By Staff
Coaching Management, 9.7, October 2001, http://www.momentummedia.com/articles/cm/cm0907/qamullins.htm
For 18 years, Karen Mullins has led the University of Connecticut to dominance in Northeast NCAA Division I softball. Under her guidance, the Huskies have posted a record of .500 or above each season, with 25 or more victories in 14 campaigns. Connecticut has also won eight of the 12 Big East Conference tournaments, and went to the 1993 College World Series.
A former infielder at the ASA Major League level, Mullins is a UConn alumna, as are Assistant Coaches Pat Conlan and Ellen Mahoney. They, along with volunteer Pitching Coach Peter Looney, were named the 2001 Speedline National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Northeast Region Coaching Staff of the Year.
In 2001, Connecticut had a Jekyll-and-Hyde season, starting 3-16. They then won a school-record 22 straight and took another Big East title. The Huskies were eliminated from the NCAA East Regional Tournament in the second round by Florida and finished the year 36-23.
In this interview, Mullins talks about motivating players, the pros and cons of traveling, dealing with the Northeast's cold and wet springs, and the pluses and minuses of sharing an athletic department with one of the country's leading women's basketball programs.
CM: Was there any one game that turned around last season?
Mullins: No. We certainly were on a roller coaster, but we got hot when it counted. Early on, we played some tough teams. I think that chipped away a little bit at our confidence. But we knew we had good talent, we knew we had a veteran team, and we just kept working hard.
We also sat down and had team meetings. We talked about the fact that we had played some really good teams and our whole Big East schedule lay ahead of us. I think we started to believe in ourselves again and hit the Big East schedule at the right time, having gained some of the confidence back. And that tough schedule did prepare us for the rest of the season.
Due to weather, you can't get out much until many teams have played half their seasons. How hard is that?
I think it's a difficulty for anybody in this part of the country. You see the impact of that every year with the rankings and the selections [to the NCAA Tournament]. It's a pretty unlevel playing field early in the season.
We usually open up that third week in February. But the only way we can play in February is if we go south or west. This year, for example, we opened up with the University of Arizona, which was tough. Arizona was second in the country. We hadn't even been outside yet.
After Arizona, we came back and went down to Florida International. We played a tournament in Miami, and then we went to Atlanta and played in the Buzz Classic. That time of year, teams are in different places in their season than we are. But it's a great opportunity for us to get ready because when we come back north, we play a brutal Big East schedule.
What does that travel-intensive schedule mean for recruiting?
We sell the fact that we're going to open up in February, that we're going to do some traveling, that we're going to go play in warm parts of the country. And then we sell the Big East, which is one of the strongest conferences in the country. Those are the two big selling, in addition to the fact that the university has a tremendous academic reputation.
How do you get the most out of your players?
We talk a lot about being mentally tough, being prepared, thinking like a winner, and how to go out there every day and work hard. We also spend a lot of time on fundamentals. The game of softball is pretty simple. It's throw, catch, bat. The bottom line is you've got to be able to do those things.
How do you coach the mental part of the game?
We've used sports psychologists. They've come in and done some group workshops on things like focus, concentration, and rebounding after a mistake. And players have had individual sessions when they were struggling, such as going through a batting slump. When kids start to struggle and lose confidence, the sport psychologist is someone they can work through things with to get them back on track as soon as possible.
What are the hardest things to teach?
How to be a competitor. You can teach physical skills and fundamentals, but teaching somebody to be a warrior and to have that competitive attitude is tough‹yet it is so critical at this level.
We begin by looking for players who have that attitude to start with. And then we spend time trying to create competitive situations and getting people to understand that it's okay to fail, but you still need to come back and play just as hard.
What are the positives and negatives of being at a school with a large fan following in women's basketball?
I think there are some tremendous positives as far as visibility. Everybody's heard of Connecticut. We recruit nationally, and even when somebody's from far away, they've seen our women's basketball team. They know of UConn.
There has also been a tremendous trickle-down effect as far as revenue that's been produced and donations that have come in.
On the other hand, I think our kids are always comparing themselves. Women's basketball and women's softball are at different levels at Connecticut. But you're always going to have that comparison, especially by the athletes.
Does Connecticut have a special initiative for women's athletics?
I think that Connecticut has been a leader as far as providing support to its teams. The women's basketball program has won a national title, and the women's field hockey and soccer teams have been to final fours. In softball, we've gone to the World Series. When you look at the whole women's program, obviously there's a tremendous commitment and level of support for that to happen.
You and all your paid assistant coaches are Connecticut alumnae. Why?
I bleed Connecticut blue. I live and die Connecticut. When I got a full-time assistant, we had the opportunity to bring back an All-American pitcher who graduated from Connecticut [Pat Conlan] and was a successful head coach at Fairfield University for three years.
I think that is a selling point. I think that recruits understand that obviously we have a great product and we believe in what we do.
Are there any issues in college softball that you think need to be addressed?
One of the biggest concerns colleges have now is kids coming in with overuse injuries and burnout. There are developmental programs out there that have very few rules and very little governance. I think we're starting to see the effect of that in our players. A 17- or 18-year-old player comes in at the college level with stress fractures in her elbow or her shoulder. You never saw that 10 years ago.
I just got back from a national tournament where kids were out for a week competing, some playing five games on Saturday and four more on Sunday. Is that even humanly possible, to play that many games at a national level? I think that a lot of people would like to see that hauled in a bit.
How do you avoid personal burnout?
I think it's important that you take days off and that you look for balance. That's something that, especially early on, I didn't do enough of. As a result I'm trying to guide my assistants into understanding that.
There are times--Thanksgiving, Christmas--when you can take some time away from your team. It's a lull in your season and you can get away. Coaching is very work-intensive, and when you hit that lull, you need to be away from the job so that you can come back refreshed and ready to go again.