The last time Will Gorden assumed a baseball coaching role at Rockhurst, many of the students on the team weren’t even born. Since then, he’s spent time on the other side of the globe and across the state line. Now, Gorden has returned to Rockhurst to fill the head coaching position for the varsity baseball team, coming over from the same role at Shawnee Mission East.
Gorden’s journey started at Rockhurst in 2006 as a social studies teacher, but he coached for Bishop Miege. The next year he taught computer essentials and theology, still while serving on the baseball staff for the Stags.
Then, in 2008, he shifted his coaching duties over to Rockhurst, where he stayed through 2011. After that season, he assumed the head coaching gig at Miege, a role he would maintain for four seasons.
In 2015, Gorden made a sizable change. He packed his bags and went overseas to become the head coach and director of the Wuxi Development Center (WDC) for Major League Baseball for China.
“I wanted an opportunity to work with Major League Baseball. I wanted it on my resume and see where that was gonna take me,” he said.
“I had 42 guys that didn’t speak English and so, I always say now, anytime I get guys that speak English, it’s pretty easy to practice. For the two guys that did speak English, they were from all over–parts of Tibet, to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and all over.
“China was just a wonderfully unique experience.”
He worked there for a year and a half before coming back to the U.S. to be the head coach at Shawnee Mission East. His time there included back-to-back-to-back regional championships in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Now, Gorden is back at Rockhurst, but the decision to leave East wasn’t easy.
“The opportunity to work at Rockhurst High School has always been something that’s been on the back of my mind,” he said. “Leaving East was a very difficult decision for me, but we felt this was best for our family, and eventually, I see my son going to school at Rockhurst.”
Gorden says Rockhurst being a Catholic school played a factor in switching schools.
“I think that the spiritual, Catholic component of the school is something that draws me back. The ability to go to mass with players, I think, is an important factor, and the overall expectations of daily excellence that this place brings is something that I was really attracted to.”
As for the program he’s inheriting, it’s experienced ups-and-downs since Covid-19 canceled the 2020 season. One district championship and a .452 winning percentage (57-69) is a departure from the standard set in the decade prior.
Gorden says turning things around and finding consistency again begins with the basics.
“It starts with, Day 1, building a culture that is surrounded by doing all the little things the right way every single day–starting with how you dress on the field, how you work on the field, how you leave the field… leave it better than you found it,” he said.
As the team ramped up toward the season, Gorden made some player-friendly changes. He opened up the opportunity for players to come in for preseason practices before school. He also shortened the tryout window from five days to three.
As far as his goals and expectations for his team this year, he says those will focus on the day-to-day.
“It’s measured in growth and not necessarily wins and losses, but how far and how hard we play [today] compared to [yesterday].”
Rockhurst will open the season Friday in the Metro Leadoff tournament.
