Mickey Dean to Retire at Season's End

[all4AU 379]

I wish coach good health, but it is time. 
 

Link

[aubiefifty 16,778]

thank goodness for that.............

[I_M4_AU 7,811]

 

 

[Jad0003 405]

I wish him well. It sounds like he will stick around as an advisor to the Cohen. He also mention he needed to take care of personal matters. I hope he is healthy for when he is able to retire. I am glad there is some resolution for the team and the fans though. 

Now, the fun part where we speculate. I hope Auburn can pull a big time name, whether it be a head coach or an assistant. My list: 
 

Kenny Gajewski: I didn’t like how he handled the Maxwell situation, but he’s built a regular contender for OKC. He might be willing to make a change with the conference realignment and where Oklahoma State landed.

Marissa Young: She’s done really well building the program at Duke. She also wouldn’t have the same academic standards as she does at Duke. 

Pete D’Amour: He’s done well at Virginia Tech, and we saw first hand how solid his teams are at the plate. I’ve read he prefers male coaches, and I’m not sure how well that will go over.

Gerry Glasco: He’s done well at Louisiana, but his record at Louisiana isn’t much better than Dean’s was at James Madison. He’s also close to Dean’s age, so I don’t want to get in another situation like we are in now. 

Chris Malveaux: One of the premier hitting coaches in the country and has revitalized Tennessee’s program. His wife also coaches the catchers and base runners.

Steve Singleton: He’s also one of the top offensive minds in the country, and he’s made Texas very scary at the plate.

JT Gasso: Widely considered the top offensive mind in the country and knows what it takes to run a program. I’m not sure he’d leave Oklahoma, but it is worth a shot.

Edited March 26 by Jad0003

[AUBwins 10,075]

19 minutes ago, Jad0003 said:

I wish him well. It sounds like he will stick around as an advisor to the Cohen. He also mention he needed to take care of personal matters. I hope he is healthy for when he is able to retire. I am glad there is some resolution for the team and the fans though. 

Now, the fun part where we speculate. I hope Auburn can pull a big time name, whether it be a head coach or an assistant. My list: 
 

Kenny Gajewski: I didn’t like how he handled the Maxwell situation, but he’s built a regular contender for OKC. He might be willing to make a change with the conference realignment and where Oklahoma State landed.

Marissa Young: She’s done really well building the program at Duke. She also wouldn’t have the same academic standards as she does at Duke. 

Pete D’Amour: He’s done well at Virginia Tech, and we saw first hand how solid his teams are at the plate. I’ve read he prefers male coaches, and I’m not sure how well that will go over.

Gerry Glasco: He’s done well at Louisiana, but his record at Louisiana isn’t much better than Dean’s was at James Madison. He’s also close to Dean’s age, so I don’t want to get in another situation like we are in now. 

Chris Malveaux: One of the premier hitting coaches in the country and has revitalized Tennessee’s program. His wife also coaches the catchers and base runners.

Steve Singleton: He’s also one of the top offensive minds in the country, and he’s made Texas very scary at the plate.

JT Gasso: Widely considered the top offensive mind in the country and knows what it takes to run a program. I’m not sure he’d leave Oklahoma, but it is worth a shot.

JT ... i just got if he did come here, it was not too gain experience only to take over for Patty at OU

[Tiger1992 999]

51 minutes ago, Jad0003 said:

Marissa Young: She’s done really well building the program at Duke. She also wouldn’t have the same academic standards as she does at Duke. 

With all of her husband’s health issues I would guess this is a non-starter.

[AU1947 157]

We just got better both on the field and in recruiting!

[OlderWhiskey 953]

This is an opportunity for Auburn softball to move forward again. We were glad to get Dean back in the fall of 2017 when Myers resigned. He had, at least, taken James Madison to a Super Regional. And to be fair, he has done a decent job recruiting. However, I've never had much regard for his softball acumen since his second SEC game, when he pitched to LSU's best hitter with their fastest player on second in bot 7 of a tied game, with first base open.

