Carol Sue Hutchins (born May 26, 1957) is an American former softball coach. In 38 years as the head coach of

Michigan Wolverines softball The Michigan Wolverines softball team represents the University of Michigan in National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division I (NCAA), Division I competition. College softball became a varsity sport at the University of Michigan in 1 ...

, (1985–2022), she won more games than any other coach in

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

history in any sport, male or female with 1,684 wins. Hutchins had a career record of 1,707 wins, 551 losses, and five ties, for a winning percentage. She led the Wolverines to their first NCAA softball championship in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. On April 2, 2016, Hutchins became the winningest head coach in NCAA Division I Softball history when Michigan defeated Indiana, passing Margie Wright's record of 1,457 career wins. She reclaimed the record as winningest head coach on February 25, 2022, passing Mike Candrea's record of 1,674.

Softball and basketball player

A native of

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County, Michigan, Eaton County and nort ...

, Hutchins attended Everett High School, where she was an All-City basketball player from 1973 to 1975. Hutchins also played for the Lansing Laurels, an Amateur Softball Association fastpitch team that finished as high as fifth nationally. After graduating from high school, Hutchins attended

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

, where she played on the Spartans varsity basketball and softball teams from 1976 to 1979. Hutchins was a Michigan State starting shortstop as a freshman and helped the Michigan State softball team win an

Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

(AIAW) National Softball Championship.

Coaching career

After graduating from Michigan State in 1979, Hutchins attended

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

where she received a master's degree in physical education in 1981. She began her coaching career as an assistant coach for Indiana Hoosiers softball in 1981 and next became the head coach for the Ferris State Bulldogs softball in 1982. In 1983, she was hired as an assistant coach at the

, a position she held from 1983 to 1984. She became the head coach of the

team in 1985. When she took over as head coach, Hutchins reportedly "had a tiny salary, an only slightly larger budget, and had to take care of her own field, throwing down lime and riding the lawn tractor." Hutchins joked that there is still a dent in the fence from a day the tractor "just went wild." Since Hutchins became Michigan's coach, the team has never had a losing season. Hutchins' teams have won 22

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

regular-season titles, nine Big Ten Conference softball tournament titles, and 18

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) regional championships. She has been named Big Ten Coach of the Year on 18 occasions, National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Regional Coach of the Year nine times, and NFCA National Coach of the Year twice. She led the Michigan softball team to its first (NCAA)

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States and is held annually in Oklahoma City, OK. The event is held at Devon Park (stadium), Devon Park loca ...

championship in 2005. The 2005 Michigan Wolverines softball team was the first team from East of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

to win the Women's College World Series. The ''

Ann Arbor News ''The Ann Arbor News'' is a newspaper serving Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw and Livingston County, Michigan, Livingston counties in Michigan. Published daily online through MLive.com, the paper also publishes print editions on Thursdays a ...

'' described the team's accomplishment this way:

"What happened during the past five months might be the most unlikely accomplishment in the history of a storied athletics program, analogous to setting out to win an NCAA hockey title at the University of New Mexico. Then doing it. Now, before you dismiss that as hyperbole, consider a few factors. Like the fact that, because of cold weather, the Wolverines played their first 33 games on the road, roughly half the season. Try doing that in football or basketball. Then there's recruiting. Softball is still a sport dominated by West Coast talent. ... There's a reason no team East of the Mississippi had won an NCAA softball title until now."

After Michigan defeated No. 1 ranked

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

in March 2005, Hutchins told a reporter, "Yes, there is softball east of the Rockies." The performance of the 2005 team also set Michigan records in several categories: *The team's 65 victories was the most in program history. *The team recorded 32 consecutive victories between February 13, 2005, and March 30, 2005. *The team's 103 home runs tied for the second most in NCAA history. *The team's first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. After winning the World Series, Hutchins and her team visited the White House in July 2005, where they met with President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, something Hutchins called "a once-in-a-lifetime experience." In March 2000, she recorded her 638th win, giving her more career wins than any other coach in University of Michigan history in any sport, male or female. In 2007, she became the seventh coach in NCAA softball history, and the first in any sport at the University of Michigan, to reach 1,000 career wins. After winning her 1,000th game, Hutchins told a reporter that her greatest pride did not come from the 1,000 wins, but from her ability to influence how her players look at life, "to get them to work together and to meet standards, to show them they can lead as women." When she was inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame, her players presented her with a scrapbook with a note from one saying, "I came here a girl with potential and left here a woman with no limits." Hutchins noted that those 15 words matter more than the 1,000 wins. On October 4, 2017, Hutchins signed a five-year contract extension with the Wolverines. On February 25, 2022, Hutchins reclaimed the record as the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history, passing Mike Candrea's record of 1,674. On May 1, 2022, she became the first softball coach to reach the 1,700 wins milestone. On August 24, 2022, Hutchins announced her retirement after 38 years as head coach at Michigan. At the time of her retirement, she was the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history with a record of 1,707–555–5. During her career as head coach, Michigan never suffered a losing season, and she led the team to 22 Big Ten regular-season titles from 1995 to 2021, including nine in a row from 2008 to 2016, 10 Big Ten Tournament championships, and qualified for the NCAA Tournament 29 times, including each of the last 27 years.

Honors and personal life

In 2000 Hutchins was inducted into the Greater Lansing Sports Hall of Fame. In 2006, she was inducted into the

National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame The National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame was established in 1991 to recognize sports coach, coaches who have made extraordinary contributions to the sport of softpitch softball. The National Fastpitch Coaches Association ("NFCA") is ...

. In 2011, she was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. She was inducted into the

Michigan Women's Hall of Fame The Michigan Women's Hall of Fame (MWHOF) honors distinguished women, both historical and contemporary, who have been associated with the U.S. state of Michigan. The hall of fame was founded in 1983 by Gladys Beckwith and is sponsored by the Michi ...

in 2022. Hutchins is an avid mountain biker and runner, and continued playing organized softball and hockey until 1998.

Head coaching record

References

External links