This week On Deck we talk with first year head coach of Fordham University, Melissa Inouye. Inouye takes charge of the Rams after the 17 year run of former coach Bridget Orchard came to an end after she accepted the head coaching position at Villanova. Inouye comes to Fordham after spending the past six seasons as head coach at Iona where she was twice names MAAC Coach of the Year. She accepted the position at Iona after serving as an assistant coach at Fordham in 2012. Prior to her one-year stint on the coaching staff at Fordham, Inouye worked on coaching staffs at Southern Mississippi, Kentucky, Northwestern State, and her Alma mater UNLV where she was also Team Captain during her playing days.
Lee Dobbins: Coach Inouye you have taken over a program that has seen much success nationally for 17 seasons under the former regime. You had also worked under that regime as an assistant coach as part of the program before. Are you doing anything to bring your own vision and culture to the program? If so what adjustments are you making or feel needed to be made? Or are you staying with what has made Fordham Softball, Fordham Softball the last 17 years?
Melissa Inouye: I had the pleasure of working with Coach Bridget Orchard in 2011-2012 and witnessed firsthand all the hard work that she put in to building Fordham Softball into a consistent nationally competitive and successful program. She did a tremendous job instilling a competitive winning culture and recruited hard nose type of player’s predominately from the northeast. I am honored and humbled that Coach Orchard recommended me for the position to the Fordham administration and I will work very hard to build upon the great foundation that’s here. I definitely want to maintain having a competitive preseason schedule that travels nationally as its great preparation for the season, good exposure for our program and University and it helps with recruiting. I also want to uphold the competitiveness, success and legacy of Fordham Softball as there is great pride being a part of this softball RAMily. As far as adjustments, I am more of a defensive coach and so I want us to be stronger defensively. Everything starts and ends in the circle and as the clique goes “defense wins’ championships,” thus, my coaching staff and I are looking to build a strong pitching staff and a deeper roster in all positions.
Dobbins: Having already been a head coach at a “mid-major” type institution before coming to Fordham; what do you find the biggest challenge is to winning and winning consistently as a program like Fordham has at that mid-major level?
Inouye: The biggest challenges to winning consistently comes down to a few things:
1) Recruiting the right student-athletes who fit the school, softball program and coaching style – I believe you have to recruit at least 2 program changer type players every 4 years (hopefully 1 of them being a pitcher J )
2) Developing the players
3) Challenging the players with a competitive schedule and allowing them to learn through the ups and downs of a season
4) Motivation – being creative and always finding ways to continually motivate the players
5) Adapting – as a coach you have to be willing to adapt to each team and the personnel as well as the journey through the season is different each year
6) Resources – resources have to align with expectations of the program
Dobbins: Over the last few years recruiting has been a major topic of conversation particularly when it comes to the average (young) age that Prospective Student Athletes are being recruited and making verbal commitments to programs. Legislation has now been initiated restricting contact/offers to PSAs until the start of their junior years in high school. Talk a bit about that change in the recruiting dynamic since that legislation has been adopted. Has it slowed the process and made balancing recruiting better? Has the legislation been effective in curving earlier recruiting in any way?
Inouye: Honestly it was difficult for college coaches to not only prepare and focus on their current teams, but also communicating and working on their future teams by keeping up with “recruiting lists” that ranged over a 3-6 year period. I personally like that the softball recruiting process has slowed down some over the last year or so, as I think its forced more prospects and their families to do more thorough research on the schools and programs before making a commitment. And it has allowed college coaches a little more time to further evaluate prospects athletically by watching them play more in games, camps/clinics, workouts, but more importantly academically and socially. I also think that some players grow into their bodies and develop later, thus, their true softball skills and athleticism might not totally display itself until their junior year, etc.
Dobbins: Many recruits when choosing their academic and athletic paths look closely at the overall campus experience that comes along with that choice. How does a campus like Fordham located in Metropolitan New York City sale itself separate from the prototypical “College Town”? What are the pros that you sell to recruits to make them want to choose to be a Fordham Ram and come to a metropolitan campus?
Inouye: First of all, the beauty of the Fordham University campus sells itself as it’s honestly the nicest college campus I’ve worked at in my coaching career. Based on the architectural buildings and the many green spots on campus, especially Eddie’s Parade (big green open field in the middle of campus), you can’t even tell that you’re in the middle of the Bronx in New York City. New York City is one of the biggest and most diverse cities in the world, which is exciting for many recruits as there are endless opportunities and experiences within 15 minutes of campus. I truly believe that Fordham University offers these four things:
1) A quality education
2) Competitive and successful Division I softball program
3) Cultural and diverse experiences as a campus located in New York City
4) Networking and alumni relations
Dobbins: I recently heard a phrase directly referenced to collegiate softball; “The era of the free agent has begun.” This seemingly is referencing the latest NCAA Transfer Legislation that eliminates the permission-to-contact process. The transfer rates in the last five years had seemingly already been at an all-time high. Recently however, it seems the floodgates have opened directly connected with this legislation. What are your thoughts on this legislation and its effect on the collegiate game?
Inouye: I think the higher transfer rates are related to the early recruiting “rat race” and plethora of head coaching changes that have occurred over the last five years or so. For some prospects, they probably weren’t ready to make an informed decision as they possibly got caught up in the recruiting race regarding scholarship offers, social media recognition, etc. And when they got to that school, now all of a sudden it’s not the right fit academically, athletically, socially, location, coaching staff, etc. The transfer portal definitely has its pros and cons for sure as it can be an easier way to find potential transfers that could help a program fill a void caused by injuries, academics, transfers, etc. But it can also be distracting for a program if it’s several players looking to transfer from the same school. I think it’s going to take a few years to truly see the effect the transfer portal has on the collegiate game.