Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG - After turning professional following his four-year Virginia Tech career (2021-24), former Virginia Tech catcher Gehrig Ebel returned to the program this offseason, welcoming his new role as the Hokies’ volunteer assistant coach ahead of the 2027 campaign.
HokieSports.com had the privilege of conducting a catch-up Q&A with Ebel, who is eager to begin what he hopes is a long, fruitful career in coaching.
Q: What is your favorite memory in a Virginia Tech uniform?
A: There are a lot. It's got to be one of the [2022 NCAA Blacksburg] regional games here at English Field. From what I had come into, my first year going into my second year, the magnitude of Virginia Tech baseball, I feel like it was getting better and better every year. But that year – there's nothing like the dog pile on the field after winning a regional. It’s more so just how close knit we were – all the guys being on the field, in that regard.
Q: Beyond the 2022 NCAA Blacksburg Regional, are there any individual moments that stand out to you?
A: As much as it disappoints me to say, we lost my last college game at the 2024 ACC Baseball Championship, but I had a really good game (three extra-base hits, three runs, three RBIs). My first hit that night was during my second at-bat. I led off the fourth inning with a solo home run and it was surreal. All of us, everything, my whole career here, it all came back to me.
So, I'm rounding the bases – I'm very big on, ‘you get around the bases, you act like you've done it before’ – but I made sure when I was jogging around, I was like, ‘alright, I'm going to savor this one a little bit,’ just because for me it was a special moment. It was just full circle for me because, I mean, I wasn't very good my freshman year. But, that's a tribute to the coaches. They did a great job in how much I developed as a player and a person. So, that was a really big moment for me in my career and as a day in my life.
Q: Since coming off the field in those moments as a college player, you played a few seasons of independent ball. Did that broaden your baseball experience? What did you learn about yourself?
A: Professional baseball is a way different game. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it. Baseball is a team sport, but as you get further down the line, it gets more individualized. But, at the end of the day I loved it. I felt like I became more assertive in my day-to-day routine. It’s helped me out here, right now, with just what I need to get done.
I became kind of [Sam] Tackett-esque. Praise to Tackett; I thought I was prepared before, but I just made sure everything was hammered down before I had gotten my day started. So, I feel like from an organization standpoint – that's kind of the first time I was really, really on my own. It was just me showing up at the field every day. So, that was a little new thing for me. But, I felt it helped me grow a lot, especially with how I go about my day.
Q: You name-dropped Sam Tackett there. Are there guys who you played with at Virginia Tech who you still talk to about baseball or everyday life?
A: I was on the phone with Tackett this morning. I'm living with Henry Cooke right now. I was on the phone with Chris Cannizzaro yesterday, Griffin Stieg yesterday. So, I’d say especially in the houses I’ve lived in, I’d say we talk at least once a week to everybody.
Q: Based on your experiences in baseball, what do you value as a coach? What are you trying to instill in players that you’re coaching/meeting for the first time?
A: The big thing I’ve learned about all levels of baseball is just how you go about your day-to-day process. The big thing for me right now is I want to learn. I respect the coaching staff so much here, especially on the offensive side, because that's who I really dealt with. The first call I made was to Szefc and Elbin after I got done [playing], ‘I would love to be on the staff, to learn from you guys.’ Hopefully I can climb the ranks in my coaching career, but you guys are the first guys I’m calling.
For the most part, just how do you go about your work day to day, whether it's off the field stuff like managing class workload or how do we go about, even if it's bunting or we're doing a hit run drill? How do we maximize that? That's kind of my big thing. Obviously I’m helping Hansen out with the catchers, so I’m trying to do a lot. I’m trying to instill a lot of the little things. I feel like at the end of the day, we have a lot of talent in the ACC. One little thing changes an inning, a game, and then a seed.
Q: Stylistically, is there anything refreshing about returning to the leadership of Coach Szefc or the offensive coaches?
