Anthony Gilich enters his first season on Eddie Smith's Washington staff as an assistant coach. Gilich serves as UW's defensive coordinator.
A veteran coach with deep ties to the state of Washington, Gilich comes to Montlake from Arizona State, where he spent the 2024 season as an assistant coach.
Prior to joining the Sun Devil staff, Gilich was the longtime head coach at junior college power Central Arizona College. The Gig Harbor, Washington, native also coached at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma.
Gilich spent 16 years on staff at Central Arizona, taking over as head coach in 2015 and boosting the Vaqueros to unparalleled success. With Gilich in charge, Central Arizona claimed the 2019 and 2022 NJCAA National Championships, also reaching the title game in 2021.
Gilich was named the NJCAA National Coach of the Year following both title runs in 2019 and 2022 and racked up a 395-132 record at the helm of the Vaquero program, good for a .749 winning percentage – the best in program history.
During his tenure at CAC, Gilich saw 47 of his players selected in the MLB Draft, while also sending 223 players on to four-year universities. Starting in 2016, at least three Vaqueros were drafted every year except for two, one of which was the COVID-19 shortened 2020 draft.
A four-time Arizona Community College Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, Gilich developed eight NJCAA National Players of the Year during his stint at CAC. Six of his players earned NJCAA Rawlings National Gold Glove Awards. While Gilich was the infield coach as an assistant, Central Arizona set a then NJCAA all-time record with a .977 season fielding percentage in 2008.
Prior to being named head coach at CAC, Gilich served as associate head coach from 2008-14.
Before making the move to the The Grand Canyon State, Gilich was the head coach and recruiting coordinator at Puget Sound from 2003-07. Responsible for the direction of the UPS infielders, five of Gilich’s players were named All-Northwest Conference.
Gilich has built extensive recruiting relationships throughout Texas, California, Arizona, and Washington during his coaching tenure, including experience working with USA Baseball as a scout from 2015-17.
Before entering the coaching ranks, Gilich was a prep standout at Gig Harbor High School, where he earned First Team All-State honors as a shortstop and won a state championship in 1997. He holds the school record for most saves in a season and most career saves.
A 2003 graduate of Central Washington University with cum laude honors in speech communication, Gilich lives with his wife, Alison Smith, and their son, Grady.