[tigeraddikt 1,608]

Great news, hope he can enjoy his retirement. Time to make a big leap forward a la the Myers hire.

[CameronCrazy 1,059]

Thank the Lord! Dean was a huge step backwards after Meyers. Let’s pray we get this one right. 

[TD1 227]

I noticed that former players and their family members liked his comment. 

[Big Fat Barner 135]

LIFE IS GOOD AGAIN! COME ON GAJEWSKI, MARISSA YOUNG OR PETE DAMOUR

[ArgoEagle 1,786]

I don't wish bad for any one. I hope MD enjoys the rest of his life.

I feel like we kept him at least 1 year too long, possibly 2.

Offensive recruiting seemed to get better over the years, but he just could not develop the girls from high school to college level hitters.

I feel bad for the girls that this is their last year of eligibility.  They have to suffer through the rest of this nightmare of a season with Dean.

[WarTiger 3,901]

Mickey Dean inherited an awful situation when he got here.  He navigated through that and has been recruiting quite well, but it just never has translated to on field success.   The girls deserve better than what they've gotten once they got here.  Hiring Lenti was an awful decision.    It's time for this program to make a change so I'm excited to see who Cohen goes out to get.   I really hope Cohen wants this program to be successful and will make a home run (or grand slam) hire.   Having this happen now rather at the end of the season gives Cohen a jump on putting a list of potential candidates together so he's ready to reach out to them once the season is over.

This is really good news for this program that has been stuck in this funk for several seasons.   Please John Cohen go out and get us the best coach for those girls and for Auburn.  

[PUB78 1,358]

Best wishes to him, but this may be a welcomed change at  the end of the seaon.

[I_M4_AU 7,811]

33 minutes ago, PUB78 said:

Best wishes to him, but this may be a welcomed change at  the end of the seaon.

The only reason I can think he announced it now is the players may try to rally around him throughout the season.  It could backfire.

[passthebiscuits 6,846]

Announce now so they can have some hope.

Good bye
Abrasive coach with no PR skills. We can do better. 

[aubiefifty 16,778]

Just now, passthebiscuits said:

Announce now so they can have some hope.

Good bye
Abrasive coach with no PR skills. We can do better. 

i believe he had some kids leave because of his antics? maybe? it has been a while since that stuff happened.

[all4AU 379]

2 hours ago, I_M4_AU said:

The only reason I can think he announced it now is the players may try to rally around him throughout the season.  It could backfire.

I think it was to calm the fans as well. The reactions on social media have been overwhelming after losses, especially after losing 14-6 to A&M. 

Now, we can root for the team to do well, but we don't have to worry about him saving his job. And if they struggle, we know he won't be sticking around too much longer. 

Better days are coming so maybe that will improve the mood for the team and fans. 

[CR 2,442]

I hate it for the girls that were here during his reign. A chance to correct a big mistake.

[AU9377 4,929]

On 3/26/2024 at 7:26 PM, Jad0003 said:

I wish him well. It sounds like he will stick around as an advisor to the Cohen. He also mention he needed to take care of personal matters. I hope he is healthy for when he is able to retire. I am glad there is some resolution for the team and the fans though. 

Now, the fun part where we speculate. I hope Auburn can pull a big time name, whether it be a head coach or an assistant. My list: 
 

Kenny Gajewski: I didn’t like how he handled the Maxwell situation, but he’s built a regular contender for OKC. He might be willing to make a change with the conference realignment and where Oklahoma State landed.

Marissa Young: She’s done really well building the program at Duke. She also wouldn’t have the same academic standards as she does at Duke. 

Pete D’Amour: He’s done well at Virginia Tech, and we saw first hand how solid his teams are at the plate. I’ve read he prefers male coaches, and I’m not sure how well that will go over.

Gerry Glasco: He’s done well at Louisiana, but his record at Louisiana isn’t much better than Dean’s was at James Madison. He’s also close to Dean’s age, so I don’t want to get in another situation like we are in now. 

