Justin Gordon - Pitching Coach - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Justin Gordon

Title:
Pitching Coach

Justin Gordon, who served as the pitching coach at Temple in 2007, is in his second stint on head coach Rob Valli's staff. A former professional pitcher with six years of minor league experience, Gordon spent last season as the pitching coach at Northeastern, guiding his pitching staff to a school record for strikeouts. While at Northeastern, Gordon helped the Huskies to 25 wins and a school-record 387 strikeouts, good for fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association. Sophomore Sheldon McDonald received first team All-CAA honors as a reliever after going 9-2 with a league-best 2.86 ERA under Gordon's tutelage. The past two summers, the Taunton, MA native was the head coach for the Little Falls Miners of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. Gordon led the Miners to consecutive appearances in the NYCBL Playoffs with six of his players earning all-star honors during his tenure. Prior to managing Little Falls, Gordon was the pitching coach for the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod League in the summer of 2006. As the pitching coach at Temple in 2007, Gordon helped the Owls to a six-win improvement from a year prior. His staff, which included seven freshmen and three sophomores, also struck out more batters and lowered the opponents batting average from the previous season. Tom Dolan (6-5, 3.96 ERA) earned all-Philadelphia Big 5 and National Pitcher of the Week honors under his guidance. Gordon was the pitching coach at Western Illinois in 2005 and 2006. His staff tied for the league lead in saves (10) and finished second in the league in team ERA (5.27), strikeouts (360) and opponents' batting average (.287) in 2006 and guided junior pitcher Quinn Leath to first team All-Mid-Con honors after leading the league in ERA (2.06) and opponents batting average (.224). He began his coaching career as an assistant coach with Taunton High School and the Bay State Games in 2004. Gordon, 29, was drafted in the 32nd round of the 1999 Major League Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers after spending one year at Massasoit (Mass.) CC. He spent five seasons in the Brewers organization, advancing as high Class A-Advanced with the High Desert Mavericks, recording five saves and striking out 72 batters in 83.1 innings in 2003. He went 5-5 with a 4.26 ERA in 2000 for the Ogden Raptors and was named a Pioneer League All-Star. Gordon finished his career with the North Shore Spirit in the Northeast League, going 2-2 with a 3.68 ERA, including a 2-0 record with a 0.71 ERA during the playoffs. At Massasoit CC, Gordon hit .393 with nine home runs as a first baseman, earning First Team All-New England honors, and was drafted despite pitching only nine innings. Gordon graduated from the University of Phoenix in 2008 and is currently pursuing a master's degree in liberal arts at Temple. To contact Coach Gordon, call 215-204-8640 or email gordon12@temple.edu.