Deiros retiring from coaching FGCU softball 24 years after founding program
6 – minute read
Florida Gulf Coast University head softball coach Dave Deiros announced Jan. 16 he will retire from coaching at the conclusion of the 2025 softball season and transition into an athletics administration leadership role.
“Building FGCU softball and contributing to its, and the university’s, unprecedented growth has been, and continues to be, the highlight of my professional life,” Deiros said. “This incredible 24-year journey has only been possible because of the fantastic student-athletes and assistant coaches that have donned the Blue and Green. I look forward to and am energized about this new opportunity ahead of me.”
“Coach Deiros has built this program from the ground up while serving the FGCU community for over two decades,” FGCU director of athletics Colin Hargis said. “During his tenure, he has made an impact on hundreds of FGCU student-athletes and Southwest Florida. I’m grateful that we will have the opportunity for one final season with him at the helm of the softball program, and I look forward to his continued service to FGCU in his future leadership role.”
“I would like to thank Mr. Hargis and [FGCU president] Dr. Aysegul Timur for the extraordinary opportunity to leave the dugout and continue to serve this great athletics program and university,” Deiros said. “Most importantly, as my current players like to say at practice, ‘Last one, best one!’ I am fortunate that I get to work with this team, Team 23, to defend our Atlantic Sun Conference softball championship.”
Deiros moved to Southwest Florida as an analytical chemist, with bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of South Florida and University of Miami, respectively. He transitioned into being a high school teacher and coach and became one of the most successful high school softball coaches in Southwest Florida.
When news broke in 2001 that FGCU was starting a softball program, he reached out to then-FGCU athletics director Carl McAloose about the hiring process. At a time when the athletics department was little more than a collection of trailers, Deiros would be ensconced as the first softball coach — and frequent chemistry instructor in the College of Arts & Sciences. He spent the first year crisscrossing Florida recruiting talent for the new program.
When play started in 2003, the team Deiros put on the field in those early days was ready to compete. The team won 33 games in its first year and 232 in the five years FGCU spent in NCAA Division II, making two NCAA South Regional appearances. The 2007 team’s 62 wins still stands as a record for FGCU.
As FGCU transitioned to Division I, Deiros’ softball team helped lead the charge. The Green and Blue went 48-16 in 2008, including a 16-6 mark in ASUN play. Ineligible for postseason play and the ASUN tournament initially, the Eagles still won the program’s first ASUN regular season championship.
In 2012, with the four-year ineligibility for postseason play in the rear-view mirror, the Eagles found their stride again. A 38-24 overall mark was met with a 14-4 record in conference play. FGCU won both the ASUN regular season and tournament titles, appearing in its first Division I regional tournament. At the NCAA Gainesville Regional, FGCU defeated No. 5-seeded Florida in the opening game as Emily Lanier connected on a tie-breaking home run in the sixth for a 2-1 victory. The win was the first for any FGCU team in a D-I championship.
The Eagles made history throughout the 2024 slate, beginning with the program’s 750th win all-time March 6 against Sacred Heart University. Two days later, a 4-3 win at the University of North Florida gave the Eagles 200 wins against ASUN competition.
But the big moments were yet to come. Entering the ASUN Championship as the No. 4 seed, the Eagles won four consecutive games, with two wins coming in extra innings. In the championship game against UNF, Neely Peterson connected on a walk-off solo homer to start and end the bottom of the eighth, giving the Eagles a 7-6 win and the ASUN Championship.
The win gave the Eagles an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship and the Gainesville Regional. On day two, the Eagles faced cross-coast rival Florida Atlantic University. With the score tied 1-1 in the top of the seventh, Avery Viancos ripped a two-run triple to left field, giving the Eagles the lead with three outs to get. FGCU held on to achieve a 3-2 victory over the Owls, earning the Green and Blue its second NCAA Tournament win in program history.
The 2016 ASUN Coach of the Year, Deiros enters his final season having coached 30 ASUN Players of the Week and 17 ASUN Pitchers of the Week. Five players have been named ASUN Player of the Year, while the program also has two ASUN Pitchers of the Year and two ASUN Tournament Most Valuable Player honors. He will be 19 wins short of 800 for his collegiate career at the start of the 2025 season.
But perhaps even more impressive are the program’s accomplishments in the classroom under Deiros. The team has maintained an overall GPA over 3.0 since the start of the program. The team has posted a single-year academic performance rate of 1,000 in nine years, including the last six in a row. FGCU has also had 17 ASUN All-Academic honorees.
Deiros and the Eagles begin the 2025 season Feb. 6 at the FGCU Softball Complex against Boston College. Tickets are available at FGCUTickets.com or by calling 866-FGCU-TIX (342-8849).