After retiring from football, Gatski was a scout for the Boston Patriots for two years before becoming head football coach and athletic director at the West Virginia Industrial School for Boys, a correctional facility for young offenders in Pruntytown, West Virginia. Gatski was tough with the tough kids he had at Prunytown, having them jump off a 20-foot cliff at the start of the season to prove they were tough enough. After an escape attempt by some of his players early in his career, Gatski started keeping his team on the field at halftime - scrimmaging his players against each other until the other team returned for the second half. He worked there until the school shut down in 1982. He hunted and fished in retirement, and was often difficult to reach. He lived on a mountain in West Virginia and did not have a telephone for many years.