Deanna Gumpf Position: Head Coach Alma Mater: Nebraska '92

Awards And Honors

2002, 2004 BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year
2002, 2004 NFCA Mideast Region Coaching Staff of the Year

Entering her sixth season at Notre Dame in 2007, head softball coach Deanna Gumpf already has left her mark on the Irish program. Notre Dame has established itself as one of the top programs in the nation, claiming six BIG EAST championships in eight years and eight straight appearances in the NCAA Championship (five straight under Gumpf).

Gumpf has led the Irish through five straight stellar seasons, winning the BIG EAST regular season championship during her first four campaigns (2002-2005) on the bench and claiming the conference tournament crown three times. In addition, the Irish have knocked off a number of nationally ranked teams and posted a mixture of both dominating performances and stirring come-from behind victories.

Gumpf assumed control of the Irish program on July 3, 2001, from her mentor and good friend Liz Miller. An associate head coach during Notre Dame's legendary 54-7 campaign in 2001, Gumpf followed up with an equally-stellar 44-17 campaign in her first season. The Irish once again advanced to the final day of play at the NCAA regional and smashed the school record for home runs in a season. Notre Dame also came through with an emotional and dramatic victory at the BIG EAST Championship in 2002, rallying from a first-day loss to defeat Virginia Tech twice on the final day to claim the league title.

The second season of the Gumpf era ended with a 38-17 campaign, as the Irish lost a number of games to inclement weather. After a rough 10-11 start to the season, Notre Dame ripped off a 20-game win streak from April 1 - 26 to assume control of the BIG EAST Conference standings. The team then swept through the BIG EAST Championship, scoring 21 runs in three games and winning the title on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning against Villanova from conference player of the year Andrea Loman. The Irish were then eliminated from the NCAA Regional by the host team, Michigan, after defeating Missouri and Oakland during the tournament.

The 2004 season saw the Irish get off to a great start, upsetting No. 8 Nebraska during the first weekend of the season and claiming the program's first-ever bracket championship (Silver) at the NFCA Leadoff Classic. The team also won the Hoosier Invitational title, the BIG EAST regular-season crown (with an 18-2 record) and played a school-record 69 games. Notre Dame won 49 of those 69 contests, posting the second-best win total in school history (behind the 54 wins in '01).

Yet another landmark season came about in 2005, as the Irish hosted NCAA Championship competition at Ivy Field for the first time in school history. Bolstered by a 20-game win streak (the second 20-game run of the Gumpf era) the Irish won the BIG EAST Conference regular-season title and advanced to the BIG EAST Championship final game. A pesky Seton Hall team took the BIG EAST crown, but the Irish had earned the right to host an NCAA Regional at Ivy Field. Notre Dame advanced to the final day of competition, dropping two hardfought games to nationally-ranked Northwestern on the final day of the regional. The campaign finished with another outstanding record (45-16) and two tournament titles (the GRU Classic at the University of Florida and Hawaii's Spring Fling).

The 2006 season was another strong effort as the Irish finished 42-21, despite playing an ultra competitive schedule that included 11 games against seven ranked opponents. The early part of the campaign was highlighted by the Irish's comeback 3-2 victory over No. 10 Arizona State on the two-run home run by current senior Stephanie Brown. After a pair of heartbreaking losses to No. 4 Texas and No. 6 the Irish went on a nine-game winning-streak, including four wins in conference play. Notre Dame kept themselves among the top teams in BIG EAST play with the only five conference losses coming at the hands of Syracuse, South Florida, Seton Hall and pair of defeats to No. 10 Louisville, heading into the conference tournament. The Irish entered the BIG EAST tournament as the third-seed and after a change of venue to Ivy Field due to inclement weather, rolled through the tournament defeating Providence, Pittsburgh and No. 18 Louisville on their way to winning the conference championship crown for the third time in Gumpf's first five seasons. Notre Dame then headed to Evanston, Ill. and defeated UC Santa Barbara and Southern Illinois in the NCAA Regional, but could not overcome the nationally ranked (and eventual College World Series participant) Northwestern Wildcats. The Wildcats eliminated Notre Dame for the second consecutive season. The Irish finished the year with over 40 wins for the third consecutive season and fourth time in Gumpf's first five years.

Gumpf claimed her 100th victory at Notre Dame in record time in 2004, reaching the 100-win plateau faster than any previous Irish head coach. She has led her team to an impressive .720 winning percentage (219-90) and has suffered more than two straight losses only four times - one of those runs coming in the 2002 season when the Irish battled through four losses to Texas A&M, No. 8 Arizona State, No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 19 Louisiana-Lafayette by a combined seven runs. Gumpf reached the 200 win plateau, again in record time, in the second game of the afternoon against Pittsburgh on April 9, 2006. The Irish made sure the victory would be memorable as they pounded out 21 hits, as a team, to tie the school record. Two Irish players, current senior Stephanie Brown and graduated senior Meagan Ruthrauff, both had four-hit games. Ruthrauff had a slightly more memorable contest, as she set two school records with three home runs and seven runs batted in.

