By Pat Clines
BRADENTON, Fla. - The SCF softball team have made changes in their coaching staff as they welcome Brett Sauerwein as the new head coach. Sauerwein joins the Manatees after serving the previous season as assistant coach at McKendree University (NCAA DII) in Lebanon, Illinois and will be the second male head coach in SCF softball program history (Jeffery Roberts, 1999-2007).
"I'm excited to bring in someone of Brett's caliber," said athletic director Nick Cichielo. "He's a phenomenal person and really connected to Florida. I feel very confident that he'll take this program to the next level...I'm excited to bring him on and can't wait for him to get started."
A native of Belleville, Illinois, Sauerwein graduated from McKendree University where he graduated with his bachelor's in leadership in sports and exercise science and became a graduate assistant (2015) before receiving his master's degree in sports management at Missouri Baptist University (NAIA) where he became an assistant coach for the varsity squad as well as the head coach for the junior varsity squad for the Spartans while piling on 80+ wins, which included a school record 31 wins in 2017.
Sauerwein would then make the move to southwest Florida as he became assistant coach for Ave Maria University (NAIA) for the next three seasons (2019-21) before taking a position as assistant coach for Florida Southwestern (FSW) where he helped the Buccaneers to win back-to-back NJCAA JUCO Softball World Series Championships.
After two seasons with the Buccaneers, Sauerwein would return to his alma mater McKendree where he would help the Bearcats to the semifinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournamant (GLVC) this past season.
"First off, I want to thank Nick (Cichielo) for believing in me to usher this program into a new era," said Sauerwein. "Florida JUCO holds a very special place in my heart and I'm very excited to lead this program to national prominence. The goal for the program is to play a fast paced and fundamentally sound brand of softball and I'm excited to get on campus and get to work."