The first On Deck of the 2025 season, RTS’s Lee Dobbins sits down with Campbell Head Coach Emily Carosone. The new head coach of the Fighting Camels comes to Buies Creek after spending a short stint as associate head coach at Troy University. She served on the coaching staff in various positions at her alma mater Auburn for seven seasons, including associate head coach. Carosone was a three-time All-American for the Tigers during her competition days. She also played in the U.S. National Team Program and on the professional level.
Dobbins: Coach Carosone you have spent all your young coaching career in the SEC at your alma mater Auburn. How has been the transition from going to a Power 4 program to a mid-major Division I program and in your first head coaching opportunity?
Carosone: It’s been a smooth transition. I’m lucky enough that Campbell prioritizes their sports and that they have an administration that wants to help continue a championship mind set in the softball program.
Dobbins: You take over a program at Campbell that has had some excellent success over the last several years winning conference championships and making NCAA appearances. Even with roster turnover that inevitably comes from coaching changes, what has been your approach to keep the program on track success wise while putting your stamp on it?
Carosone: Developing the talent that we have. As a staff, we were grandfathered all these players. They did not choose us, rather we chose them. Our goal is to develop each young woman we have on the team to become a better athlete and a better person.
Dobbins: Scheduling seems to always be at the heart of any program’s success on the conference level and eventually in the NCAA Postseason. Having coached at Auburn and a program that SOS is always near the top in the country just by conference affiliation, how will you approach scheduling at a mid-major like Campbell to strike that balance of success both regionally and on a national level?
Carosone: The end goal is to push these players that we have now to their utmost potential. The expectation is to win championships. As a coaching staff we need to schedule teams that can push us to be the best team out there. This year’s schedule was already set, but we have already started scheduling teams in the 2026 season that are top 25 teams.
Dobbins: We are living in the era of the Transfer Portal, NIL, and soon revenue sharing in collegiate athletics. Most coaches are seeing these topics as a major challenge, and could even lead to athletic departments cutting sports like softball and from an institutional standpoint possibly ceasing sports all-together. How are you maneuvering the new look of college athletics?
Carosone: There are a lot of people out there that love watching softball. NIL can be a positive for your athletes, especially in women’s sports. We want NIL to help an athlete in need and the fans that want to help should be able to.
Dobbins: Expanding on the Transfer Portal topic. It seems the recruitment of the portal is starting to trump recruiting athletes from the high school/club levels. What approach are you taking on recruiting? To a lot of frustrated young Prospective Student-Athletes, what advice would you give them?
Carosone: We want to take the talent we have and develop it. When we find holes in our team, that is when we look at the transfer portal. I am personally in favor of the transfer portal. With mental health issues and for a young athlete who may not be happy where they are at, it gives them the ability to find happiness somewhere else. To the younger athletes, it’s all about getting seen.
Dobbins: Having recruited PSAs to a Power 4 program like Auburn and all a program like that has to offer, how has your recruiting efforts changed now you are at a mid-major? Talk a bit about the differences and similarities you might still be employing.
Carosone: We still recruit the highest caliber athlete that hasn’t changed. There are a lot of softball players that get overlooked in the recruiting process. The difference between Campbell and Auburn is that Auburn has more outwardly to offer. I see Campbell having more inwardly to offer. With Campbell being a Christian University, athletes can come in and share their faiths openly. This is something I believe is huge and could be vital to an athlete’s success on and off the field. It is a smaller town, which allows us to have more personability with our players, staff, and community.
Dobbins: You played professionally here in the U.S. It seems professional softball in this country limps along each year with many leagues and teams coming and going and not sustaining long-term success. What are your thoughts on the professional game in this country and where do you believe it needs to go to maintain sustained success that it has been lacking?
Carosone: There are options for student athletes to continue their careers in softball after college if they wish. It is about what’s the best fit for you. I have seen growth in the professional leagues since my time playing in them. As long as they can continue to grow, softball will be in a good spot. For it to maintain success, it needs to be easily accessible for the fans that want to watch it- because people want to watch the sport.