As an assistant coach at Notre Dame from 1998-2001, Gumpf worked with the Irish pitchers and hitters, having a special impact on the Irish hurlers. In all four years, Notre Dame lowered its team ERA and eventually posted a spectacular 0.89 ERA in 2001 (seventh in the nation). Even as the team ERA dropped, the team's batting average rose each season and the Irish have set school records for home runs, batting average, runs and strikeouts thrown with Gumpf on the staff.

She helped several Irish pitchers and hitters land numerous individual honors, including four-time BIG EAST pitcher of the year Jennifer Sharron, two-time BIG EAST pitcher of the year Steffany Stenglein and BIG EAST players of the year Melanie Alkire, Lizzy Lemire, Andrea Loman, Jarrah Myers and Megan Ciolli. Former Irish pitcher Heather Booth was named the league rookie of the year in 2002 and the most outstanding player in 2006 championship.

One of the top recruiters in the nation, Gumpf has brought 23 top players into the program over the last four years and is determined to keep Notre Dame softball among the elite programs in the nation.

Gumpf's teams have also shown a flair for the dramatic and an ability to make clutch plays at key times. During her first season, the Irish faced No. 4 Nebraska during the Cornhuskers dedication game at Bowlin Stadium in Lincoln. Liz Hartmann (2005 graduate) drilled a three-run home run in the top of the sixth inning as the Irish held on for a 3-2 victory.

Other memorable moments in the last few years include the team smashing five home runs in a game for a come-from-behind victory at Louisiana-Lafayette in 2004 (the Ragin' Cajuns would eventually appear in the College World Series), Loman's walk-off home run which enabled the team to capture its second-straight BIG EAST Championship title in 2002 and Hartmann's two-home run performance to defeat No. 8 Nebraska in 2004 at the UNLV Classic. In 2006, Brown hit a dramatic walk-off two-run home run against No. 10 Arizona State.

Since Gumpf took over the program, the Irish have boasted five All-Americans, 24 first-team all-BIG EAST selections (including a record-tying seven in '04), 10 first-team all-region selections, eight conference major award winners and two players have received Academic All-America recognition. Gumpf and her staff were named the conference coaching staff of the year in 2002 and 2004.

Over the last three years, Gumpf's teams also have set school records for runs (318 in '02), home runs (54 in '02), fielding percentage (.974 in '03), games played (69 in '04), complete games (52 in '04) double plays turned (22 in '04), strikeouts thrown (527 in '05), strikeouts per seven innings (8.74 in '05) and attempted steals (134 in '05).

The La Palma, Calif., native played at Nebraska from 1989-92 while earning a business management degree. Gumpf was an all-Big Eight Conference second team selection in 1991 and an honorable mention pick in 1989 and 1990.

Even before her success in Lincoln, Gumpf enjoyed an outstanding prep career with Gordon's Panthers, one of the most noteworthy Amateur Softball Association teams in Southern California.

After her collegiate career with Nebraska, Gumpf took a job with Delta Airlines, but the competitive softball bug soon began to bite her once again. She started to give private pitching lessons in the Southern California area and what began as a small side job turned into a major venture. Soon, Gumpf would have numerous college coaches dialing her number looking for a pitching coach. Ironically, one of the first coaches to call Gumpf was Liz Miller.

Miller and Gumpf discussed the Irish option, but the job never opened and Gumpf would end up as the pitching coach at Long Beach State while working on her master's degree in physical education from Azusa Pacific University.

Two years later, Miller phoned Gumpf again to offer a position, and the future Irish head coach jumped at the chance

"I am a hard worker and my team will be hard workers," Gumpf says

"I want the team to get the job done and that is how I coach. Do whatever it takes to get the job done."

Gumpf and her husband of eight years, John, reside in South Bend with their five-year-old son Brady and nearly year-old daughter Tatum. John was a volunteer assistant coach for the Irish from 1999-2001 and coached high school baseball in Southern California. He spent four years as a professional baseball player in the Minnesota Twins minor-league organization from 1989-94. John spent three seasons working as a volunteer assistant coach and the camp coordinator for the Notre Dame baseball team before accepting the head coaching position at St. Joseph High School in South Bend, Ind. in the fall of 2006.

"Deanna has earned the respect of everyone in softball coaching circles and her contributions to Notre Dame's program are extensive and well documented," Notre Dame athletics director Kevin White says.

"She has a grand design for the future of softball at Notre Dame and we're excited about the opportunity to see her, her staff and her teams make those visions become a reality."

After winning her third BIG EAST tournament championship in 2006, Gumpf was awarded in the summer with a multi-year extension by Notre Dame.

"Over the last five years, she and her staff have done a tremendous job of achieving the goals, she laid out when she was named head coach, White explained. "I'm thrilled that she will remain as our head coach and look forward to watching her teams continue to excel at the national level."