When will Candrea retire?

DISCLAIMER: I'm a Wildcat softball fan.

I heard his contract expired but he apparently signed an extension. Will he stay long enough to play in one more NCAA Championship?

Pitching for the 2015 season is questionable. Nancy Bowling and Siera Philips are juniors (Siera is a lefty that threw BP in the past and made several fall season appearances). Michelle Floyd is a soph and Trish Parks is a freshman. Offense looks solid with short game, power, and speed present. This will be the last season for the 1, 3, and 4 batting order slots: Hallie Wilson (1B), Kellie Fox (SS), and Chelsea Goodacre (C). Lauren Young (3B) is a junior, and Mo Mercado (2B) and Katiyana Mauga (RF/3B) are sophs with power. Lauren started catching this past fall and looks good.

Pitching for 2016 should be quite good. Bowling and Philips will be seniors, Floyd a junior, Danielle O'Toole from UCSD will be a RS junior, Parks a soph, and Taylor McQuillin and Tamara Statman will be freshmen. Offense will have to fill some serious gaps, but Mercado and Mauga, and freshman Alyssa Palomino will provide power.

I dunno if it'll be enough to claim the championship. Competition is tough across the country.

The rumors I have heard are that once he gets the program back to being in contention for a National Title, he will step down and let Stacy Iveson take over.

That could be a couple of years away, as you stated, until the quality of pitching is elevated.

I believe that he is 60. He can't draw Soc. Sec., so I think he will be at least 65, when he retires. When I was "in the know" he was going to coach as long as his mother was still living. (I don't know what that has to do with anything.) I guess she is living. I think that he is a normal guy, with normal expenses - and a mortgage.

I say never.... He's timeless, kinda like Willy Wonka!!

What makes anyone feel Arizona would do better if Candrea retired sooner? What are Arizona's expectations? Just because a school has won several national titles doesn't make it a better destination going forward with a new coach than UCLA or Oregon or Washington or some other schools in the SEC or Big 12 now that the balance of power in NCAA softball is spreading across the country. My guess is that Arizona would do better over Candrea's final five seasons than a new coach would do over the same five.

CoogansBluff said:

What makes anyone feel Arizona would do better if Candrea retired sooner? What are Arizona's expectations? Just because a school has won several national titles doesn't make it a better destination going forward with a new coach than UCLA or Oregon or Washington or some other schools in the SEC or Big 12 now that the balance of power in NCAA softball is spreading across the country. My guess is that Arizona would do better over Candrea's final five seasons than a new coach would do over the same five.

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I agree that UA will do better as long as he stays around. There are some folks that think he's lost his edge as a HC. They may be ignorant that other schools around the country have been getting a lot more money for women's sports, thereby increasing competition in many other conferences.

AJ, I'll believe Iveson will be the successor when I see it. Something tells me the Arizona AD, Greg Byrne, is striving to keep/put UA on the map in all sports, so I think he'll wave some pretty big carrots in front of the noses of the top HCs when Candrea calls it quits.

SoAZDad said:

I agree that UA will do better as long as he stays around. There are some folks that think he's lost his edge as a HC. They may be ignorant that other schools around the country have been getting a lot more money for women's sports, thereby increasing competition in many other conferences.

AJ, I'll believe Iveson will be the successor when I see it. Something tells me the Arizona AD, Greg Byrne, is striving to keep/put UA on the map in all sports, so I think he'll wave some pretty big carrots in front of the noses of the top HCs when Candrea calls it quits.

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As stated, if you get rid of your coach he should be replaced by someone better right? And that person needs to have not only the coaching and teaching knowledge but the recruiting draw. Well, that person is???? When a coach can take the best players in the country and teach them something it pretty much speaks for itself! Candrea has probably forgotten more than a lot of coaches know.

Candrea is a great coach, but recruiting is what makes great teams. He is no longer the Olympic coach and other conferences have stepped up their softball programs to compete with the PAC-12. It may be awhile before Arizona contends for another National Championship.

JAD said:

Candrea is a great coach, but recruiting is what makes great teams. He is no longer the Olympic coach and other conferences have stepped up their softball programs to compete with the PAC-12. It may be awhile before Arizona contends for another National Championship.

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JAD: Yes, yes, and we'll see. I suspect Mike is looking for one more trip to the WCWS Championship before he steps down. He's got strong pitching lined up for 2016 but he gains one potentially great hitter (Palomino) while losing three proven hitters (Wilson, Fox, Goodacre), and hopefully retaining Mercado and Mauga. Arizona is playing a bunch of great teams this year.

So, we'll see?

JAD said:

Candrea is a great coach, but recruiting is what makes great teams. He is no longer the Olympic coach and other conferences have stepped up their softball programs to compete with the PAC-12. It may be awhile before Arizona contends for another National Championship.

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YES! I agree, though I don't really know, but how much does coaching play in a wcws team. Yes, players do probably improve some while at college, but really is there that much more improvement at one top D1 then another top D1? Yes coaching the game might make a little difference.

I think the 2 big aspects of these coaches is 1. Atmosphere/motivation. I know Murphy (a little) and been around the team a bit. It seems like those girls would try to stop a speeding freight train if he needed them too. 2. Recruiting. The best players before college are usually the best players in college. A spread of tv time would probably sway the thoughts a bit of where the best school to go for the best players is...but with the SEC network televising a few 100 games this spring, I don't see opinions changing much.