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The Regional Coaching Staff of the Year honors were distributed as follows:
West Region
University of Nevada (44-18) Head Coach Michelle Gardner, Assistant Coaches Melanie Meuchel, Annie Stevens and Andy Dominique. . Nevada captured the Western Athletic Conference regular season championship and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they advanced to the championship game of the Los Angeles Regional against host school UCLA. Nevada had three player selected to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-West Region team with one earning Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-America honors.
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Pack softball: Gardner leaving Nevada to return to her roots
By CHRIS GABEL - June 10, 2008
The Nevada softball team will have to continue its resurrection under new management. After six seasons with the Wolf Pack, coach Michelle Gardner is leaving Nevada for Indiana.
"I'm torn. (Nevada) is a great job and I'm thankful to have come to Nevada and done what I did," said Gardner, who led the Wolf Pack to a program-record 44 wins and its first NCAA Tournament victory this past season. "It's a tough position to leave."
Nevada was a fixture in the top-25 national rankings for much of the 2008 season, and posted victories over then-defending national champion Arizona as well as California before ending its season with a pair of losses to UCLA in the NCAA Tournament's Los Angeles Regional last month.
"Any time you have coaches that do the type of job that Michelle did you think about how different openings might be attractive to them," Nevada athletic director Cary Groth said. "When I saw the Indiana opening I immediately thought of Michigan and Michelle.
"She did great things here and will be missed."
The Michigan native played in the Big Ten as a member of the Wolverines and called herself "a midwestern kid." The proximity of this position to her family made her want to look into it further,
Gardner told the RGJ last week when it first reported she was being considered for the Hoosiers' job.
"This was one of the first big jobs to open up in the Midwest," said Gardner, who will be five hours from her family. "It's time to get closer to home.
Gardner's position is the fifth Groth must fill, after women's basketball coach Kim Gervasoni, men's golf coach Rich Merritt, head athletic trainer Marc Paul and head strength and conditioning coach John Archer all resigned in the past month.
The trainer and strength coach positions have been filled, as has the golf opening. A new women's basketball coach is expected to be announced later this week, Groth said.
"The more successful your program is the more coaches you're going to lose," Groth said. "There are bigger conferences that can pay more and our people are attractive to other programs. When people start to leave because it's a bad place to work then I'll start to worry."
The Wolf Pack has just one incoming recruit for next season, former Spanish Springs pitcher Mallary Darby. A message left for Darby on Monday was not immediately returned.
Gardner, who just completed the first year of a five-year contract that pays her $72,000 annually (with no buyout clause), compiled a 187-176 record at Nevada, including a WAC regular-season championship, a WAC Tournament title and two NCAA Tournament berths. She was named the conference's coach of the year this past season.
Gardner inherits another rebuilding job at Indiana. Stacey Phillips resigned May 13 following a 15-35 season.
"We are excited to attract a person of Michelle's background to lead the Indiana softball program," Indiana athletic director Rick Greenspan said. "She was able to accomplish a great deal in a very short time in building a program from the ground up at Nevada. ... Additionally, her experience as a student-athlete at Michigan gives her a good sense of the level of competitiveness in the Big Ten."
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Softball: Hoosiers hire Nevada head coach
By Ryan McLaughlin - June 12, 2008
Reprinted from the Indiana Daily Student, Indiana University
The search for Indiana University's next head softball coach ended Monday as Michelle Gardner was named the eighth head coach in program history.
The former University of Nevada coach began her career as an assistant at Florida State and Arizona, and leaves the Wolf Pack after spending the past six seasons helping to rebuild the school's softball program, which had not competed in 14 years prior to 2001. During her time at Nevada, Gardner compiled an overall record of 187-176 and led the school to it's first-ever appearance in the NCAA Regional in 2006.
When the IU head coach position opened she decided to look into it and began seriously contemplating the job. She felt she had the Nevada program in a good place and the IU job was a "timing thing."
"I'm leaving Nevada in great shape," she said. "The team is set up for good things. I wouldn't feel good about leaving the program if that wasn't the case."
A Petersburg, Mich., native and former Big Ten Player of the Year from the University of Michigan, Gardner said she is excited about returning home to the Midwest. She has three young kids and is looking forward to moving close to her family who still resides in Michigan.
"I've pretty much been out of the area for about 10 years," she said. "Being close to family is underrated."
Most importantly, Gardner said she is looking forward to getting involved with the IU program and competing in the Big Ten.
"It's the Big Ten," she said. "It's a great conference, and Indiana's a great school."
Gardner plans on coming to Bloomington within the next couple weeks to begin her transition from Nevada to IU. Her two main goals for the next month are to begin getting know the IU players and program and to make herself more visible in the recruiting world as the new IU coach.
Gardner is already going on a recruiting trip this weekend. However, she said first and foremost she wants to get to know her athletes and what their abilities are so she can start changing their mentality to fit her coaching approach.
"I want to get the players onboard with what my expectations are for the program and that everyone buys into the Indiana program," she said.
She hasn't had a chance to speak to any of the IU players yet because she has been busy contacting her former players at Nevada and finishing wrapping up business with the school. She said she plans on calling each IU player this week.
The naming of Gardner as the new head softball coach comes after former coach Stacey Phillips announced her resignation to pursue other opportunities May 13. Phillips, who compiled a career record of 80-135-1, began her IU career as an assistant coach in 2004 before assuming the role of head coach for the 2006 season. She led the Hoosiers to the NCAA Tournament during that season.
Senior pitcher Monica Wright said Phillips' departure came as a bit of a shock. Wright said towards the end of the season the team felt that there was going to be a change in the program.
"Any time you lose a whole coaching staff it definitely comes as a surprise," Wright said.
Although there are no team practices or workouts during the summer, Wright said the players are working hard individually, playing and staying in shape on their own. But she said it has been difficult not having that go-to person during the summer that a head coach provides.
"It's been a little nerve-racking not knowing what's going to happen," Wright said. "I think we're all glad that we finally have a coach."
Wright had the chance to watch Gardner coach during the NCAA Regional Tournament at UCLA in 2006 and said her statistics alone prove that she's a good coach that has a great ability to recruit. Wright said that after this past season the team is determined to make a change and win.
"I think all of us are ready to follow what she tells us to do and we're ready to win," Wright said.
Gardner said the program has the ability to win and wants to come in and give everything a boost.
"This program has some real potential, but it just needs a little jump start," she said. "And that's my goal."