AUBURN, Ala. – Mickey Dean was hired to be Auburn's new softball coach in September 2017. Less than a month later, the Tigers began playing games as part of their fall schedule, and then it wasn't even five months before they took the field to begin the 2018 regular season.
The coaching part was nothing new for Dean, who had been a head coach the past 11 years at James Madison and Radford. And in that first season at Auburn, he guided the Tigers to a 41-17 record that included a 15-0 start – tied for the best start in program history.
But there was something missing. It wasn't on the field where Auburn had the talent. It was off the field. It was that bond between coach and players that never had a chance to develop.
So this offseason, Dean's first full offseason as the head coach, the focus has changed.
"Last year, I didn't have a chance to really get to know the team," Dean said. "We tried some things to get to know the team as far as players and staff, but when you come in and a week later you are playing your first fall game, that can sometimes be difficult.
"It allowed us over the summer to do some communication with the players and the incoming players. Then in the fall, we did a lot of team building, a lot of just getting to know each other. Now we actually have chemistry whereas last year it was just softball. That's the only way we knew each other. It's nice to know each other now so that we're not talking at each other, we're talking to each other. And that's been extremely helpful.
"It's difficult to carry a message forward when you haven't had enough time to really get that message across for the players."
The good news for Dean is that he has a senior class this year that can help convey that message. It's only five players, but between Casey McCrackin, Bree Fornis, Morgan Podany, Kendall Veach and Makayla Martin, he knows that they're handling things the right way. He saw it first-hand during offseason workouts, and now as the season inches closer, it's carrying over.
"That just builds," Dean said. "It has nothing to do with softball but has everything to do with team and has everything to do with the walls we're continuing to break down."
McCrackin and Podany, in particular, have taken on more vocal roles. McCrackin, who started 51 games and hit .313 for Auburn last year, is the leader of the infield. And Podany, who started all 57 games she played last year, has emerged as the leader of the outfield.
It's also a nice luxury to have Martin back. The veteran pitcher went 15-7 last year with 95 strikeouts and an ERA at 1.36, and she's ready to take that next step now as a senior.
"That's huge," Dean said. "You've got someone that I think the other pitchers get confidence from. And when Makayla is dialed, her work ethic – you're not going to outwork her. The nice thing, knock on wood, this fall she was dialed in. That was fun."
In all Auburn has seven position players back that started 40 or more games last year. And though the loss of Kaylee Carlson will affect the pitching staff, the coaches believes Ashlee Swindle and Chardonnay Harris can step up and fill in behind Martin this season.
There's plenty of reason for optimism, but that optimism for Dean doesn't come just from the talent on the field. It comes from the culture he's building off it.
"I think it all goes back to trust," Dean said. "Once you start to build that trust, you have accountability. It just all falls in line, and it's not something that you can just hope and wish for. It has to be by design, and it can't always be coach led. You can design it, but the players at some point have to do their part. Now we're getting to that point where we're starting to do that."
Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @greg_ostendorf