Deb Smith is returning to her adopted home.

Smith, an outstanding softball player at the University of Maine who went on to become the America East Coach of the Year at her alma mater in 2002, has been named the new softball coach at Maine.

She replaces Stacey Sullivan, who didn’t have her contract renewed. Sullivan went 70-84 in three seasons including an 11-39 mark this spring.

“We had a number of great candidates but Deb was the one I was the most comfortable with and who has the greatest chance to succeed with our program,” said Maine athletic director Blake James. “She’s someone who truly understands and appreciates what the softball and the athletic programs mean to the university and the state.”

Smith signed a one-year contract that will pay her $48,000.

She spent the past three seasons as the head coach at the University of Rhode Island where she went 44-99 including a 14-38 mark this spring.

“I’m really excited about it,” said the 36-year-old Smith. “I had a great experience at URI but I felt at the end of this past season I really wanted to go home to Maine. It was a home to me when I was a student-athlete and a coach and it has always had special significance for me.

“When the position came open, I jumped at it. It has so much potential. I really want to bring it back to the great position it was in a few years ago,” added the Munnsville, N.Y. native.

Smith said she was satisfied with her accomplishments at URI.

“When I took it over, it was in a real tough state of affairs,” said Smith. “The previous coach had been fired, the academics [among the players] were horrible and the social atmosphere wasn’t good. What we did doesn’t show up on paper. The academics became very solid and I was proud that the program became a good representative of the URI athletic department. I was very happy with the progress we made.”

She said there were players she had to suspend for missing classes her first two years who were on the Dean’s List last year.

“You’ll see them turn things around in the next couple of years. It really takes four years [to straighten things out],” said Smith.

Smith was the North Atlantic Conference Co-Pitcher and Co-Player of the Year her senior year in 1994 when she led Maine to its first NCAA Tournament berth.

She was an assistant coach at Maine for five seasons before becoming head coach for the next five seasons. Her teams went 119-141 during that stretch.

She left for personal reasons after the 2004 season.

“I was going through some tough things personally,” said Smith. “I had no other experiences other than coaching so I went out and did a lot of different things working in the business world.

“I found out that my heart was in coaching and I wanted to work with college-aged players,” explained Smith, who became an assistant softball coach at Bates College in Lewiston that spring.

She knows there have been dramatic improvements to the Black Bears’ Kessock Field and the school now has the Mahaney Dome indoor practice facility with FieldTurf.

“Between the field, the bubble [Mahaney Dome], the new recreation center and the strength and conditioning program, there are so many positive things surrounding the program,” said Smith. “We’re going to highlight that and bring that pride back to the program.”

She said she knows there will be high expectations for the program and she is confident the team can return to prominence.

“We should be among the top teams in America East every year,” said Smith.

“I want 18 to 20 girls who are really committed to the same [team] goal and will work their butts off every day. They’ll do their work in the classroom and be great people off the field.”

lmahoney@bangordailynews.net

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