By Jeremy Dent-Smith, Staff Reporter
After nearly two decades at the helm of one of the most respected teams in NCAA Div. II softball, Jim Maier has retired as head coach. Maier—the longest-serving and winningest coach in program history—announced his retirement earlier this month. Under his leadership, Toros softball became a powerhouse program—Maier’s teams scored several accolades, including two CCAA Championships and seven NCAA playoff appearances.
Maier started his coaching career in 1982 and joined Toros Athletics in 2001 and made his presence on the diamond felt immediately. During his first four years as head coach, the Toros made four consecutive NCAA playoff appearances. In 2005, he was named the CCAA “Coach of the Year.” He continued to build on that early momentum with additional playoff runs and a share of the 2012 CCAA Regular Season Championship.
Maier left Toros Athletics in 2015 to serve as head coach at CSU-San Bernardino, where he led the Coyotes to two NCAA playoff appearances. He returned to Toros softball in October 2018.
Over the course of his 19-year career at Dominguez Hills, Maier has mentored numerous Toros, with many winning awards of their own. He’s coached two CCAA “Player of the Year” winners, five All-Americans, and 24 All-Region players.
Maier’s greatest success may have come just last season, when his team earned a spot in the NCAA Super Regional. The team set a program record of 48 home runs during the season—the previous record of 42 homers happened under Maier’s watch in 2005.
“Sports is the best program that a college can have and I look at it as a major,” said Maier during an interview with The Bulletin. “When my players finish, not only do they complete the sport, but they have a Ph.D. in life.”
Graduate first baseman Kaylee Hull praised Maier for how highly he valued his players. “He is very accepting and viewed us as more than just a player,” Hull said. “He viewed us as people who have more [than] just an athletic feature, which is really nice.”
Maier’s tenure as head coach may be coming to an end, but his influence on Toros softball is likely to be around for the foreseeable future. Assistant coach Katie Garcia was named the new head coach, and will serve in that role alongside Maier’s son, assistant coach Jared Maier.
Having grown up watching his father coach, the younger Maier hopes to continue the family’s winning ways while building a legacy of his own. The most important lesson his father gave him, the younger Maier told The Bulletin, was to always own up to mistakes.
“We want to be the best versions of ourselves—we always try to strive to get the right girl out on the field day-in and day-out, and that was kind of his overall philosophy,” assistant coach Maier said. “If we can get the right girl on the field every day, then we can continue the success we have seen over the past couple years.”
