Since taking his spot in the coaches’ box in 2007, Mickey Dean has lifted Radford softball to successes never before seen by the program, or any Highlander team.
Dean, whose championship pedigree extends from high school to the professional ranks, led the Highlanders to four straight Big South regular season titles, back-to-back tournament championships (2009 & 2010) as well as the program’s first-ever NCAA tournament win (2009) and NCAA Regional Final appearance (2010) for any Radford athletic team.
The program’s remarkable year-by-year improvement under the four-time Big South (league record) and two-time VaSID State Coach of the Year culminated with a NCAA Regional runner-up finish in 2010, but was clearly a model of consistency: Since 2005, Radford is the winningest program (320-163) in the state of Virginia and from 2006-09, the Highlanders were just one of 10 Division I programs to win 40 contests each season.
Under the guidance of the winningest coach in program history, Radford has won 241 games (three 40-plus win seasons), an average of 40 victories the past six years.
The squad has been a frequent visitor in the RPIs top-50 and reached as high as a program-best 34 during the 2012 regular season. The Highlanders cracked the top-50 for the first time in 2008, reaching as high as 44 and finished that campaign at 49, a season that also saw them win a school record 46 contests.
In addition to the in-season RPI ranking in 2012, Radford knocked off then-undefeated and No. 20 Florida State on March 2 for its highest ranked win in program history and senior Nichole Beall became the program’s first All-Amcerican. On a personal note, Dean earned his 300
th career victory when his Highlanders defeated Winthrop on April 12.
In just six short seasons, the program has produced its first All-American (Nichole Beall ’12), NPF draft pick (Kristen Shifflett '11), Lowe's Senior CLASS Award winner (Chelsea Kelley '11), Big South Woman of the Year (Hope Creasy ’10), Big South Female Student-Athlete of the Year (Shifflett ’10) and Big South Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year (Kelley ’11). In addition 15 Big South individual awards (5 Pitchers, 4 Coaches, 3 Players, 2 Freshmen, Scholar-Athlete), 14 all-region accolades (9 first team), 37 all-conference selections (25 first team) and 32 all-state honors (16 first team)
On the field, the Highlanders have been dominant in Big South play. Along with four straight regular season and two tournament championships (2009 & 2010), Radford has posted a 84-21 mark in regular season play, which included a league-record 21 consecutive conference series' wins and an 18-game regular season winning streak over the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
Add to that a 163-68 (.706) mark from 2008-11, which is the best four-year run for any Big South program.
In 2011, Radford reached its fifth (fourth under Dean) Big South Championship game in the past six seasons. And even before the season got start, Radford earned preseason recognition never seen before. As a team, the Highlanders received seven votes in the both national preseason polls and Kristen Shifflett was named to the
Despite the runner-up finish, Radford posted 38 victories and set team marks in double plays (38) and steals (131).
Strong defense and aggressive base running has always been a staple under Dean's tenure. Since his arrival the Highlanders have recorded 135 doubles plays (22.5/season) and 706 stolen bases (118/season).
A season ago, the Highlander registered a NCAA-best 38 twin-killings which tied for the eighth best season in NCAA history. On the bath paths, Radford has ranked fourth (2012) and fifth (2011) in the NCAA in stolen bases the past two seasons and swiped a school-record eight against Toledo in 2011.
2010 saw the Highlanders advance all the way to the NCAA Regional final against host and eventual national semifinalist Georgia. However, the day before Radford was to clash with Georgia, the Highlanders picked up their most important victory in program history when they came from behind and defeated then-No. 24 Florida State, 3-2.
At that moment, the victory over the Seminoles was the highest ranked team the Highlanders defeated and gave them wins over nationally ranked programs in consecutive seasons.
Continuing the trend of record-breaking seasons in 2010, the Highlanders improved on school marks set in 2009 in home runs (74), batting average (.318), slugging percentage (.541) and conference wins (16).
