PSU Magazine Fall 1994

"Over the years I've found genius in simplicity," he says. "I've been to o many coaching clinics where people are trying to be abstract in teaching something. Teaching is all about focusing on key a peers. Teach a few key points and allow the complexities to fall into place." Dunn has penned articles about practice organization, reading and exploiting defenses, and mental aspects of baseball in such publications as Collegiate Baseball, Coaches Quarterly, and Athletic]ournal. "You've got to control the aspects of the game you're capable of," Dunn says. "Defensively, it's knowing where to position yourself. Offensively, it means making sure you're getting the correct signs, and knowing when to gamble, tagging up when appropriate. We try to control as many things as we can. "When kids leave this program, they have such a body of knowledge that they'll be able to make the key moves spontaneously. That's why Fo was such an outstanding base runner this year. He made some of the best base running moves I'd ever seen." Outfielder Dirk Foss was named most inspirational player on Dunn's 1994 PSU team. Dunn's back-to-basics approach has shaped the philosophy of others. "He always had a plan-an idea on how to get things done, no matter what the team was like," says Chicago Cubs manager Tom T rebelhom '70, one of Dunn's many successful former players. T rebelhom played for Dunn at Cleveland High School. The coach was there for 14 years and went on to spend five years at Wilson High School before coming to PSU. But Dunn's insistence on mastering the fundamentals can lead to frustrations-especially when they're put to the test during a game. Kelly Smith MST '84, one of Dunn's top PSU assistants for seven seasons, discovered Dunn's "game face" during his first coaching experience in 1984. It was a far cry from the relaxed, laid back demeanor Smith had noticed in Dunn the previous fall. "I thought Jack was laid back all the time, but in our first game of the year, Jack just exploded after our opponents' first batter drew a walk," Smith recalls. "I thought, 'How's he going to make it through this? This is only the first batter!' But before and after the game he was always calm, witty and charming." Dunn admits that he becomes a bit ... agitated ... during the games. "When you coach, there's a tendency to feel like you're playing every position," he says. "But I alway think of the games a a test; it's the time to show what you know." "One thing you've got to know about Jack-he's pretty much a perfectionist," says Mike Wantland, who played five years under Dunn (four at PSU) and coached with him even year (1987-94) at Portland State. "Given the amount of time he pends with players on certain things-going over and over them again-he expects his players to know how to perform." Players always knew they were guilty of a serious mi cue when the coach did what they somewhat affectionately called "the helicopter." "Whether he was on his feet or sitting in a chair, he'd whirl around 360 degrees," Wantland recalls. "He became famous for it." The whirl of motion usually was accompanied by a few choice words directed at the culprit-or perhaps at no one in particular. Wantland truly believes that Dunn never "took a game home" to his wife, Jean, after an upsetting los . But he remembers some long bus trips when Dunn carried painful memories on the road. "He'd relive every play, every inning," Wantland says. Maybe this post-game contempla– tion helped Dunn with what he considers one of the most difficult aspects of coaching, selecting the best nine players to field each game. "You've got to get your best people on the field so they can be productive. It may mean having someone switch a position," he says. This past spring, Dunn switched senior Ryan Blair to shortstop. Blair had been a second and third baseman in 1993, but he successfully made the transition. Dunn mastered his philosophy of coaching baseball-and life-during his early years of playing and coaching. Although he received his bachelor's degree in history at the University of Oregon in 1955, Dunn actually attended PSU's predecessors, Vanport Extension Center and Portland State College, off and on for several years. His early links to the PSU campus go back even farther; Dunn graduated from Lincoln High School in the 1940s in what is now PSU's Lincoln Hall. No doubt Dunn picked up a bagful of baseball smarts during his peripatetic professional baseball career in the 1950s and early 1960s. A speedy center fielder with a good arm, Dunn describes himself as a "Little League hitter and big-league fielder." He signed with the Dodgers organization shortly after high chool and spent the better part of five years in such places as Greenwood, Miss.; Newport News, Va., Bisbee, Ariz.; Hutchinson, Kan., and Billings, Tom Trebelhom '70, a former player of Dunn's and former manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, is now manager of the Chicago Cubs. Mont., as well as closer to home in Salem and Medford. For several years while he was teacher and coach at Cleveland High, Dunn continued to play pro ball during the summers for Salem. "I wasn't just a tourist in all the places I played in; I lived in tho e places," Dunn say . "[was always FALL 1994 7