College baseball isn’t a big deal around here, and the Air Force Falcons are more or less an afterthought north of Castle Rock. Combine the two, and you can’t move the needle very much.
That’s why most sports fans in this region never got familiar with Mike Kazlausky, and are worse off because of it.
If you never got to meet the man – and just last week, Kaz accepted a promotion to “Director of Leadership and Institutional Strategy” within the Air Force Academy athletic department, and will no longer serve as the head coach of the Falcons’ baseball program – you’ve really missed out.
Kaz was – and still is – one of one.
After flying combat missions during the Gulf War, Major Kazlausky returned to the Academy and became the first former player and pilot to become the head coach of a baseball program that had crash-landed. In the eight years before he took over, AFA won exactly 18 of just over 200 Mountain West conference games.
During his playing days for the Falcons, he set eight school batting records. As the head coach, his career record of 338-440 won’t blow anyone away, but that was not his mission. He returned to his alma mater to become the head coach to teach young men how to win at life. And at war.
Five years into his tenure, they had their first winning season. Not only did Kaz dig the program out of that abyss, but they went from the cellar of the Mountain West to yearly contender status during his tenure. He was the 2024 conference Coach of the Year when AFA won the Mountain West title, and took his team to the NCAA Baseball Regionals in 2022.
Kaz even made the national anthem at Air Force baseball games an emotional experience.
His enthusiasm was contagious, and in the back half of his 16-year head coaching career, it allowed him to land recruits like current Tampa Bay Rays righthander Griffin Jax from Cherry Creek, and a 6’ 7” outfielder/catcher/pitcher from California named Paul Skenes.
On one of my many visits with Kaz, I introduced players from my high-school team to the high-energy head coach. In a manner that would make a pro wrestling announcer proud, he’d ask them, “You guys interested in attending the greatest university in the world?” On more than one occasion, he took the time to speak to one or more of my players for 20 minutes prior to a game about the glory of the Academy… and never mentioned baseball once.
While none of them really had the ability to play at Air Force, they all headed to the Academy book store immediately after the game to buy Air Force gear.
During the spring of 2021, when I was helping coach a collegiate summer team, I was on the field during batting practice and casually asked Kaz if that tall dude in right field shagging fly balls might be available for summer duty. Before I could finish the question, Kaz interrupted. “You’re not getting him,” he smiled. Skenes ended up going to the Cape Cod league for the summer. Good decision.
Kaz compiled 20 years of military service and then the 16 years as the Academy’s baseball coach. To say that he deserves this promotion is a vast understatement. To say that college baseball in Colorado – and in general – will miss him is an even bigger one.
Strike 3: Air Force’s ‘Coach Kaz’ was one of a kind Mile High Sports.
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