The 74 long balls also broke Liberty’s Big South mark of 73 accomplished in 2007. They also set new records with 270 RBI and a .971 fielding percentage and defended their home turf. Radford recorded an undefeated 16-0 mark at RU Softball Field, the first perfect home season in program history.
The squad also recorded the program’s highest RPI (40) in 2010, and earned their second recognition in national polls, which included a vote in the final 2010 USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll.
After hosting and winning the 2009 Big South tournament, Dean and the Highlanders appeared in the tough Chapel Hill regional. Radford was edged by eventual national semifinalist Georgia, defeated Campbell and fell to the host and 15th-ranked Tar Heels.
The 9-5 come-from-behind win over the Camels was the first NCAA team victory for a Radford University athletic program in school history.
Radford’s showing in the Chapel Hill regional, along with its 41-15 (16-2, Big South) campaign in 2009 earned the Highlander coaching staff NFCA Mid-Atlantic Region Coaching Staff of the Year honors.
The success, however, extends beyond the box scores. The hard work in the classroom and the community has led to team and individual accomplishments.
In the classroom the past two seasons, Radford has recorded top-50 GPAs amongst Division I programs, including 25th in 2010. The achievement culminated in 2011 when Chelsea Kelley was named the Lowes Senior CLASS Award winner for Softball, an award that embodies a student-athletes entire career on and off the field over their time with the program.
To go along with Radford’s accolades, Dean also guided the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro FastPitch League to a 2008 championship, the first in franchise history. During his six years as the head coach, the Bandits claimed five NPF regular season championships. Along with coaching duties, he moved to the front office in 2009, serving at the organization’s general manager.
A three-time NPF Manager of the Year, Dean became the sole manager of the Bandits in 2007 and after the 2008 championship he was named general manager. Prior to that, he along with co-manager Eugene Lenti led the Bandits to regular season championships in 2005 and 2006, including a 30-12 finish in 2006.
The championships by the Bandits and Highlanders added to Dean’s stellar accomplishments. He has now won a championship at the high school, junior college, NCAA, professional and Olympic levels.
On the recruiting trail, Dean has reaped the benefits early on as his first two recruiting classes have made immediate impacts on the field. In 2008, Shannon Keefe was named the Big South and VaSID state Freshman of the Year and just a season later Leigh Godfrey garnered both those honors. Keefe was the first Highlander rookie to be recognized by the Big South since 1995.
It has come full circle the past three seasons as Kristen Shifflett, a member of his first recruiting class, was named the 2010 Big South and VaSID State Player of the Year, a first for any Highlander since 1996 and it was just capped off by Nichole Beall's Third Team All-American selection in 2012.
Shifflett would also go on to be the 2009-10 Big South Female Student-Athlete of the Year and a year later be the first Radford female to be drafted by a professional team (Chicago Bandits).
Dean’s first recruiting class, which finished it’s career has produced 10 all-conference and nine all-state selections, two Big South Tournament MVP’s and five all-region honorees.
Turning to the circle, Dean’s pitchers have been successful under his tutelage being named Big South Pitcher of the Year four times (first three seasons) and first team all-conference in all five. In 2009, Chelsea Kelley followed in Ashley Taylor’s footsteps as the conference’s top pitcher as well as being one of the first four Highlanders to be named a first team all-region selection. Most recently, Jackie Jenkins took home the honor in 2011.
Following a strong coaching debut in 2007, Radford softball under Dean completed one of its most successful campaigns in school history in 2008. The Highlanders posted a school-best 46-15 mark that included a record 16-game winning streak.
Those were just two of several marks obtained that season. Along with the wins and winning streak, new records were set for winning percentage (.754), road/neutral site wins (34), hit by pitches (26) and road winning streak (eight games). As with 2007, several hitting records were set, only to be broken a season later.
On a national scale, Radford received its first vote in a NCAA poll, ranking at 34th and 37th nationally. The Highlanders earned their first top-50 RPI (44th) ranking and finished the season there (49th) for the first time as well. They also garnered a Big South record seven first team all-conference selections and eight overall.
