Friday Features: VSU’s Thomas Macera preaches (and shows) toughness
By Mike Perrin
Valdosta State University softball coach
Thomas Macera is driven. Like the screaming line drives off the outfield wall at Steel’s Diamond at Blazer Park that his team smacks with unrelenting regularity. And the home runs driven into the south Georgia skies that the fences can’t contain.
Two weeks from now, the Blazers open the season – Macera’s 11th as head man – in the Peach Belt Crossover against Augusta State, Columbus State and Armstrong Atlantic. Oh, and after the Armstrong game, Valdosta takes on defending national champion North Georgia.
Two weeks ago, the 50-year-old coach underwent arm surgery to finally take care of a nagging torn tendon. He’s driven.
“They had to cut the bone in my arm in half, shave it and then reattach two tendons,” Macera said, “so I’m a ‘hard 50.’ I tore the tendon either throwing or hitting about two years ago. It finally got to the point where I couldn’t throw the ball, so I just had to get it done.”
Toughness isn’t new to the head coach. Like many undergrads, when Macera was working toward his degree at VSU, he had a job. But instead of flipping burgers or delivering pizzas, he said, “When I was in college I was kick-boxing for money.” The coach has a black belt in taekwondo and a master’s degree from Valdosta, where he has lived with his wife for about three decades.
The sling holding the cast up to his elbow are not slowing down the business at hand – preparing his team to get back in the mix for the Gulf South Conference championship and NCAA tournament play. Incredibly, the Blazers will be trying to improve on a 48-9 finish from a year ago. Valdosta won the 2015 GSC Regular Season Title with a 25-4 record, but lost two straight in the GSC tourney and went 2-2 in the NCAA South Regional.
Macera expects to win and he has. His philosophy relies more on what goes on underneath the batting helmet than in the batter’s box – although he is known as a hitting guru and his teams have featured several record-setters, including one of this year’s graduate assistants,
Courtney Albritton. “Everything we do, it’s always about mental toughness,” he said. “If you’re not mentally in the game, things do not go well for you. When you don’t have mental toughness, you’re not going to fare well getting through adversity.
“I go through
CrossFit training as hard as can go. I want to set an example for my team. I don’t ask them to do anything I can’t do myself. I want them to get after it, too.”
Macera is accustomed to winning. He came to Valdosta with an NAIA title from Thomas (Ga.) University. In 2012, he led the Blazers to their first national championship, finishing with a school-best 58 wins against just five losses. Two years before, VSU finished second in the country to Hawaii Pacific. In his first 10 years as head coach at Valdosta, the Blazers won six straight GSC titles.
Macera’s .799 winning percentage (485-122) is No. 1 among all active NCAA coaches. He is Valdosta’s all-time winningest coach and his combined NCAA/NAIA record is 691-189.
It is sort of a double-edged sword, coaching at one’s alma mater when your school is in the Gulf South Conference.
“People have done it before, but it’s a short list of people who can go to their alma mater and win a national championship,” he said. “We won six conference championships in a row in a conference that is the best in the country by far.
“To do this at my alma mater, where I know everybody and with the community backing we have is unreal. Our crowds are just humongous. To come and support these girls as much as they have is just awesome.
“There are so many teams in our conference – UAH, Shorter, UNA and us – all in the top 25,” Macera said. “Lee is eligible now and they are exceptional. West Alabama goes to the (NCAA) Regionals and West Florida is West Florida."
"You can’t pull a snoozer here. If you’re not looking at it the right way, you can go 0-3 on a weekend and just have to say, ‘Have a nice day'. We beat each other so much and then see the same teams in the Regionals. We’ve had years when we play Huntsville seven or eight times."
“You have to show up and be ready to go. If you don’t, you’re toast.”
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2015-16 GSC Friday Features
9/04/2015 - FIT's Hughes Inspired by Former GSC Standout.
9/11/2015 - Veteran UNA Coach Bobby Wallace Enjoys His Time With Young Lions.
9/18/2015 - Mississippi College Looks to Sustain Quick Start.
9/25/2015 - UAH's Winslow Races Way Back to Top After Injury.
10/02/2015 - Union's Morris Not Ready for Rocking Chair.
10/09/2015 - UWA's Mark Grant Learning Lessons From Both His College Sports.
10/16/2015 - Perez Sets Tone for Nationally-Ranked Lee.
10/23/2015 - Jessica Codato Finds Friends, Volleyball Success at Valdosta State.
10/30/2015 - Delta State Safety Looks to Avoide School of Hard 'Knox'.
11/06/2015 - Shorter's B.J. McCoy Runs Hard, Is Thankful for Every Snap.
11/13/2015 - Consistency Leads Union to XC Nationals Again.
11/20/2015 - Will Hall Making Waves at West Georgia, Throughout GSC.
11/27/2015 - National Tourney Awaits MC After Month-Long Hiatus.
12/04/2015 - Harlon Hill Finalist Wingo Leaves UNA with Pocket Full of Records.
12/11/2015 - Stramaglia Waits Long Time to Do Long-Range Damage for UWF.
12/18/2015 - UAH Women's Basketball Senior Class Shares More Than Most.
1/06/2016 - Christmas Trip a 'Life-Changing' Experience for Lee Baseball.