Five new coaches joined the women’s athletic coaching staff: a new head coach and assistant coach greeted the softball team, while the women’s tennis, volleyball and soccer teams each gained new assistant coaches. Jay Miller, the new head softball coach, said he comes to this position with a different background than most coaches. He has a master’s degree in counseling psychology and worked as a counselor before he got into coaching. “That’s one of the things that I’ve felt has been an advantage,” Miller said. “It gives me a different perspective in terms of dealing with athletes.”
Miller has had an extensive and successful coaching career following his days as a counselor. As head softball coach at the University of Missouri, Miller was a three-time Big Eight/Big 12 Coach of the Year (1990, 1991, 1997) and a two-time NCAA Midwest Region Coach of the Year (1994, 1997). As Missouri’s all-time winningest softball coach, he compiled a 556-309 record in his 15 seasons coaching there.
Prior to his coaching career at Missouri, Miller coached at Oklahoma City University and led the Stars to two top five finishes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Championships (1986, 1987).
Most recently, Miller coached former MSU All-American Kellie Wilkerson and the rest of the USA Elite (Developmental) team, leading them to an appearance in the 2002 Canada Cup championship game July 21. Miller has also coached softball camps in seven countries, but he said he is anxious to get started coaching at MSU. He said Starkville is a great environment not only to coach in but for athletes to compete in because the town really cares about MSU athletics.
“People are passionate about sports here, and that’s a fun environment,” Miller said.
Miller said he would like to see MSU recognized perennially as a top-20 softball team, but his main focus is on each athlete.
“My goal is to make sure each player gets better,” Miller said.
The new assistant softball coach, Annie Smith, also comes to MSU from Missouri, and she shares the same goals as Miller.
“We’re here for the athletes,” Smith said.
A former collegiate athlete herself, Smith said her playing experience at Grinnell College in Iowa is what motivated her to go into coaching.
“I wasn’t a superstud, but I had to work hard, and I think that’s why I wanted to get into coaching. I always wanted to learn more,” Smith said. After she finished playing, Smith became a graduate assistant softball coach for three years and a full-time assistant coach for three years at Missouri.
Smith said she is excited to be at MSU, and she praised the level of athletic talent on the team.
“I see how lucky some of them are to be blessed with so much ability,” Smith said.
Another player-turned-coach, Robin Confer, became the new assistant soccer coach at MSU.
Confer has vast playing experience, at the collegiate level as well as professionally. Her University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill team won three national championships (1994, 1996, 1997), and Confer went on to play with the U.S. Women’s National Team and the Boston Breakers of the Women’s United Soccer Association.
In her playing career, Confer was a finalist for the Hermann Award, a first team All-American, and a first-team All-ACC player. Soccer News and Soccer Buzz named her the National Player of the Year in 1997, the same year she received laurels for Most Valuable Offensive Player of the NCAA Final Four.
A back injury ended Confer’s playing career and pushed her to coaching. She became a volunteer assistant soccer coach at UNC, then the assistant coach at Texas A&M from 1999 to 2001. She said MSU is now a good fit for her and that head coach Neil McGuire and assistant coach Scott Ebke have been very welcoming. While at MSU, Confer said she would like to give back what she learned from playing to the girls.
“You respect her (Confer) because of her knowledge of the game and also because we know she has been in our shoes before. She’s taught us to keep pushing hard,” MSU soccer player Samantha Schwenke said
The volleyball team’s new assistant coach, Holly Richards, has challenged her team to work hard as well. She said her former players affectionately nicknamed her “Satan” because of the difficulty and intensity of some of her drills. Richards said she expects 110 percent effort all the time, and her philosophy is to make practices hard so matches are easy. Despite her intensity, Richards said she is also laid-back and is able to laugh off things that other coaches cannot.
“I’m able to take each game, analyze it then and there, then move on,” Richards said.
Richards was an assistant coach at the University of Alabama- Huntsville before joining head coach Brenda Bowlin and assistant coach John Blackwell at MSU. One of Richards’s main goals for the upcoming season is to beat Alabama, since she played for the Crimson Tide from 1994-1996. She said her playing experience will help her relate to her athletes.
Although she was an All-SEC middle blocker, Richards will coach the outside hitters at MSU. Senior outside hitter Misty Hubenthal said she thinks Richards will be an effective coach.
“She brings a lot of encouragement to our team, and she’s very positive,” Hubenthal said.
The women’s tennis team is another women’s athletic team receiving a new coach this year. Former MSU women’s tennis player Claudia Oliveira has taken the position of assistant women’s tennis coach.
The native Brazilian played tennis at MSU from 1999-2001. She was ranked nationally and played at the No. 3 singles spot and the No. 1 doubles spot for MSU.
Current head coach Tracy Lane coached Oliveira at MSU, so Oliveira can truly put herself into the shoes of her athletes. She said she will be able to relate well to the girls because of her experience and background.
“I know how it feels to play in the SEC and to work so hard,” Oliveira said.
Oliveira joins MSU’s coaching staff following a stint as Starkville Academy’s tennis coach. “I’m really excited I got the job at MSU, and I’m anxious for the season to start.