”

The Lady Raiders Basketball team played and beat Ohio State to win the 1993 National Championship in the former Omni Coliseum in Atlanta. (In addition to the championship ring, Krista got a piece of the Omni flooring after it was torn down in 1997.) She recalls the experience as indescribable, second only to getting married and having her two children.

“What was amazing was when we came back to Lubbock,” she says, smiling at the memory of that day. “We flew back and they picked us up in limos. We drove down to the University football field where 40,000 fans were waiting for us. Lubbock was so good to us. We really put Texas Tech on the map.”

That season, Krista was named one of 100 Top Panhandle Athletes of the Century, the NCAA Texas Woman of the Year, and became Tech’s all-time assist leader with 553 assists, ranking third all time in the program’s history. Krista is a member of the Texas Tech Hall of Honor, and on December 5, 1993, her number, 21, was officially retired.

Following the championship in April, it was as if someone pressed fast forward on Krista’s life. She married Bryan Gerlich on Saturday, June 5th, and was in summer school by Monday. Come August she was a college graduate and the head coach of girls’ basketball at Lockney High School, another small town just north of Lubbock. Now Krista was on the other side of the court – the former Lady Raider was suddenly the woman in charge.

By 1994, Krista and Bryan moved to San Antonio, where she spent three years as head coach at Taft High School. By 1997, she made the jump to college level and spent two years as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at UT-San Antonio. In 1999, the couple welcomed their first child, daughter Bryn, and Krista took a head coaching job at Reagan High School. The position was short-lived since Bryan was offered his first coaching job in Tahoka, so by 2000, they moved again. Their second child, Brayden, was born in 2001.

Leaving no time to settle, the new family of four moved again in 2002, this time to Hereford.
“Bryan was head coach and I taught math,” she says, pausing to laugh, knowing what came next. “Then the opening came on Coach Sharpe’s staff.”

She jokes about zig-zagging across the state, and when you look at the time line, you need a math whiz like Krista to map it all out. Despite all the moves, one thing is for sure: it’s just a little bit strange to work alongside your former coach. The Gerlich family moved back to Lubbock in 2003 for Krista to take an assistant coaching position at Texas Tech.

“It was difficult at first for me because I respect so much what Coach Sharpe would say and do and how she ran her program, so for me to add something, or suggest something, I almost felt like I was doing something wrong. She never made me feel that way. I put that on myself.”

Up until that point, Krista’s career seemed like a constant upward swing. She and her husband negotiated each move, each job decision, based on whose turn it was, whose offer was better, and what was best for the family. Everything seemed to be smooth sailing until Coach Sharpe retired, a new coach was brought in, and the entire former staff was let go. The former Lady Raider Champion turned Lady Raider Assistant Coach went home at the end of the season wondering what in the world came next.

“Seriously, I think I went through a depression because if felt like we’d been fired,” Krista recalls. “We know that’s just how it works, that’s just what happens, but we all had serious ties to Tech. It was a very hard pill to swallow.”

The remainder of the school year was bitter. Krista ended up telling her husband she couldn’t stay in Lubbock, especially when taking the kids to school everyday was the only thing that seemed to get her out of bed. The summer of 2006 dragged by, and though the University created a position for her by August, she only worked it six weeks. Something bigger came her way, and it was an offer she couldn’t refuse.

The Lady Buffs Make Rank
After 25 years as the Lady Buffs head coach, Bob Schneider announced his retirement, a sudden move in mid-August 2006 that stunned his players and left the team wondering who would take his spot. He was highly revered and respected, and a replacement coach with the same caliber was required to continue the teams’ success. Krista got a phone call, LISD let her out of her contract, and by September 19th, she was in Canyon for the press conference as the new head coach. By September 21st, she was on the court coaching.

“I was a senior when she came in, and from the get-go I thought she was awesome,” says former Lady Buff Jennifer Brock, now working alongside Krista as an assistant coach. “I tell all our recruits that they will not play for a better coach.”

Krista admits the late transition to WT was overwhelming.