Chris Malveaux: One of the premier hitting coaches in the country and has revitalized Tennessee’s program. His wife also coaches the catchers and base runners.

Steve Singleton: He’s also one of the top offensive minds in the country, and he’s made Texas very scary at the plate.

JT Gasso: Widely considered the top offensive mind in the country and knows what it takes to run a program. I’m not sure he’d leave Oklahoma, but it is worth a shot.

Nice list.  If Gasso was ever going to leave Oklahoma and establish something away from mom, this would be the time and place.    I'm not concerned with Glasco's age.  It isn't Dean's age that is pushing him to retire.  After all, the greatest coach Auburn will likely ever have wasn't a young guy when he came to Auburn and made Auburn softball into something more than an after thought.  Malveaux at UT would be an incredible hire, but it will def take a big bag to get him to call the movers.

[AU9377 4,929]

On 3/27/2024 at 10:36 AM, WarTiger said:

Mickey Dean inherited an awful situation when he got here.  He navigated through that and has been recruiting quite well, but it just never has translated to on field success.   The girls deserve better than what they've gotten once they got here.  Hiring Lenti was an awful decision.    It's time for this program to make a change so I'm excited to see who Cohen goes out to get.   I really hope Cohen wants this program to be successful and will make a home run (or grand slam) hire.   Having this happen now rather at the end of the season gives Cohen a jump on putting a list of potential candidates together so he's ready to reach out to them once the season is over.

This is really good news for this program that has been stuck in this funk for several seasons.   Please John Cohen go out and get us the best coach for those girls and for Auburn.  

He also inherited a talented team. Dean just doesn't have the type of personality that would have allowed him to navigate the angst within the roster.  Overall, the last thing the young women on that roster wanted to happen is for Myers to retire.  That is all water under the bridge at this point, but returning to that level of winning would be great for women's sports at Auburn.

[tigeraddikt 1,608]

On 3/26/2024 at 10:42 PM, TD1 said:

I noticed that former players and their family members liked his comment. 

Like mama always said, “If you ain’t got nothin nice to say, don’t…forget to say it on social media.”

[RedDirtFan 39]

On 3/27/2024 at 12:15 PM, I_M4_AU said:

The only reason I can think he announced it now is the players may try to rally around him throughout the season.  It could backfire.

The players despise him, but put on a good face for the sake of the program and their own careers. They want to attract a quality coach, so some of it is a show. They’re auditioning for their next job, which could be thru the portal. 
 

if there’s not a coach named, it’s tough to recruit and keep those players that are committed. NLI is a little stickier, but players we’ve signed are also in jeopardy. Players have certain traits that serve different offenses/defenses better than others. I wouldn’t roll the dice unless I knew the program I was getting into. 
 

The school plays a part in the show and will attract diehards, but not all of the gamechanger are Auburn fans. 
 

Social media plays a part, that’s why we’re blasting out everytime we embarrass a JuCo or Mid-Major. 
 

The move was necessary, but they need to name a replacement quickly to shorten the reboot phase next year. 

[Jad0003 405]

3 hours ago, RedDirtFan said:

The players despise him, but put on a good face for the sake of the program and their own careers. They want to attract a quality coach, so some of it is a show. They’re auditioning for their next job, which could be thru the portal. 
 

if there’s not a coach named, it’s tough to recruit and keep those players that are committed. NLI is a little stickier, but players we’ve signed are also in jeopardy. Players have certain traits that serve different offenses/defenses better than others. I wouldn’t roll the dice unless I knew the program I was getting into. 
 

The school plays a part in the show and will attract diehards, but not all of the gamechanger are Auburn fans. 
 

Social media plays a part, that’s why we’re blasting out everytime we embarrass a JuCo or Mid-Major. 
 

The move was necessary, but they need to name a replacement quickly to shorten the reboot phase next year. 

Phillip Marshal said they aren’t naming a replacement until after the WCWS.