University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Off Script: Gavin’s Journey Back to Pitt
8/30/2017 1:54:00 PM | General, Wrestling
First-Year Wrestling Coach Returns to Alma Mater
In a sport as physically demanding as wrestling, the transition to competing at the collegiate level can be challenging, even for an eventual NCAA Champion and Team USA member. The pursuit of success was what made Keith Gavin one of the most highly decorated wrestlers in Pitt history, and that determination and grit is what he hopes to inject into the program as its newest head coach.
"Certainly it's something I'm proud of," Gavin, who was hired in April, said. "When I got here [as a student-athlete], I wasn't terrible, but I wasn't where I wanted to be, so the focus became on trying to improve each day. I kept getting better and I ended up having success. It's something I'm proud of, not so much the awards that I have, but just the fact that I kept trying to pursue and I kept trying to get better."
The last national champion in Pitt history, he was the nation's best at 174 pounds in 2008, capping off an impressive career with the Panthers. A two-time All-American, he recorded 120 career wins, ranking eighth in program history, including an undefeated season in 2008. He was a two-time Eastern Wrestling League champion, two-time EWL Wrestler of the year and was inducted into the EWL Hall of Fame in 2013.
For the majority of his time as a student-athlete, Gavin was roommates with another former Pitt wrestler turned coach in assistant coach Drew Headlee. The two, who spent five seasons as teammates, were a part of a freshman class that introduced a new work ethic into the program, as Gavin gleaned motivation from even the strangest of places.
"The one story I tell to all of our recruits about Keith was that he was always looking to do extra work and always looking to better himself in wrestling all the time," noted Headlee. "He had this website that he would go to called Chechen Wrestling. He loved trying to imitate Russian wrestlers and build his style off what they do so he got to this website and it was all in Russian. He would just start clicking buttons and all of a sudden he would find all of these videos and he would just sit and watch them all night long."
In addition to his successes as a student-athlete at Pitt, Gavin continued his career onto the international stage, competing with the U.S. National Team for more than six years while training under Lou Rosselli at the Ohio Regional Training Center.
In his time on the international scene, Gavin placed third at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials before going on to win the 2013 and 2014 U.S. National Championship. In 2010 and 2014, he placed second at the U.S. World Team Trials, and in 2011, took third at the World Team Trials and second at the Pan-American Games.
Gavin never earned a gold medal at a World Championships, but as he now tells his athletes, what he valued most was the work that went into preparing to represent the United States.
"Representing the United States at the World Championships was a great moment," he recalled. "Even though I didn't win the gold medal, which was the goal, my training and preparation was going great and I ended up losing to a guy who was just better than me that day. But, that was a pretty special thing and you have a sense of pride in your country and being able to represent them on a world stage like that is pretty cool."
As he wrapped up a noteworthy professional career, Gavin took a job as an assistant coach at the University of Virginia, relocating his family to Charlottesville, Va., and taking on instant success in his first coaching job. With the 2015 ACC Championships at the Petersen Events Center on Pitt's campus, Gavin and the Cavaliers marched into his alma mater and stunned the crowd, capturing the fifth ACC title in program history and the first in five seasons.
The unexpected outcome of the league title gave the young coach an early glimpse of accomplishment, but the end goal remained the same: improving day in and day out, and competing on a national stage.
"That was unexpected for us to win the ACC Championship in 2015," Gavin said. "We had no idea that we were going to win that. We walked in there and some teams stumbled and our guys did well and you walk out of there acting like that was the way you drew it up, but that wasn't the case. Of course I want to win the ACCs and have NCAA All-Americans and national champions, but I think focusing on the day-to-day stuff is the most important. "
Valuing the day-to-day work is a philosophy he shares with his former coach and mentor, Rosselli, who, in August of 2016, became the head coach of a budding Oklahoma team. When the 10-year Ohio State veteran began his search for assistants, it was a no brainer.
Gavin and his family were happy in Oklahoma, working with a program that was heading in the right direction, with a coaching staff and support staff that was committed to moving toward national success. And then another opportunity presented itself.
The head job at the University of Pittsburgh opened up.
