ORONO, Maine — They call him “Mr. Coach.”
When Mike Coutts joined his wife, Lynn, as an assistant softball coach at the University of Maine four years ago, there were two coach Coutts.
To differentiate them, he became Mr. Coach.
“Now I’m Mrs. Coach,” chuckled Lynn Coutts, who spent four seasons as the head softball coach before being promoted to senior associate athletic director at UMaine last July.
Her husband of 27 years inherited her job at their alma mater, and she is the pitching coach when time allows.
In his first season, 57-year-old Mike Coutts guided the Black Bears to a 25-19 record, the program’s best since 2009 (32-22). Their 12-5 America East mark was good for a No. 2 seed in the league tournament that began Wednesday at Vestal, New York.
UMaine plays Albany at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
Outside of Coutts’ Memorial Gym office, there is a sign that reads, “Players satisfied with mediocrity are prohibited from entering.”
That’s because throughout his extensive and highly-successful baseball coaching career, he never tolerated mediocrity.
Coutts, who co-captained the 1981 UMaine team to a berth in the College World Series, was an assistant coach under legendary coach John Winkin from 1987 to 1997 and helped the Black Bears earn four NCAA tournament berths.
He was the head coach of the Cotuit Kettleers of the prestigious Cape Cod League from 1995 to 2002 and guided them to two league championships. He was the Coach of the Year in 1995.
Coutts also coached Deering High School of Portland to a 22-0 season and the 2009 state Class A title and Scarborough to a Western Maine A crown in 2012.
“He wins wherever he is,” said Lynn Coutts, who had always thought about coaching softball with her husband.
When assistant Kevin Welch left after one season, she reached out to her husband.
“When he was an assistant [baseball] coach at Maine, I knew someday when I coached, my goal was to get him over to the softball side,” she said.
Mike Coutts said he had no reservations about joining his wife and switching over to softball.
“I had tried for the longest time to get back into college baseball, but I could never get back in,” he said. “Coaching is coaching whether it’s softball or baseball. I looked at it as an opportunity to help build the softball program into a very competitive program in the Northeast.”
Coutts said the biggest adjustment was how much quicker softball is because the field is significantly smaller than a baseball diamond.
“How quickly ground balls get to the shortstop … how quickly you have to get rid of the ball. That was a challenge for me. I also had to understand the game in terms of bunting and first-and-third strategy,” said Coutts, who doesn’t like to bunt.
“He learned that turning a double play in softball is very difficult,” said Lynn Coutts. “The cutoffs [on throws from the outfield] are a little bit different.”
“A girl can throw from center field to second base without needing a cutoff,” Mike Coutts said. “It’s almost like going back to Little League [dimensions] with how you play.”
He also had to learn how to coach women.
“I had to learn tone [of voice] and body language. And you have to explain things more to them, but that has made me a better coach because I’ve learned to explain things better,” Coutts said. “Girls don’t have egos, and they don’t question you as much [as guys]. They’re like your daughter … they want to please you.
Coutts has an open-door policy. He encourages his players to come and chat with him about anything at any time.
And he takes time to communicate with them about life away from the softball field.
“There are two different types of coaches,” said senior catcher Janelle Bouchard, the America East Player of the Year. “You have the type of coach who pisses you off to the point where you want to play well to prove them wrong. The other coach is the one that genuinely cares about you and you’ll run through a brick wall for them. He is the latter of the two.”
“He has been phenomenal for this program and for us as individuals and athletes. He is a great hitting coach and, aside from the game, he is such a great life leader. The way he conducts himself on a daily basis is something everybody looks up to,” Bouchard added.
The Black Bears are hitting .314 as a team. Over the previous 13 seasons, the highest previous average was .282 in 2007.
“He has been awesome,” said junior catcher-outfielder Rachel Harvey. “We all have a really good relationship with him. He is always there for us.”
“He has been an inspiration,” said sophomore pitcher Molly Flowers.
“He has shown a lot of confidence in me. He pushes me hard, but he always wants the best for me. He has taught me how to be tough and how to keep going,” she said.
“They know I care about them away from the field,” said Coutts. “It also helps me to understand them as people so when they’re on the field, I have an understanding of where they are in their lives [and how it may impact their performance].”
He has a leadership council made up of six players from all four classes with which he meets during the season.
“We got away from having captains. Captains are usually your best players, but they aren’t necessarily your best leaders,” said Coutts. “Since I’m not in the locker room, they have to tell me what’s going on. Is there a problem I have to address? Are they going to address it? What changes do they feel I need to make?”
When Coutts was an assistant baseball coach at UMaine, the expectations were high since the program had made five College World Series appearances in a six-year span during the 1980s.
It was a high-profile program. Even though softball isn’t considered a high-profile sport, Coutts treats it the same.
“I still want to win [just as much]. I know we’re not going to go 44-0, but every time we go to the field, I expect us to win,” said the Auburn native. “It’s tough to get to the [softball] College World Series, but why can’t we play in [NCAA] Regionals? Why can’t we win this weekend and go to a Regional? Lynn and I are trying to build something great here, and if we build a good program, people will come and watch and support us.”
Would he ever consider going back to baseball?
“I would never say never because I never thought I’d be coaching softball,” said Coutts. “But I have no thoughts about going into baseball right now. I’m pretty locked in.
“I really enjoy softball, coaching the girls and the new challenges I face,” he added.