“Our first game was November 1st, so I had already missed almost a month of individual workouts and had a lot of work to do,” she recalls. “The team was ready to get going since their season was upon them.”

The transition of coaches typically happens post-season, which gives incoming coaches time to plan, recruit, train and get to know their players. Krista didn’t have the time to spare, so she coached the team she had, brought in new assistants and lead the team to a 28-5 season, scoring a perfect 14-0 in their conference. She was awarded the Lone Star Conference South Division Coach of the Year and took the team to their third consecutive Division II tournament appearance.

In her second year, the Lady Buffs finished the season 26-5 overall as regional quarterfinalists, and last year, the team finished as quarterfinalists again, and for the first time since 1997, played in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. They lost to Delta State in the quarterfinals.

“Every team adds something new and builds the program,” says Krista. “I try to develop a relationship with every player, and while I may be closer to some more than others, they all know that I care about them and have their best interests at heart. If they know I care about them off the court, then they’re going to run through a wall for me on the court.”

It is this manner of coaching that fits Krista best. She often uses words like family and trust, establishing an open-door policy with her players, whatever the issue. Krista has counseled and cried with a number of her players, attended weddings and hosted cookouts at her home in Canyon. Her children are faithful Lady Buff fans, and she’s quick to remind her players that little eyes are watching.

“Their behavior is extremely important, and that’s something I learned from Coach Sharpe,” she says, glancing at the poster on the wall that reads, “Commitment is a decision, not a feeling.”

“My second year we hosted Regionals and we lost on a half-court shot in the first round. It was gut-wrenching. After it was over, we went over all the successes we’d had that year and I asked each girl to share their favorite memory from the season. Mine was from a particular game where there was a line of young girls on the other end of the court banging on the floor so our opponent would miss her free throw. That’s what it’s all about – giving little girls a dream. My daughter was one of them.”

In the End, It’s All about the Degree
College is hard enough, what with the course load, the new-found freedom and the exhaustive search to find a place to fit in. Add on the excruciating physical and mental workload of a collegiate athlete and something undoubtedly has to suffer. On the top of every player’s To Do List, as far as Krista’s concerned, is the degree.

“College is the best time of their lives, and I tell them that, but I also tell our recruits that the most important thing they’re going to do is get a degree, no matter what they do on the court,” she says. “If they play for me and don’t graduate, then they just let me use them for their abilities. I want them to use their basketball scholarship to then walk away with a degree in their hands.”

So far, so good. In fact, the Lady Buffs made the 2008-2009 Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll for Division II, awarded by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, placing 24th on the list with a 3.371 GPA average. Coincidentally, they’ve placed on the Honor Roll every year Krista’s been the head coach. (They placed 18th her first year and 5th her second.)

“Our study hall stipulations are strict, and the higher their GPA, the less they have to be in there. Class attendance is mandatory. If we check their attendance and they’re not in class, then they get some sort of physical punishment, like running lines or bleachers. It’s just to remind them – is that extra hour of sleep really worth it?”

Players are also required to pass a total of 24 hours in two semesters to even be eligible to play. While Krista seeks players who already have the desire to do well in the classroom, there are a number of support services available through the university for those who struggle, such as free tutoring for athletes.

“She really cares about the girls. You can tell. She wants you to get an education and enjoy the entire experience,” says Jennifer. “[As an assistant coach] there’s no one else better to learn from than her. She knows what it takes to be successful.”

During recruitment, Krista tells the parents exactly what she expects – their daughters will make good decisions and not so good decisions, and part of the growing-up process is building trust, learning from mistakes and fighting to overcome whatever crosses their path.

“You know athletics parallel life. On the court they have to fight for play time or to get a defensive stop, and they’re gonna have to do that in life, whether it be fighting for their marriage or battling breast cancer,” says Krista. “The obstacles are coming, and I want to prepare them for that.

“Some girls come here not so confident,” she adds. “And I want them to leave feeling brave.”

by Jennie Treadway-Miller

Jennie was a columnist for the Chattanooga Times Free Press for eight years prior to moving to Amarillo in 2008. She is an avid reader, runner and writer.