"That was a dream job," he said with a smile. "I never thought this would be a possibility. I never thought the job would open up and I never thought they would be looking. My thought was that I might not ever have this opportunity again, so I had to try. If someone else got the job, then who knows, it might never open up by the time I'm ready. This is a great job. I think there's a handful of jobs out there where you can win at a high level and this is certainly one of them, so it's something that I just had to do."
And true to his character, he persevered, remained determined, and in April, his dreams became a reality. Gavin took over the program that had catapulted him onto the national scene just nine years prior.
The transition was quick for the Pitt alum, as he and his young family found comfort in the presence of family and a support system they had not had the benefit of in many years. When he received the call from Senor Associate Athletic Director Marcus Bowman, offering him the job, he jumped in head first, putting together a staff, hopping on the recruiting trail and beginning the process of establishing the Pittsburgh Regional Training Center.
His staff, much like his feeling toward the rest of the support from the University, is built from passion, relationships and hard work, and he found that in former Virginia assistant and national champion Jordan Leen and Headlee.
With a staff in place, the group was able to immediately nab a pair of dynamic athletes, adding Penn State transfer Kellan Stout and Virginia transfer Micky Phillippi, both WPIAL wrestlers in high school.
Stout, a redshirt sophomore who competed at Mt. Lebanon High School, winning the 182-pound Pennsylvania state title as a senior, instantly felt a connection with Gavin and his staff, as the transfer made his decision to leave powerhouse Penn State and join the Pitt program.
"When Pitt got the new staff, I was really excited about them," Stout noted. "I was familiar with Gavin through his competing on the international scene, and my dad, who was a coach here when Keith with a wrestler. My dad really spoke highly of him, so that was helpful in making my decision as well. Gavin and Leen are both big names in wrestling, and they're both very good recruiters. They're very easy to talk to and they complement each other well."
Gavin will get the chance to build his legacy in November when the wrestling team opens up the season. No matter the outcome of each dual, tournament or the ACC Championships, it's the hard work put in by each member of the team that he will value the most.
"That has helped shape my coaching philosophy and that's what I'm trying to tell these guys on our team; that 'it's not always going to be smooth sailing.' I think that if we just persevere, we have the talent to do well. It's exciting and it's a good story that I'm the last national champion and I'm here, but it's not something I'm focused on. I'm focused on creating a culture and an environment that our student-athletes will be able to excel and reach their full potential. If we do that, we're going to have another national champion."
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"Certainly it's something I'm proud of," Gavin, who was hired in April, said. "When I got here [as a student-athlete], I wasn't terrible, but I wasn't where I wanted to be, so the focus became on trying to improve each day. I kept getting better and I ended up having success. It's something I'm proud of, not so much the awards that I have, but just the fact that I kept trying to pursue and I kept trying to get better."
The last national champion in Pitt history, he was the nation's best at 174 pounds in 2008, capping off an impressive career with the Panthers. A two-time All-American, he recorded 120 career wins, ranking eighth in program history, including an undefeated season in 2008. He was a two-time Eastern Wrestling League champion, two-time EWL Wrestler of the year and was inducted into the EWL Hall of Fame in 2013.
For the majority of his time as a student-athlete, Gavin was roommates with another former Pitt wrestler turned coach in assistant coach Drew Headlee. The two, who spent five seasons as teammates, were a part of a freshman class that introduced a new work ethic into the program, as Gavin gleaned motivation from even the strangest of places.
"The one story I tell to all of our recruits about Keith was that he was always looking to do extra work and always looking to better himself in wrestling all the time," noted Headlee. "He had this website that he would go to called Chechen Wrestling. He loved trying to imitate Russian wrestlers and build his style off what they do so he got to this website and it was all in Russian. He would just start clicking buttons and all of a sudden he would find all of these videos and he would just sit and watch them all night long."
In addition to his successes as a student-athlete at Pitt, Gavin continued his career onto the international stage, competing with the U.S. National Team for more than six years while training under Lou Rosselli at the Ohio Regional Training Center.
In his time on the international scene, Gavin placed third at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials before going on to win the 2013 and 2014 U.S. National Championship. In 2010 and 2014, he placed second at the U.S. World Team Trials, and in 2011, took third at the World Team Trials and second at the Pan-American Games.
