In this edition of On Deck, RTS’s Lee Dobbins sits down with new Mercer University Head Coach Lindsay Fico. The first time Division I Coach took over the Bears last June after spending the previous three seasons on the Junior College level as head coach at Santa Fe College in Florida. During the 2021 season, Fico led the Saints to a 31-16 record and the school’s 16th all-time appearance in the FCSAA State Tournament. The former Florida Gator started her coaching path after graduating from UF in 2006 in the private sector giving individual instruction and coaching on the club level.
Lee Dobbins: You have had a meteoric rise in the coaching ranks. Starting in the private sector of the game with instruction and being involved on the club level, to getting your first collegiate job on the JUCO level and now moving right to the Division I. Talk a bit about your journey and how you were able to reach these heights so quickly.
Lindsay Fico: I have been very blessed to be in the right place at the right time multiple times throughout my coaching career. I do feel like everything has happened very quickly for me and understand it’s not the norm. It’s certainly a blessing that the universe has aligned so nicely, and I am very appreciative of every opportunity to coach the game I love.
When coaching travel ball started to get a little more serious, I realized just how much I enjoyed the profession, however I couldn’t have imagined it would snowball so quickly. I feel like coaching Florida JUCO ball gave me a leg up when it came to making the jump to the DI level. I learned many tricks of the trade that I wouldn’t have if I was a DI assistant, and I feel like the level of play, especially in the state of FL, is comparable to most mid-major programs in DI softball. I have just focused on trying to make anyone I meet better either athletically, academically, or even socially speaking.
I measure my success as a coach by focusing the “person” before the “athlete.” If our players are holding themselves to a higher standard on and off the field, success will fall into place. There are several people throughout who have been willing to stick their neck out for me, so I don’t discount that I have had support along the way. I have also been quite lucky to have a staff that fosters the same type of culture that I strive to maintain.
Dobbins: A lot of times coaches tend to be all-in on JUCO Athletes in that they can help their programs immediately experience wise, or shy away from them due to different stereotyping of those athletes and why they might be on the JUCO level to begin with. Talk a little about your experience with that. Do you plan to recruit the JUCO level at Mercer?
Fico: I think there is a balance to everything. We have already reaped the benefits of having JUCO products. A lot of times, players end up playing JUCO because timing just wasn’t right for them when they graduated high school, it doesn’t discount their ability to play at a higher level and most go on after their years in the JUCO circuit.
Dobbins: Recruiting is always evolving and maybe not always for the positive as of late with showcase softball, recruiting services, and the challenges the pandemic have brought. Where do you think recruiting is now compared to say when you competed and started coaching and even when you played? What are the challenges you have seen and maybe the fixes needed to be made?
Fico: For one thing, social media didn’t exist when I was being recruited. It was so much harder to know if you were getting the right looks from the schools you were interested in, but also less “watered down.” I lean on my relationships with fellow coaches, instructors, and friends within the softball world when it comes to recruiting. I was also in sales for more than 10 years before I coached…that experience helps tremendously when we are looking for athletes to join our program. We want players who know how to compete outside of “showcase ball.” Players who play for something bigger than themselves learn the stresses and success that comes in college. The more they learn that, the better prepared they will be when they find their college home.
Dobbins: Following up on the recruiting question; Where do you believe the newest innovation of the Transfer Portal fits in college recruiting? Will Mercer take advantage of the portal, or are you staying the course of recruiting high school/club age Prospective Student-Athletes and possibly JUCO Athletes?
Fico: Again, I think we must find the right balance when it comes to “portal” players vs. the traditional high school recruit. Both can bring a lot of value to a program. If we are using the portal with integrity and doing our due diligence with high school talent, we should be fine. Considering my experience at the JUCO level, we will also take advantage of finding the best players we can in that world.
Dobbins: College softball tends to be divided in the “haves and have nots”. The gap seems to be particularly wide between the major Division I/Power 5s and everyone else. Talk a little about that from the standpoint of having played at a major program like Florida and having coached at the JUCO level at Santa Fe and now mid-major level at Mercer. Do you see those gaps closing, or just getting wider with innovations like the NIL and the push to treat athletes more like employees than students?
Fico: I cherished my time at UF, but I also understand that the UF of today is very different from the one I know. I think the gap between the Power 5s and mid-majors will remain somewhat the same. They are just too different not to, but it doesn’t mean a mid-major can’t be extremely competitive because at the end of the day, the culture of a program and respect within a team carries a lot of weight and can achieve huge amounts of success. As for the NIL, athletes are still athletes, not employees. They just want to be “heard” as much as they are “seen.” If the lines of communication stay open and honest, the NIL shouldn’t become an issue, especially in the mid-major DI world.
Dobbins: Who are some of the peers and mentors that shaped you as an athlete and now on your coaching journey?
Fico: Coach Walton was and is an integral part of my success. He brought a whole new light and expectation to Florida softball, and I knew from his very first practice, he was going to win…and win big! He has been an both advocate and mentor throughout my entire coaching career. Coach Rocha was also pivotal, and I still feel like she is just a phone call/text away. Her quiet, warm spirit taught me so much about coaching. I feel very blessed to have been shaped by both in their own, specific ways and I am thankful to have the continued relationship with them to this day.
I loved my time at Santa Fe, and I met so many thoughtful, successful coaches who helped me learn the ropes. Courtney Miller (Seminole State), Jen McKibben (Pensacola), Alissa Smith (formerly St. Johns River) and Patti Townsend (TCC), to name a few, provided constant support and great advice during my 3 years at SF. It would’ve been so much more difficult without them, and I am truly thankful for each and every one of them.