Gloyd resigns as 49ers' baseball coach

After 15 seasons at the helm of Yuba College's baseball program, Tim Gloyd announced Monday he has resigned as head coach of the 49ers.

Gloyd said he had been contemplating leaving the program for the past two to three months before coming to a decision on Monday.

A lack of funding for the baseball program and difficulties with recruiting were the main reasons Gloyd said he's ready to move on with his career.

"I just got frustrated with the whole thing," Gloyd said. "I'm not mad at anybody; it's just time."

After Measure J was passed in 2006, Gloyd said none of that money went into improving the baseball team's facilities. He labeled his field as the "second-worst" facility in the Bay Valley Conference.

Yuba College received a new football field this past season and the basketball team will be playing in a new gym this winter.

Gloyd's main issues on the recruiting front were trying to get local players to stay home and play at Yuba, rather than leaving the Mid-Valley for other schools.

While schools like Sacramento City, Cosumnes River and American River Colleges have a pool of about 60 high schools to choose from, Gloyd said he only had about 17 area schools if he wanted to recruit local.

"If I could get them to stay home we'd be OK," Gloyd said. "It was just hard."

The 49ers finished 12-21 overall this season with an 8-16 mark in the BVC. Yuba has not made the postseason since 1990.

Before taking over at Yuba in 1997, Gloyd spent most of his coaching career at Sacramento State. During his time with the Hornets from 1984-1994, Sac State won two NCAA Division II College World Series titles.

He spent one summer coaching the Yuba-Sutter (now Marysville) Gold Sox in 2002 and three summers coaching in the Alaskan Baseball League as head coach of the Fairbanks Goldpanners.

Last summer he coached in the Cape Cod League.

As a player, Gloyd played two seasons at Sacramento City College where he was a first-round draft pick in 1978. He opted for Division-I college ball at Pepperdine and made it to the College World Series; the Waves finished third overall in the 1979 CWS.

Professionally, Gloyd played with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Montreal Expos organizations from 1979 to 1981.

Gloyd hopes to make a return to professional baseball as a scout in the Sacramento area. He said Major League Baseball teams have contacted him frequently over the past few years about looking at players.

"Baseball is what I love to do," Gloyd said. "I'll miss the kids. I liked being around guys who loved to play the game."

Gloyd is not opposed to coaching in college again though. He said he will only coach at a program where he can offer players scholarship money.

With budget cuts across the state affecting junior college athletics, Gloyd would like to coach at a four-year school or in the professional ranks.

"I'm writing to MLB teams, looking at NCAA jobs, NAIA jobs, I still want to be involved," Gloyd said. "I want to coach at a higher level."

Yuba College Athletic Director Rod Beilby said he is in the process of looking for Gloyd's successor.

Beilby said it could either take a week or a month, but he would like to find a replacement soon so the new coach can begin recruiting.

"I have some ideas," Beilby said. "(Gloyd) wanted to pursue some other options out there. He probably felt it's time to move on to other things."