Gavin never earned a gold medal at a World Championships, but as he now tells his athletes, what he valued most was the work that went into preparing to represent the United States.
"Representing the United States at the World Championships was a great moment," he recalled. "Even though I didn't win the gold medal, which was the goal, my training and preparation was going great and I ended up losing to a guy who was just better than me that day. But, that was a pretty special thing and you have a sense of pride in your country and being able to represent them on a world stage like that is pretty cool."
As he wrapped up a noteworthy professional career, Gavin took a job as an assistant coach at the University of Virginia, relocating his family to Charlottesville, Va., and taking on instant success in his first coaching job. With the 2015 ACC Championships at the Petersen Events Center on Pitt's campus, Gavin and the Cavaliers marched into his alma mater and stunned the crowd, capturing the fifth ACC title in program history and the first in five seasons.
The unexpected outcome of the league title gave the young coach an early glimpse of accomplishment, but the end goal remained the same: improving day in and day out, and competing on a national stage.
"That was unexpected for us to win the ACC Championship in 2015," Gavin said. "We had no idea that we were going to win that. We walked in there and some teams stumbled and our guys did well and you walk out of there acting like that was the way you drew it up, but that wasn't the case. Of course I want to win the ACCs and have NCAA All-Americans and national champions, but I think focusing on the day-to-day stuff is the most important. "
Valuing the day-to-day work is a philosophy he shares with his former coach and mentor, Rosselli, who, in August of 2016, became the head coach of a budding Oklahoma team. When the 10-year Ohio State veteran began his search for assistants, it was a no brainer.
Gavin and his family were happy in Oklahoma, working with a program that was heading in the right direction, with a coaching staff and support staff that was committed to moving toward national success. And then another opportunity presented itself.
The head job at the University of Pittsburgh opened up.
"That was a dream job," he said with a smile. "I never thought this would be a possibility. I never thought the job would open up and I never thought they would be looking. My thought was that I might not ever have this opportunity again, so I had to try. If someone else got the job, then who knows, it might never open up by the time I'm ready. This is a great job. I think there's a handful of jobs out there where you can win at a high level and this is certainly one of them, so it's something that I just had to do."
And true to his character, he persevered, remained determined, and in April, his dreams became a reality. Gavin took over the program that had catapulted him onto the national scene just nine years prior.
The transition was quick for the Pitt alum, as he and his young family found comfort in the presence of family and a support system they had not had the benefit of in many years. When he received the call from Senor Associate Athletic Director Marcus Bowman, offering him the job, he jumped in head first, putting together a staff, hopping on the recruiting trail and beginning the process of establishing the Pittsburgh Regional Training Center.
His staff, much like his feeling toward the rest of the support from the University, is built from passion, relationships and hard work, and he found that in former Virginia assistant and national champion Jordan Leen and Headlee.
With a staff in place, the group was able to immediately nab a pair of dynamic athletes, adding Penn State transfer Kellan Stout and Virginia transfer Micky Phillippi, both WPIAL wrestlers in high school.
Stout, a redshirt sophomore who competed at Mt. Lebanon High School, winning the 182-pound Pennsylvania state title as a senior, instantly felt a connection with Gavin and his staff, as the transfer made his decision to leave powerhouse Penn State and join the Pitt program.
"When Pitt got the new staff, I was really excited about them," Stout noted. "I was familiar with Gavin through his competing on the international scene, and my dad, who was a coach here when Keith with a wrestler. My dad really spoke highly of him, so that was helpful in making my decision as well. Gavin and Leen are both big names in wrestling, and they're both very good recruiters. They're very easy to talk to and they complement each other well."
Gavin will get the chance to build his legacy in November when the wrestling team opens up the season. No matter the outcome of each dual, tournament or the ACC Championships, it's the hard work put in by each member of the team that he will value the most.
"That has helped shape my coaching philosophy and that's what I'm trying to tell these guys on our team; that 'it's not always going to be smooth sailing.' I think that if we just persevere, we have the talent to do well. It's exciting and it's a good story that I'm the last national champion and I'm here, but it's not something I'm focused on. I'm focused on creating a culture and an environment that our student-athletes will be able to excel and reach their full potential. If we do that, we're going to have another national champion."
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