BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Gerald Tuck, who played baseball and football at Samford University (then Howard College) in the 1950s and spent 30 years on the Samford baseball coaching staff, passed away last Friday evening.
 
The services will be held at Ridout's Trussville Chapel on Sunday, April 27, with the visitation set for 12-2 p.m. with the funeral set for 2 p.m. and burial to follow at Elmwood Cemetery.  In lieu of flowers please make a donation in his memory to Samford University Baseball. You may contact Dr. E.J. Brophy at wbrophy@samford.edu to make a donation. 
 
During his 30 years on the coaching staff at Samford, Tuck had an immense impact on many players and coaches. Current head coach Tony David talked about the kind of man Tuck was and the impact he had on others.
 
"Coach Tuck was the genuine article," David said. "He touched the lives of so many people during a number of stops in life, but for decades he impacted the members of the Samford community in ways difficult to measure. He was known for his physical toughness, but with a tremendous heart of gold. There will never be another like him. He will be forever missed."
 
Tuck was a dual-sport athlete at Howard College from 1955 to 1959, playing both baseball and football. He was a two-year MVP on the football team and a three-year MVP for the baseball squad.
 
Gil Walker played at Samford and is now an assistant coach on the Samford staff. He has known Coach Tuck his entire life, with his father, Tommy serving as Samford's head coach in the 1990s, with Tuck serving on his staff.
 
"Coach Tuck was truly one of one," Walker said. "He represented everything we want out of a Samford Bulldog: integrity, respect, grit and resiliency, just to name a few. His stories are timeless, and all of his quotes will stick with me for a lifetime."
 
One of Tuck's traditions as a coach was doing the "Hambone" after wins.
 
"I assume there was a glorious rendition of the 'Hambone' for him as he entered the gates of Heaven," Walker said. "He lived a life worth celebrating and we are all better men for having known him."
 
After graduating from Howard, Tuck then spent a few years playing baseball in the Baltimore Orioles and Brooklyn Dodgers organizations. He began coaching at Minor High School in 1959, left for Mortimer Jordan in 1962 and remained there for the next 23 seasons.
 
He also coached at Phillips and Tarrant for a total of 31 years as a high school coach, and his teams had only three losing seasons and recorded more than 500 wins in his head-coaching tenure.
 
Tuck joined the staff at Samford University as an assistant coach in 1990, and was on the staff for 30 years. Tuck was a part of the inaugural class of the Samford University Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005 and received the John W. Russell Ambassador of the Game Award which was co-sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in 2009. He was inducted into the Alabama Baseball Coaches' Association's Hall of Fame in 2013.
 
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