First impressions are everything. At Colorado Mesa University this year, there have been three first-year coaches that have exceeded expectations in the first year at the helm of their respected programs.  Men’s basketball coach Mike DeGeorge, softball coach Erik Kozel, and women’s lacrosse coach Shanta Loecker.   

DeGeorge coached his team to a 19-10 record, getting the team back on track from last season when the Mavericks went 11-17. They scored 81.4 points per game and allowed 75.9 ppg, a far cry from last season’s 83.5 ppg allowed last season. This season, DeGeorge’s team shot 52 percent from the field and 38 percent from beyond the arc.  

The Mavericks men’s basketball team grabbed an efficient 34.3 rebounds per game with 14.7 assists per game. CMU distributed the ball at a high clip but only had a 1.1 assist/turnover ratio. In my opinion, The Mavericks are in great position, losing just six games by five points or less, and the team can easily get better this offseason to bring in a new era of Maverick basketball.  

Kozel took over the softball team in a much better state as they were 48-5 and held the No. 1 spot last season, but the team hasn’t skipped a beat and are currently 31-6 and ranked No. 12 in the nation. The team has 349 hits and 320 runs on the season in 984 at-bats. They also have hit 51 home runs and 74 doubles. 

Those are impressive stats for the softball team and Kozel has done an excellent job maintaining the level of play while leading with the interim head coach tag. The Mavericks have limited their errors per game and have played great defense all season. Five of their losses have been by one run. I would look out for this Mavericks team come RMAC and NCAA tournament time.

Loecker took over a program that went 12-4 last year and has utilized her personnel to their fullest as they are 10-2 and ranked No. 14 in the nation so far. They are averaging 16 goals per game and 9.33 assists per game. Their effort is off the charts as they average 28.5 ground balls per game and 15.42 caused turnovers per game.   

The Mavericks have had a great season adopting the new offense and defense that Loecker introduced, but I didn’t think they would have the success that they have had this year. They play a very high-pressure defense that requires everyone on the field to give one-hundred percent for 60 minutes, and they have done it almost perfectly.   

DeGeorge had the tougher task taking his team, who had a losing record for the last three years and trying to get them back to their winning ways. But that is exactly what he did, and he will look to build towards continued success next season.

All three of these coaches have had great first-year’s but Kozel, in my opinion, has had the best season. He was handed the best situation out of the three coaches, but he also took the one with the most pressure, and he has shown that he can handle the expectations. Currently, the softball team has three weeks left of games and up to this point, have dominated their schedule. Kozel is the interim head coach and has shown that he should be the permanent head coach, and the team seems to want to play hard for him.   

Kozel has the ability to make this CMU softball program one of the best in the nation.