The rumors have been persistent this season, but Mike Candrea recently said that he wanted to make a decision on his own terms. Monday morning he came to a decision. After 36 seasons leading the Arizona softball program Candrea has decided he is ready to close this chapter on his career by announcing his retirement as head coach.
Candrea, who guided the Wildcats to eight national championships, will step into an advisory role for the athletic department that will allow him to aid in coaching development for UA.
His legendary career comes to a close after leading the program to its 24th trip to the Women's College World Series. The Wildcats missed out on making it to that point of the NCAA Tournament just eight times in the last 32 years. His eight national titles is the most by any coach in NCAA softball history.
In his time leading the program, Candrea helped the Wildcats reach 1,674 victories, which is the most by any coach in NCAA softball history. In 2019 he became the fastest coach to reach 1,600 wins in any sport in NCAA history.
Candrea currently has the fifth-most Division I wins of any coach in any sport.
Arizona's 34 consecutive postseason appearances is an NCAA record, and the Wildcats went 178-65 in postseason games under Candrea.
"It has been an honor to represent the University of Arizona for 36 years," Candrea said Monday. "I am indebted to every player, coach and member of my support staff that has made the Arizona softball experience one that I will cherish forever. When I arrived in 1985, I wanted to build a culture of excellence and compete consistently at the highest levels of Division 1 softball.
"Most of all, our goal was to prepare our student-athletes for life after softball and build relationships that would last a lifetime."
Candrea has helped 53 of his players reach All-American status with some of the greatest players to ever play the sport coming through his program.
In addition to his work at Arizona, Candrea has become a key figure in the continued growth of the sport on a bigger scale as well. He guided Team USA to two Olympic medals as head coach of the national team with the team earning a gold medal in 2004 and silver medal in 2008.
"Over his four decades as the head coach of Arizona Softball, Mike Candrea established himself as one of the most iconic coaches, of any sport, in college athletics history," UA athletic director Dave Heeke said. "While his impact on the game is widely recognized, his legacy is in the lives of the thousands of Wildcats who he coached. Mike's career embodied true excellence in all facets of leading a softball program -- winning on the field, student-athlete success in the classroom and developing them for life after graduation. He established a championship culture within Arizona Athletics that permeates throughout our department, and represented our state with honor and distinction. Mike is the epitome of a Wildcat for Life who coached, mentored and developed countless other Wildcats for Life.
"On behalf of the entire Wildcat Family, I want to thank Mike for his immeasurable impact on our university. Mike, his wife Tina, and the entire Candrea family have been incredible supporters of Arizona Athletics and the University of Arizona and left an everlasting impact on all our lives. Thank you for defining the Wildcat Way and for what it means to Bear Down. Thank you for everything you did for the game of softball, for college athletics, and for the University of Arizona."
A media-only farewell press conference will be held at McKale Center on Tuesday to bring Candrea's time as Arizona's head coach to a close.
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