Dean was hired as the program’s fifth head coach on Sept. 7, 2006. He joined Radford after two seasons as an assistant and associate head coach at Longwood University.
In his first season, Dean guided the Highlanders to a then-school record 44-27 mark and second straight appearance in the Big South Championship game. Under his guidance, RU athletes earned six all-conference awards and four all-state accolades. Ashley Taylor was named Big South Pitcher of the Year and earned Southeast region honors, while becoming the first Highlander to obtain all-conference accolades as a pitcher and hitter.
The Highlanders also broke several team and individual records in 2007. Dean’s pitchers struck out a school-record 492 batters, while the base runners swiped a then-program-best 128 bases. Several hitting records also fell, only to be broken again in 2008.
Dean, who was on the staff of the Venezuelan National team from 2002-08, helped lead the squad to the Gold Medal at the Central American Olympic Games in his first season and a Bronze Medal at the 2006 Pan American Games in Guatemala. He was also on the coaching staff in 2003 when Venezuela played in the Olympic qualifying tournament. In 2008, Venezuela qualified for its first-ever Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
Before coming to Radford, Dean became a member of Longwood’s coaching staff as an assistant in 2005 and was promoted to associate head coach in 2006. During his two seasons, he served as the pitching coach, recruiting coordinator and defense strategy coach.
Prior to the Bandits, Dean spent two seasons (2002-2004) as an assistant coach at Indiana University, helping guide the Hoosiers to their first winning season since 1997, finishing 2004 with a 32-31 record. The 2004 pitching staff also ranks second all-time in strikeouts in a season at Indiana.
Before joining the staff at Indiana, Dean was an assistant at the University of Akron from 2001-2002, where the Zips won the Mid-American Conference (East Division) Championship in 2002. While at Akron, he coached the 2002 MAC Pitcher of the Year.
He was also an assistant coach for Lake City Community College (Fla.) (LCCC) in the spring of 2000, before being promoted to head coach in the fall of the same year. As head coach of LCCC, he led the team to a NJCAA National Championship with a 65-5 record, earning him NJCAA Tournament Coach of the Year.
Dean began coaching softball in 1996, taking over the head coaching position at Orange County High School in Orange, Va. He was at the helm of the Hornets from 1996-1999, winning two Virginia AA State Titles (1998-99) and reaching the state semifinals in 1997. During his stint at OCHS, Dean was named Group AA Coach of the Year in 1998 and 1999 and co-coach of the year in 1997. He was also selected to coach in the 1999 and 2000 Virginia East-West All-Star Games.
A 1987 graduate of Elon University, Dean holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration. During his playing days, he was a four-year member of the baseball team which participated in the NAIA College World Series in both 1985 and 1987.
On Oct. 15, 2010, Dean was inducted into the Spotswood High School Hall of Fame.
Dean and his wife Liz reside in Pulaski with their two children, Isaac and Caroline.
DEAN
YEAR-BY-YEAR
|
Year
|
Overall
|
Conference
|
|
2007
|
44-27
|
9-6 (3rd)
|
|
2008 |
46-15 |
13-2 (2nd) |
|
#*2009 |
41-15 |
16-2 (1st) |
|
#*2010 |
38-17 |
16-2 (1st) |
|
#2011 |
38-21 |
14-4 (1st) |
|
#2012 |
34-21 |
16-5 (1st) |
|
Totals |
241-116 |
84-21 |
|
# Big South Coach of the Year |
|
* Big South Champions |
|
DEAN ON THE FIELD
Coaching
2006-pr.
Head Coach, Radford
2004-10
Head Coach, Chicago Bandits
General Manager (2008-09), Chicago Bandits
2002-08
Pitching Coach, Venezuelan National Team
2005-06
Associate Head Coach, Longwood
2002-04
Assistant Coach, Indiana
2001-02
Assistant Coach, Akron
2000-01
Head Coach, Lake City Community College
2000
Assistant Coach, Lake City Community College
1996-99
Head Coach, Orange County High School
Playing
1984-87
Elon
|
