Coaching With Compassion
Founding Softball Coach Looks Back on 24 Years
To understand the impact Dave Deiros had in 24 years as Florida Gulf Coast University’s head softball coach, you have to go beyond numbers like the school-record 62 wins in 2007 and the five ASUN Players of the Year.
They’re impressive. And if that’s all “DD” did, he would be celebrated as he leaves his coaching position and transitions into an athletics administration leadership role. But his humanity and compassion are elements of his legacy that perhaps only his players and those inside FGCU Athletics could know about.
Deiros says he will profoundly miss the grind of preparing, implementing and adapting a game plan for his team and isn’t sure how he can replicate that. And that aspect of his persona was legendary to his players, who said his background as a chemistry instructor led him to study the game “to a degree that few people do.”
But he says he’ll miss the relationships he forged with his players more than anything.
“Their energy, enthusiasm and camaraderie are contagious,” he says. “You can’t come to practice and not feel invigorated by them. Watching them develop as players, professionals and teammates is the most gratifying part of my job.”