Clemson hits Home Run with Softball Head Coach Hire

For Clemson Athletic Director Dan Radakovich, two tasks needed to be completed if Clemson was going to start a softball program and begin play by 2020.

The first step was to find a place to play, which is already in the works and has received phase one approval.

The second step, and most important, was to find a head coach that was qualified to start a program and build it from scratch.

After what Radakovich said was the "deepest" candidate pool he had seen for a coaching job since he has been at Clemson, he found his man.

John Rittman is a longtime softball coach and is a member of the USA Softball Women’s National Team coaching staff. Rittman has spent the last two seasons at Kansas as an assistant but is most known for his time at Stanford as a head coach for 18 years.

“Throughout this entire process, one name kept popping up each time we had conversations with leaders in the industry of softball,” Radakovich said.

“They all said, ‘If you have a chance to get John Rittman, your search is done.’”

Someone from the coaching search committee from Clemson reached out to Rittman and filled him in on the job opening. Rittman jumped at the opportunity. 

Within two hours, Rittman submitted his application.

To Rittman, to be Clemson’s first softball coach was the opportunity of a lifetime.

“When I became an associate head coach at Kansas, I knew the next job I applied for would have to be a special job,” Rittman said. “The opportunity to build something new, you look at the pictures of the stadium, the newness of everything is just attractive.”

Rittman’s resume as a head coach is about as impressive as it gets. In 18 years at Stanford, he:

·      Recorded 18-consecutive winning seasons

·      Appeared in 16-straight NCAA tournaments

·      Notched 13 40-win seasons

·      Produced at least one All-American in 15 of his last 17 seasons

·      Won 750 games

·      Coached a National Player of the Year

·      Earned five Super Regional appearances and two College World Series appearances.

You can also add “gold medalist” to his resume. Rittman won gold medals while on staff with the USA softball team the last two years at the 2016 Women’s Softball World Championship and the 2017 Pan Am games.

18 years as a head coach. 18-straight winning seasons. That line of the resume alone should stand out to any Clemson fan.

Rittman has shown he knows how to build and maintain a successful program and plans to do so right away at Clemson. It all starts with recruiting.

“We are going to recruit locally, regionally and nationally the best student-athletes to one of the best public institutions in the country,” Rittman said.

Finding local talent will be essential as the program is just getting off of the ground, but Rittman has already shown that he can recruit in the upstate.

In 2013 at Stanford, Rittman landed the number one softball prospect in the country, Carley Hoover.

Hoover was the 2013 Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior at Daniel High School, right in Clemson’s backyard.  Rittman said that Hoover helped him in the process of becoming Clemson’s first coach.

Clemson fans can only hope that Rittman will leave no stone unturned locally, looking everywhere for talent that can build Clemson’s program quicker than expected.

The program has a lot to look forward to as Rittman hits the recruiting trail tomorrow to find his first class.

“As leader of Clemson softball, my objective is to influence, inspire, and impact our student-athletes and staff with a purpose and a passion every day I step foot on Clemson’s campus,” Rittman said.

“I can’t tell you enough how much I am appreciative of this opportunity to lead this program moving forward.”