A: I'm completely bought in, even as a player, especially to what Elbin has to say. I’m very high on him. He does a really good job of getting guys prepared. Same with Tyson and Hanson, they do a great job of scouting reports, getting everybody prepared, and I think Elbin's really good with the mental side of hitting, like, how do I get out of my own head? How do I commit to what I want to do?
So, that's a big reason why, and I feel like Szefc’s a very good manager, he lets his guys do what he got them to do. So that's why I was kind of excited to go on, get to do some stuff, hopefully I can help out as much as I can.
Q: Looking back at your playing career, was there a moment when you had received specific coaching from this Virginia Tech staff that made something click? Did it help you through any adversity in the game?
A: It was my last year. Obviously, Elbin’s really big on the mental side of it. I feel like throughout my four years of college, besides my last year, I tried to be more than I technically am, not in a bad way. I was trying to do things that Jack Hurley could do, or Gavin Cross. Which is good, I want to be able to do that, but at the same time, you got to know what you do well and what you do poorly. And I was focused more on what I did poorly. We try to work on that.
So, eventually, towards the end of that spring, Elbin helped me get out of my own way and just freed me up and just really be aggressive to what I wanted to do at the end of the day. I didn't care what I was bad at. I knew what I was bad at. I wasn't very good at hitting a high fastball. Just take it, look for the pitch you want. If you don't get it, go try next time. That's kind of what I was, my philosophy last year, and I felt like Elbin helped me out a lot there, just knowing who I am as a player.
Q: Why has this Virginia Tech coaching staff seen so much rising success through the years?
A: I think that it's just how well [the staff works] together and I think Szefc knows the guys who will work. He hires guys to do a job, and I feel like day in and day out, especially working out with them, like they're on top of their stuff every single day they're here to work.
I was telling Ethan Gibson this the other day. He was talking to me, and I was like, ‘just because we're not playing doesn't mean we don't want to win,’ and I know every single one of them wants to win just as much as those guys in the locker room.
Yeah, so I feel like that's a big thing.
Q: Does the overall experience on the 2027 coaching staff carry through the clubhouse? Like, is there a common appreciation for the wealth of baseball knowledge permeating around the facility?
A: Oh, 100 percent. In the meetings with all the guys it’s very well-organized, which I enjoy. I know Szefc enjoys it. Rich is doing a great job already. So is Josh Reynolds.
Being in the same building with them as I'm trying to continue my coaching career, like, that's awesome, just getting to pick their brains and just listen in, sometimes just shutting up and just listening. That’s a big plus for sure, for me and the guys on the team as well (?).
Q: You played here. You are entering your first season coaching here. Give us your Virginia Tech recruiting pitch - what is it about Blacksburg, this campus, this community that has always stood out to you?
A: Like I said, it's a college town. Everybody will see us Saturday, how awesome the fall is here. The fall is amazing, I feel like this place is always packed on weekends. People love coming to watch Virginia Tech sports. I feel like the administration does a really good job of helping all the student athletes as well, personal perspective, but I think specially in the fall, it's beautiful. It's literally meant to be a fall town with the colors and everything, so I love the weather, the people that support the school, I think do a great job as well.
Q: It is no secret to those who know you, but you grew up in a New York Yankees family. You are named after Lou Gehrig. For those who may not know you, could you describe to Hokie Nation how rooted your family’s Yankees fandom is?
A: So, obviously I am named after Lou Gehrig. My sister's name is ‘Maris’ after Roger Maris. My dogs right now are named ‘Babe,’ and ‘Yankee.’ My old dog was named, ‘Yogi.’ Hopefully, whenever down the line for me, I can name one of my kids something like that.
Q: Last one - baseball is an everyday sport, but how do you take your mind off the game?
A: I'm very into when I want to learn random stuff like, why not? The other day, I was working camp here on my laptop, let's try to do something. I just looked up the derivative of the day. I know how to do derivatives, but I'm like, let's just mess around. I do the New York Times every day. I just like miscellaneous information, and you never know, like I need to learn Japanese. I took Chinese in high school.