Mike Candrea on Winning NCAA Softball Championships, Olympic Gold and Growing the game of Softball

In The Front Row with Mike Vaccaro

Mike Candrea on winning NCAA Softball Championships, Olympic Gold and growing the game of Softball

Mike Candrea was born in New Orleans and loved playing pick-up baseball with his friends. After moving to Phoenix at age 7, Candrea’s passion for the sport continued to grow. He played second base at Central Arizona College and became an assistant coach at the school before being asked to take over the softball program. After leading Central Arizona College to several championships, Candrea was hired as softball head coach at Arizona in 1986 and he stayed until he retired in 2021. During that time, he built the Wildcats softball program from the ground up and led them to 8 National Championships starting with their first title in 1991. In all, Candrea became the game’s winningest coach with 1674 wins (currently second to Carol Hutchins), is in six different Halls of Fame and has his name on the Arizona stadium he helped build. Candrea also coached the US Olympic softball team twice, winning gold in 2004 in Athens and silver in 2008 in Beijing. The 2004 team was so dominant that it outscored their opponents 51-1 giving up the lone run to Australia in the gold medal game. Now retired and serving as a special assistant to the Athletic Director at Arizona, Candrea is still working to grow the game he loves while also pursuing his passion for golf. Candrea shares the lessons he’s learning during his career and the players who influenced him including All-American pitcher Jennie Finch. He also tells us the impact of Title IX, what makes the female athlete so special and the great perspective he has on life.