AUBURN, Ala. – On the journey from Virginia to Florida to begin his college softball coaching career, Mickey Dean nearly made a U-turn.
"I stopped four times at rest areas and thought about turning around and going back home," said Dean whose wife Liz had recently given birth to their son Isaac. "I cried all the way from Virginia to the Florida line."
After graduating from Elon in North Carolina, where he played baseball, Dean sold insurance for six years, but his love for athletics never wavered.
"I found myself at the ballpark all the time," he said.
Liz, a guidance counselor, counseled her husband to become a coach, beginning at the high school level. In a notebook, Dean wrote his career plan for the next five, 10 and 15 years.
"It doesn't always work out, but I think if you work hard and you pay attention, it can work out," he said. "I stayed with the plan."
Arriving at Auburn from James Madison in September 2017, Dean led the Tigers to a 41-17 record in his first season.
"I came here for one reason, and that was to go win a college world series," Dean said. "For what that team was able to accomplish last year, I don't think people really understand. What they went through and what they were able to accomplish was amazing. It only ends the way you want it to end for one team."
The Tigers were 29-3 at home last season. On the road, Auburn was 8-9. To better prepare Auburn for away games, Dean has beefed up the Tigers' schedule next season.
"We play Washington, UCLA, Oregon, Michigan," said Dean, who said Auburn's strength of schedule will increase from No. 86 in 2018 to No. 56 in 2017. "That's a much, much tougher schedule.
"That's what we need to play. It was great getting all of those wins up front last year, but I don't know that it really prepared us to play on the road in the SEC.
"A lot of the kids didn't have a lot of playing time until last year. To take them and throw them on the road in the SEC, they were a little overwhelmed. But now they're ready."
Auburn's seniors: Makayla Martin, Casey McCrackin, Kendall Veach, Bree Fornis and Morgan Podany, reached the Women's College World Series as freshmen in 2016.
"They got to sit in the dugout and they got to watch what that experience was like," Dean said. "Now, it's their time."
Speaking at the Auburn Chamber's Tuesday Talk, Dean talked about the advantage fans create for the Tigers at Jane B. Moore Field.
"You see what effect you have on our players, the electricity." he said. "Now you have to face that on the road. I didn't feel like we faced it enough before we got to the SEC."
Dean invited Auburn softball supporters to join the On-Deck Club, whose members will participate in an upcoming clinic.
"We'll make it conducive to their skill, age and ability, and have fun with it," he said.
Dean encourages prospective student-athletes to visit Auburn University.
"Once they get here, there's no other place like it," he said. "It's very unique. That's the selling point. Once they get here, now they understand it."
An avid motorcyclist, Dean drove 6,000 miles this summer, visiting 18 states on a tour of the West. Unlike that first drive to Florida 25 years ago, there were no tears.
"It's been enjoyable. It's been an amazing journey," he said. "Being from Elkton, Virginia, a town of about 1,500. And I've been all over the world."
"We're excited about what we have in front of us in the spring."
— Jeff Shearer (@jeff_shearer) November 13, 2018
🗣@deanAU_TigersSB @AuburnSoftball HC spoke this a.m. at @AuburnChamber Tuesday Talk
Tigers will play challenging road non-con sched in '19 to prepare for @SEC play. pic.twitter.com/SvOVzxJ0vE
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer