Pacific Index

New Defensive Coordinator, John Bates, shares his journey to Pacific football 

During the spring of this year, the Boxers’ long-time Defensive Coordinator, Lukkes Gilgan, decided to leave Pacific after being offered the defensive coordinator job at George Fox. This promptly led to multiple assistant coaches following him over, which left the Boxer defensive coaching staff bare. The only coach to remain was safety coach Justin Leatherman—and the mass exodus from the coaches has left a huge question about who will now run the show. After all, Gilgan had been the main man in charge for almost a full decade.

Over the course of spring break, however, Pacific University decided to hire John Bates as the new defensive coordinator for the football team. The hiring was interesting, but made sense considering that previously, Bates was the long-time defensive coordinator of George Fox. Bates had been there since 2013, and had been a prominent figure reviving the Bruin football program.

Bates grew up in a small town in Oregon named Aumsville. He came from a history of educators, where his father was a teacher and many other relatives also had similar backgrounds. However, when he was in school, he knew one thing was for certain. He loved to ball. “I really didn’t succeed in school very well… I didn’t take it as something that was really important to me because I was all about ball,” explained Bates. “And then about midway through high school, I really kind of made the decision like, hey, I think education, or shall I say coaching, is really something I want to do.” When Bates figured out what he wanted to do in life, he began to buckle down and really make sure he was prioritizing his education. 

His coaching experience began with him coaching some 7^th and 8^th graders in basketball. He mentioned his favorite part was the relationship side of being able to see young men improve throughout the season. There was a type of camaraderie and family aspect about that type of relationship that made him double down on his goals of coaching. “Being able to really see how I can impact young men in their lives, really even outside of sport, was something that I saw. So I really gravitated towards that. After that, Bates got to play college football at Whitworth. When his playing days were over, he decided to become a graduate assistant and was able to coach at Whitworth. After Whitworth, he took on coaching at Western Oregon, Nebraska Wesleyan, and Aloha High School before taking over as defensive coordinator for Fox.

When Head Coach Ian Falconer gave him the call in the spring, Bates answered enthusiastically. He really has noticed a difference between programs and is excited to take over. “You just talk about the family unit, this place is a place that’s a home. And that’s what it really comes down to more than anything for me,” described Bates. “Am I able to develop young men to become adult men? Am I able to develop relationships with the guys that are in our program and help them get through the journey that I enjoyed from 18 to 22?” To Bates, Pacific has felt the emphasis on family and he looks forward to seeing how the team develops under his coaching.