Jeff Ross Photo: Patricia Cousins
Physical Plant staff have been among Jeff’s closest colleagues and friends on the campus. “They know that I take pride in what I do here. And I know that they take pride in what they do here,” he says. In Jeff’s first years at Loomis, he didn’t coach baseball at any level. At his previous school, he had been the head varsity coach of football, hockey, and baseball — a daunting combination. He says he was relieved when Loomis needed him to be an assistant football coach and an assistant JV boys hockey coach. The school didn’t need any baseball coaches at the time. After two years, Jeff became the head JV baseball coach and stayed in that coaching position for a decade, learning from Duane and others about developing a program at Loomis.
When he moved up to the head varsity spot for baseball, Duane switched to the JV coaching position to support Jeff and the program as it moved forward. For Jeff, and for Duane and others before him, Loomis baseball was a program, developing JV players to move up to varsity and emphasizing the importance of JV players and JV coaches in the big picture. Even some of the Pelicans’ most successful varsity players began on the JV team. Starting pitcher Robert Cecere ’16, who will play at Yale next year, pitched for most of his freshman spring for the Loomis JV team, enabling him to develop as a player rather than riding the varsity bench to wait for a few chances to take the mound. When he moved up to varsity as a sophomore, he was ready. During
his sophomore season, Bobby pitched a no-hitter through five innings and attracted the notice of college coaches. Bobby sees that season as a turning point. Jeff describes it as a natural progression. “I think coaches often see a player’s potential and upward trajectory sooner than the player does, so I’m not surprised that Bobby would point to things that happened that season as major turning points or developmental landmarks,” Jeff says. “We knew [Bobby] was ready to pitch well at the varsity level, even against the top competition we face, but since it hadn’t actually happened yet, Bobby didn’t realize it was possible. Once he did, Bobby seized on things.” (See a profile of Bobby on page 39.)
ness and help nurture — seeing a person’s potential and helping him or her to recognize it and make it blossom. As one who has always sought out and valued mentors in his life, Jeff has cherished the chance to pass the favor on to young people and colleagues alike. Jeff and Suz will live full-time at their home on the New Hampshire coast, just a few miles from both Suz’s mother, who has lived in New Hampshire for many years, and Jeff’s father, who moved there from Ohio this year. Jeff expects he’ll be involved in the sport of baseball in some capacity well into his retirement. ❦
Those are the kinds of student success stories Jeff loves to witloomischaffee.org | 51