June 29, 2005
Clint Myers, a former baseball student-athlete and graduate of Arizona State University, will be returning to the athletic department this fall as Sun Devil softball's head coach, Lisa Love, Vice President for Athletics, announced Wednesday. Myers, who is just the third head coach in the 35-year history of the team, replaces Linda Wells, who retired following the conclusion of the 2005 season after 16 years with the program.
""I am very excited for the opportunity to return to Arizona State," Myers said. "It is every player's dream to be able to coach at the institution in which he played. I said during the interview process that I have been a Sun Devil since 1970 and it is very nice to come back over 30 years later and coach such a successful program. I am excited and fortunate for this chance and enthusiastic about the possibilities that I will have coaching at Arizona State."
"ASU engaged in a national search and all things pointed to Clint Myers," says Love. "He is our No. 1 choice and we are thrilled about the prospect of championship softball under his leadership. We were very impressed with his championship mentality, his integrity and family values."
Myers, who will be making his NCAA Division I head coaching debut next spring, inherits a Sun Devil program that finished the 2005 season with a 30-26 overall record after advancing to the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional. ASU's regional berth was its eighth in the last nine years despite a 4-17 mark in the Pac-10 Conference.
"Linda Wells did a great job with the program over the past years to keep Arizona State among the best in the nation," Myers said. "We will play with a new philosophy and go out and compete with a certain amount of knowledge of how the game is played. I expect the winning ways Arizona State is accustomed to will continue in the upcoming years, as well as down the road."
A coach at various levels in both softball and baseball, Myers comes to Tempe by way of 19 highly successful years at Central Arizona College where he compiled an overall record of 887-235. Prior to coaching the baseball team at CAC from 1996-2005, Myers ran the Vaqueros' softball team, building a record of 481-43 and guiding the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) powerhouse to six national titles, including five in a row (1988-1992), while earning the NJCAA National Coach of the Year honor six times. His teams also captured seven regional titles and nine ACCAC Conference titles. An inductee into the NJCAA Softball Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Arizona Softball Foundation Hall of Fame in 2001, Myers also was selected as the National Softball Coaches Association (NSCA) regional and national coach of the year in 1990, 1991 and 1992.
All of Myers' success and honors led up to him taking over the baseball program at the start of the 1996 season. In his 10 seasons with the team, Myers compiled a record of 406-192 with two appearances in the Junior College World Series in Grand Junction, Colo. The team's most recent trip culminated with the 2002 national title. The NJCAA National Coach of the Year in 2002, Myers' teams won the Western District twice (1999, 2002) and finished runner-up three other times (2000, 2001 and 2004). The Vaqueros' also won ACCAC Conference titles on five occasions (1997, 2001-2004) and were crowned NJCAA Region I champions five times as well (1999-02, 2004).
Prior to his first head coaching jobs on the collegiate level, Myers served as a coach in other capacities, particularly around the state of Arizona. After his playing days, Myers began coaching in the Connie Mack Baseball League as the skipper of the Long Beach Cardinals from 1975-1976. In his two years, the Cardinals posted solid finishes, including the 1975 Connie Mack World Championship and the 1976 runner-up. From there, he made his way back to ASU for one year as he guided the junior varsity team to a 35-9 record while assisting Jim Brock with the varsity squad that placed third at the College World Series.
After the CWS, Myers coached at Casa Grande Union High School for three seasons and led the team to league championships in 1977, 1978 and 1979. In his second season at the school, Myers was voted as the Arizona High School Baseball Coach of the Year after his team won the state title. In the fall of 1980, Yavapai College in Prescott, Ariz., came calling and Myers headed north for three years. In his time, his teams again claimed gold, this time in the form of the 1981, 1982 and 1983 Arizona League Championships. Then, in 1983, Myers moved on to Eastern Washington for one season as he attained his M.A. in Education while also serving as an assistant coach. Upon receiving his degree, he returned to Prescott for one year to serve as a supervisor in the Parks and Recreation Department before taking over at CAC.
On the field, Myers got his start playing for Lakewood Senior High School and helped his team to the 1970 California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Championship. He then headed east and joined the Sun Devils, playing from 1970 through 1973. With the maroon and gold, Myers was a member of the CWS National Runner-up in both 1972 and 1973 before being drafted in the third round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) draft by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1973. In the Cardinals' organization, Myers played three years at the single, double and triple `A' designations before jumping into the coaching ranks following the 1975 season. His son Casey Myers, also played and starred for the Sun Devils, winning the Pacific-10 Conference baseball Player of the Year honor in both 2000 and 2001.