‘This is about going home’: QU football coach resigns to take reins of Virginia-Wise program

QUINCY — The Appalachian Mountains are calling Gary Bass home.

The North Carolina native who spent the past 12 college football seasons coaching at Quincy University, including the last seven as head coach, resigned Tuesday morning after accepting an offer to become the head coach at the University of Virginia-Wise, an NCAA Division II program.

His hire became official Wednesday.

“When it came down to it, this was about one thing,” the 40-year-old Bass said. “This is about going home.”

Virginia-Wise is located a couple of hours from his Marion, N.C., boyhood home, and his parents and brother still live in North Carolina. Bass’ brother and sister-in-law are expecting their first child, and the idea of having his own kids — 9-year-old Lyla and 4-year-old Jackson — see their grandparents and extended family more regularly was a deal clincher.

“I grew up in the Appalachian Mountains my whole life,” said Bass, who came to Quincy as the offensive line coach in 2012 after three seasons at Missouri Southern. “It was weird when I left, but when you grow up used to the mountains, it’s just different. It’s just home and it’s what you’re used to. And I want my kids to experience that.

“But what made that decision so hard is this is home. Quincy is home. It has been for 12 years. Both of my kids have been born here. I love this place. I love this university. I love this program. I love these players. I love this community. That’s what made it so hard.”

Quincy University athletic director Josh Rabe said the search for Bass’ replacement begins immediately.

Having elevated the QU program to its first winning season in nearly a decade opened the door for Bass to take over another rebuilding project.

Virginia-Wise is coming off a 2-9 season in which it went 1-8 in the South Athletic Conference. The Cavaliers haven’t enjoyed a winning season since going 6-5 in 2016, and it is their only winning season since 2008.

The Hawks’ 6-5 record this fall marked only the second winning season at Quincy since 2008.

“All in all, it felt like the right fit,” Bass said of Virginia-Wise. “I felt like they are doing a lot of things to give us a really, really good opportunity to do the things we’ve done here to turn things around.”

Bass replaced Tom Pajic as QU’s coach in the spring of 2017 and went 27-41 in seven seasons at the helm. He increased the Hawks’ victory by one in each of his first three seasons, dealt with two-game spring season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and then led Quincy to four, five and six victories, respectively, each of the past three seasons.

“I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this program is better off than it was when I found it,” Bass said. “I can genuinely say the next person that comes in here to be the next head coach at Quincy University has a great opportunity.”

There are pieces in place for the upward trend to continue.

The Hawks are expected to return three running backs — JQ Brown, Teon Dollard and Jadon Washington — who combined for 1,783 yards rushing and 24 touchdowns, as well as quarterback Drake Davis, who threw for 1,629 yards and 16 touchdowns in nine games.

Defensively, freshman linebacker Brock Inman led the Hawks with 71 tackles and was a second-team All-Great Lakes Valley Conference selection.

“People don’t realize how much this is not about football,” Bass said. “The Quincy program has not been great historically, and the thing we spent the bulk of our time on, especially early on, was culture and foundation and getting good kids and getting good grades.

“I don’t know if I could be any more proud of our coaches and the job we’ve done the last seven years.”

Bass believes the culture will translate to Virginia-Wise because of the commitment to success of the university as a whole.

“Meeting all the different people on campus while I was on campus for my interview resonated with me,” Bass said. “The athletic director went to school there. She went to (the University of Tennessee) to get her doctorate and came right back. All the people I met with are people who went to school there and came back there.

“That shows me it’s a special place.”

It’s home in a lot of ways. Bass played at Catawba College, a South Atlantic Conference school, and is familiar with the league as a whole. In fact, Virginia-Wise’s Week 3 opponent in 2024 will be Catawba.

That was another reminder this move is the right move.

“As much family as Quincy is for me, it’s still not my parents. It’s still not my brother. It’s still not my aunts and uncles,” Bass said. “When it came down to it, it was time to go home.”