David Deiros captured his 800th win in his final season at the helm of the FGCU softball team. He earned the victory in an 8-0 contest against ASUN foe West Georgia on March 28.
Over the past two decades, Deiros has led the Eagles to two ASUN Championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances in 2012 and 2024. He was crucial to the program’s start in 2001 and its four-year transition to the NCAA Division I level from 2007 to 2011.
“It means I’m old, means I’ve been here for a while. 800 wins, it’s hard to win,” Deiros said. “It really is, in a competitive environment like what we do, it’s really hard to win games.”
In addition to winning 800 games overall, Deiros has managed to keep the team’s losses under 500. As of April 14, he currently stands at 803 and 467 in each category.
“Winning is hard,” Deiros said. “The other teams, they have uniforms and they practice and they give out scholarships, the whole deal. They’ve got good players as well. I’d rather challenge ourselves against the best and see where it comes out.”
Although the Eagles played numerous ranked NCAA Division I teams under Deiros, one of the program’s most interesting wins was against Team Japan as they were preparing for the 2020 Women’s Softball World Championship. They defeated No. 2 Team Japan 7-5 in 2019.
“He’s, at his core, a teacher,” Outfielder Avery Viancos said. “He’s not always going to make it easy, but it’s not supposed to be easy. You can tell he wants you to grow. He wants you to learn.”
Viancos has been playing with the team and Deiros since she was a freshman, and has earned multiple ASUN awards, including spots on the All-ASUN Academic Team and the Preseason All-Star Team.
When the Eagles defeated West Georgia for Deiros’ 800th victory, Viancos and her teammates didn’t realize the significance of the victory until after it had ended, after which they showered their coach with water.
“I would say the biggest thing [takeaway], softball wise, is how to deal with failure,” Viancos said. “If you could keep your mind right and be ready for the next thing, you’re going to be just fine, looking ahead, not letting the past hurt you. It all applies to life.”
Deiros announced his retirement from his coaching position before the start of the season in January and plans to move to an administrative role after the season concludes.
“I’m moving on to another position within the department, and I’m retiring from being in the dugout,” Deiros said. “The only thing that could have gotten me out of the dugout and leave this particular team is this position. It’s the only thing. If this hadn’t popped up, I’d still be back next year. These kids are special.”
Even though Deiros will be hanging it up at the end of the season, he looks to defend the Eagles’ 2024 ASUN Championship. As of April 14, they sit second in the ASUN Graphite Series Standings with a 22-24 and 9-6 in-conference record. All FGCU needs to do is win four of its last nine games for a bid to the postseason.
“For us to be able to do it 800 times, it’s pretty impressive, and all the credit goes to the team, because they’re the ones who are making the pitches, getting the hits, running the bases, doing all those things,” Deiros said.
