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- UCLA's Enquist Goes out Quietly :: OC Register, Marcia C. Smith
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UCLA's Enquist goes out quietly
MARCIA C. SMITH
Register columnist
masmith@ocregister.com
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Nobody knew the legend's career had ended.
Sue Enquist, the feisty UCLA center fielder who became the John Wooden of softball for the past three decades, has already coached her final Bruins game.
She shook diamonds everywhere Tuesday when she announced that she will retire from coaching Jan.1.
No longer will Enquist dig into the red dirt outside the Bruins dugout, just beside third base where she spent much of the past 26 years calling out commands, slapping herself with silent signals and most of all, winning. |
Enquist, 49, of Huntington Beach made her decision this summer and said she knew it was time for another challenge, somewhere off the ballfield but not too far away from the game she pioneered and the 11-time national champion Bruins program she built.
"I never wanted to be that coach that always had one foot (out the door)," said Enquist, who will take an administrative position with the Bruins athletic department as the director of major gifts. "I have so much passion for the game that I didn't want to keep coaching until I ran out of gas. I'm retiring but I'm not tired."
Nothing - no controversies, no health concerns, no performance issues - prompted this decision. This was her choice, on her terms, on her clock - all of which is the only way she lives.
It was fitting that most people didn't see the end coming. Not the softball cosmos, the UCLA athletic department, her coaching staff, her recruits or even her players, whom she told - and stunned to the point of tears - at a Tuesday meeting.
A drawn-out departure full of heartfelt tributes and
maudlin swan songs aren't her style. She would never want an impending retirement to upstage her players or the game.
So Tuesday came the surprise, textbook, rip-off-the-Band-Aid Enquist-style. The news was quick, deliberate and powerful, which is how this 5-foot-5 powder keg played in the late 1970s at UCLA, when she became the Bruins' first All-American in the sport and slugged her way to UCLA softball's first title, a 1978 AIAW crown.
As a Bruins assistant since 1980 and coach since 1989, Enquist had high expectations for her elite players, 22 of whom captured 42 All-America honors and nine of whom have won at least one Olympic gold medal.
Her coaching philosophy - "I'm more of a boss than a buddy," she once said - dripped with tough love, but she was never demeaning. She knew when to be compassionate instead of fiery, light-hearted instead of hard driving. "I'm there to teach them skills, tell them to be a leader and catch them when they fall," she always said.
Her players became lifelong members of her family, and Enquist's parents, "Slap" and "Mamma E," were often in the stands to watch their daughter and celebrate players' birthdays.
And from that extended family, UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero already has designated Enquist's successors.
"The program has such powerful momentum right now ... and I'll bet my life's salary on the new coaching staff," Enquist said.
Kelly Inouye-Perez, a Bruins assistant for the past 13 seasons, takes over as coach on New Year's Day. Lisa Fernandez, the former two-time NCAA champion with the Bruins and three-time Olympic gold medalist pitcher, will jump from volunteer to full-time assistant, joining veteran assistant Gina Vecchione.
Natasha Watley, the Woodbridge shortstop that Enquist mentored into an All-America player and 2004 Olympic gold medalist, will take over Fernandez's volunteer role.
Enquist concludes her career with a 887-175-1 record. Her last game as Bruins coach was June 4 in the Women's College World Series national semifinal in Oklahoma City, Okla. That 3-1 upset defeat by Northwestern was an eight-inning heart attack and one of the rare losses in a coaching career as tied to winning as the seams on a neon-yellow Worth.
Her .835 winning percentage ranks among the top five of all NCAA coaches. Her 887 victories lands her in the top 20. Her national titles as a Bruins player and coach number 11.
But her greatest real success lies in the players she helped groom into skilled softball technicians, unrelenting competitors and stronger, more confident women. Enquist will look forward to being their spectator from the stands. She won't be in the game.
And softball will truly miss her.
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