Mike Coutts was named the ninth head coach of Mines softball in August 2021, arriving in Golden after six seasons as the head coach at the University of Maine.
Through three seasons at the helm of the Orediggers, Coutts sports an overall record of 70-79 (.470) and 65-53 (.551) in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action and has made two appearances in the postseason. Under his tutelage, Mines softball has earned 13 RMAC postseason honors and in 2024, Sadriena Rodriguez became the first player since 2018 to earn All-Region accolades.
During the 2024 season, Mines went back to the RMAC tournament behind a 29-win season, their best since before the COVID-19 pandemic and posted a record of 15-1 in true home games at Joe Coors, Jr. Field, including three series sweeps over Fort Lewis, UCCS and Adams State on their way to 25 RMAC wins. Sadriena Rodriguez earned First Team All-RMAC honors while Kendall Aragon was a Second Team selection. Sidney Wilson and freshman speedster Kellan Ton were Honorable Mention honorees with the latter breaking the program's single-season stolen base record with 25 in 27 tries. For the third straight season, Mines improved their defensive numbers, posting a .970 fielding percentage and finishing tied for first in the conference in that metric after leading the RMAC most of the season. Additionally, Wilson was the 2024 NCAA Division II Statistical Champion as the Toughest Batter to Strike Out in the country, going down on strikes just twice in 155 at bats for an average of 77.5 AB/K.
After a 16-30 overall record and 16-20 mark in RMAC play in year one under Coutts, the Orediggers made strides in 2023, finishing 25-26 and 24-16 in the RMAC and returning to the RMAC Tournament. The season was highlighted by four-game sweeps of Black Hills State and Adams State and saw the highest overall and RMAC win totals since the 2019 season. Additionally, Mines shattered a 12-year old program record for single season stolen bases of 81 set back in 2011, finishing 2023 with 86. Mines also lowered their team ERA by more than a full run and a half from 5.41 to 3.60, led by Second Team All-RMAC performer Sadriena Rodriguez. Mines also earned a pair of RMAC Gold Glove Award winners in catcher Aubree Karraker and outfielder Renata Boyd, who both fielded 1.000 during the season.
Prior to arriving in Golden, Coutts had two coaching stints at Maine, and was with the softball program since 2013, first serving as the assistant coach for the 2014 and 2015 seasons when he was part of the 2015 America East Coaching Staff of the Year. He was elevated to the head job in the summer of 2015 and found immediate success, winning the 2016 America East Conference title and making an NCAA regional appearance, and finishing as America East runners-up in 2017. In six seasons, Coutts won 94 games as the Black Bears went 42-42 in America East play.
Maine's softball program excelled academically under Coutts, consistently ranking in the top quarter of NCAA Division I teams in GPA and being recognized by the NCAA as being in the top 10 percent of D-I softball programs in APR each of the last three seasons.
Coutts' first tenure at Maine was the baseball program's associate head coach from 1986 to 1997, where he helped nine Black Bears progress to professional baseball. Maine appeared in four NCAA Tournaments during Coutts' time with the program.
Coutts also has extensive coaching experience outside of the NCAA. From 1995-2002, Coutts was the head coach of the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod League, winning a pair of league championships in 1995 and 1999 and earning the 1995 Cape Cod Coach of the Year award. Coutts coached professionals Chase Utley, Garrett Atkins, and Mitch Stetter all while they were with the Kettleers. He was also head coach of the Peninsula Oilers in the Alaska Collegiate League in 2005, head coach of the Sanford Mainers in the New England College Baseball League in 2006, head baseball coach at Deering High School in Maine from 2009-10 (which included the 2009 state title), and head baseball coach at Scarborough High School prior to returning to the University of Maine.
Coutts is twice a graduate of the University of Maine with a bachelor's of health and physical education and a master's in education administration. As a baseball player, he captained the Black Bears to a College World Series appearance in 1981 and was a Northeast Regional First-Team selection that season.
Coutts has a strong Colorado connection in his wife, Lynn, who is herself a former head softball coach at Maine and now serves as the Deputy Athletic Director at the University of Denver. They have a daughter, Maggie, and son, Jackson, who currently plays in the Washington Nationals' minor league system.
