In August 2024, the University of Rhode Island softball team decided that it was time for a change – after a disappointing 2024 season, the team brought in Mike Coutts as its new head coach in hopes to turn things around.
Coutts has over two decades of coaching experience at the collegiate level. He has also coached in numerous summer baseball leagues, including the Cape Cod League, New England Collegiate Baseball League and even the Alaska Collegiate League. His two most recent coaching gigs were as the head softball coach of the University of Maine and the Colorado School of Mines.
He spent two seasons as an assistant coach on the Maine softball staff, before becoming the head coach of the Black Bears for the 2016 season. Coutts found immediate success in his first year as head coach when he led Maine to an America East title and its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 12 years.
Coutts remained the head coach of the program until 2021, when he went to Golden, Colorado to take over as head coach for the Colorado School of Mines. In his three seasons, Coutts went 70-79 and proved to be the diamond the Orediggers had been looking for. He led them to their best season since 2017 with a 29-23 record in 2024.
Shifting gears to Rhody softball, in 2024 the Rams went 15-37 overall and 10-16 in Atlantic 10 play, finishing second to last in the conference and missing the A-10 Tournament.
“You’re not gonna be good every day,” Coutts said. “So we’ve got to find the love of the game and the love of being with each other every day because we’re with each other so much.”
Coutts is taking over a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 1997. He’s optimistic about changing the narrative and the culture that surrounds Rhode Island softball and is looking to be a difference maker for the program.
“What’s the story going to be for Rhode Island softball in 2025?” Coutts said. “Are you going to be a part of the chapter that makes the program better or a part of the chapter that doesn’t make them better?”
Coutts believes the pitching staff will be a strength for the Rams this season, with key returners like fourth-year Katie Zaun, third-year Ashely Hibbard and second-year Avery Vale-Cruz, who combined for over 250 innings pitched last year. Rhode Island will be getting even more reinforcement from inside the circle with the arrival of first-year Brooke Geary, who posted a 0.19 ERA her senior year of high school and is a two-time Maine Gatorade Player of the Year.
“I’ll be disappointed if we don’t make it to the [A-10] Tournament,” Coutts said. “I think that we have got kids that want to do something good, and I think we have the skill to make it.”
Coutts has never had any coaching position at the URI before, but this isn’t his first time coming to Kingston. His son Jackson was on the baseball team from 2018 to 2020 and is currently in the Washington Nationals minor league system.
“When I was playing and coaching at Maine, I always thought Rhode Island was a great school and a great place to play,” Coutts said. “To be honest, I was going to retire in May at Mines. My wife got hired as the athletic director at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Then Rhode Island called and said we’re looking for a coach to take over this program, and it was an opportunity for me to get back east.”
Coutts will make his head coaching debut with the Rams on Friday when they take on Eastern Tennessee State in their season opener at the Pinnacle PC Tournament in Clinton, South Carolina.
