carol hutchins
Softball
softball coaching search 2022
One of the best there ever was [JD Scott]

Carol Hutchins Retiring As Coach of Michigan Softball Comment Count

Alex.Drain August 24th, 2022 at 1:23 PM

In surprising news that more or less came out of left field, legendary Michigan Softball head coach Carol Hutchins is retiring after 38 years at the helm: 

Hutchins, 65, was said to be on a five-year rolling contract with the ability to stay as long as she wanted. While the timing in this stage of the summer is a bit surprising, the decision to ultimately step away is not. An exodus of players to the transfer portal seemed to be an omen of this and today we get the news.

I will keep this short, because I will have a post on her in full in the coming days, but it's hard to overstate what Carol Hutchins meant not just to Michigan Softball, as the only face the program has ever had, but to the sport at large. While at Michigan, Hutchins won 22 B1G regular season titles, including 12 of 13 between 2008 and 2021. She won the B1G Tournament title 10 times, qualified for the Women's College World Series 12 times, and won one national title in 2005. With 1707 career victories (.755 winning percentage), Hutchins is the winningest coach in NCAA Softball history.

Over Hutchins' tenure at Michigan, NCAA Softball went from a nascent and niche sport to a legitimate top-line entity in college athletics that attracts millions of eyeballs in Oklahoma City every June for the WCWS. Her role in facilitating that growth was humongous. Hutchins produced some of the greatest players NCAA Softball has ever seen and never stopped being a tireless advocate for women and girls in sports at all levels. Her gargantuan legacy will tower over this sport for decades and finding a replacement at Michigan will not be easy. 

There is no content after the jump. 

UPDATE: Assistant Coach Bonnie Tholl has been named as Hutchins' successor: 

Comments

Zopak

August 25th, 2022 at 12:45 PM ^

A literal colossus in Softball history. She's earned every bit of her retirement. Thanks be to her, and may we continue to strive for the greatness she made regular.

Joined: 08/24/2018

MGoPoints: 683