Gardner, Hutchins Share Longstanding Bond
4/1/2016 3:55:00 PM | Softball
It isn't as much that the No.2 Wolverines are a national power that's annually tough to beat. That much is a given.
What makes playing Michigan more challenging is the opposing head coach, Carol Hutchins. Now in her 32nd year coaching in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Hutchins coached Gardner from 1984-88 at Michigan and continues to be her mentor and one of her closest friends.
"It's always mixed emotions," Gardner said. "She's my mentor, she's my coach, she's my friend. It's one of those things where I believe we truly have a mutual respect for one another not just as player-coach, but as peers."
Had it not been for Hutchins, Gardner may have never wound up coaching in the first place.
After her playing career ended in 1988 with a Big Ten Player of the Year award and NFCA All-Region accolades, Gardner was invited back into the Michigan dugout as a graduate assistant the next year as she completed her degree.
Gardner stuck around Hutchins' program as a volunteer assistant to stay busy while her playing career continued in the Amateur Softball Association and the upstart USA Softball Women's National Team. She spent time soaking in advice Hutchins gave and watched the way the 2006 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee led her team from the dugout.
When it came for Gardner's playing career to come to an end, Hutchins helped her find coaching openings. Gardner eventually ended up as an assistant at Bowling Green, Florida State and Arizona State before taking her first head coaching job at Nevada in 2001.
"When I was going to get into coaching, she was very instrumental in getting several of my jobs," Gardner said. "She was a huge part of that."
Indiana was no different. Hutchins had a connection with the Hoosiers' program having served as an assistant coach under Gayle Blevins in 1981 and received a master's degree in physical education from IU.
When Gardner first started meeting with Indiana to discuss joining the staff, Hutchins was the first person Gardner called for advice.
"I asked if it was a good move," Gardner said. "I knew it was going to be a challenge to come here and turn it around. It's taken some time, but I really feel like we've done some good things and are headed in the right direction."
Gardner's first win against her old coach came five years ago this weekend. On April 2, 2011, Indiana beat then-No. 3 Michigan 5-4 in Ann Arbor in the second game of a doubleheader. Given how many games softball grinds through in a given season, Gardner said quite a few of the wins tend to blend together.
Not that one.
"Hutch was one of the first people I got a text from that night after the game," she said. "That meant a lot to me."
Gardner and Hutchins never really stopped working together. They still talk often, see each other on the recruiting trail and have come to enjoy playing against one another.
Sports is one of the only fields that mentors and pupils can face off against one another at the highest level quite like Gardner and Hutchins will do this weekend. Indiana (20-10) is looking to stay unbeaten in the Big Ten after sweeping Iowa last weekend while Michigan (24-3) was taking two out of three games from Northwestern.
"We know how much this means to her," junior CaraMia Tsirigos said. "It's really cool to see them on the field together, so whenever we play against them we know how much coach wants to win."
One of the pieces of advice Hutchins gave Gardner long ago was that softball will keep changing. As coaches, it's their jobs to adapt.
Hutchins has done that firsthand over nearly four decades of coaching. She's seen the game change about as much as anyone in the nation.
Now it's Gardner following suit, taking her advice today just as much as she would have as a player some 30 years ago.
"Having this really does mean a lot to me," Gardner said. "It's pretty special."
