Cal State San Marcos Athletics

Dave Williams wrapped up his third season as head coach of the Cal State San Marcos softball team in 2012 after guiding the Cougars to a school-record 55 wins and their second consecutive trip to the NAIA final four. Prior to his stint at CSUSM, Williams coached 12 seasons at nearby Point Loma Nazarene University.

Williams has gone 142-32 (.816) during his CSUSM tenure, increasing the team's win total in each of his three seasons. He's the three-time defending A.I.I. Coach of the Year and his staff was named the NFCA/NAIA West Region Coaching Staff of the Year in 2012. To date, five of his CSUSM players have been named NAIA All-America.

He holds a career winning percentage of .767 (666-202), the second-highest of any active coache in NAIA. He ranks fifth among active coaches with 666 career wins. He's also 84-48 (.636) lifetime in the postseason and his teams have finished in the top-five at the NAIA World Series nine times.

Williams has never posted a losing season in his 15-year intercollegiate coaching career.

Coach Williams is a five-time conference Coach of the Year (1998 GSAC, 2003 GSAC, 2010-12 A.I.I.), a three-time West Region Coach of the Year (2001, 2007, 2012) and was named NAIA National Coach of the Year in 2002 while at PLNU.

The 2012 Cougar squad advanced to its third-straight NAIA national tournament and secured its second Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) conference title in the past three seasons. The team's .902 (55-6) winning percentage stands as a school record and this year's team won eight more games than any other CSUSM squad. CSUSM won 22 straight games between Feb. 18 and Mar. 22, spending every week of the regular season at either No. 1 or No. 2 in the NAIA national poll. The Cougars finished the year at No. 3 after placing fourth at the NAIA World Series, its highest final ranking in program history.

CSUSM advanced to its first NAIA Final Four in 2011, going 47-11 for a then-program best .810 win percentrage. Brenna Sandberg, Alex Miller and Derrisha Lacey were all named All-Americans.

Williams wasted little time getting to know his surroundings in 2010 as he picked up the team and guided it to heights the Cougars had yet to see. CSUSM won 40 games for the first time and captured its inaugural A.I.I. title to guarantee the program's first berth into the NAIA tournament. CSUSM won its first two games at the national tournament, but fell 2-1 to William Carey to end the season at 40-15. Brenna Sandberg became the first Cougar to be named All-America when she was placed on the second team.

In his first year on the job, Williams spearheaded the construction of beautiful CSUSM Softball Field on campus, giving Cougar softball a true home for the first time.  The Cougars played their first home game on January 30, 2010.

Williams had coached at PLNU since 1998 prior to his hire at CSUSM in 2009. The Sea Lions won 33 games under Williams that year (20 more than in the previous season), and did not dip below that number the rest of his tenure.  Williams' teams posted seven 40-win seasons and three 50-win seasons, finishing NAIA national runner-up twice (2002, 2007), and in the top-10 at nationals every year since 2001.

At the 2009 NAIA Championships, Point Loma finished in third place. Williams received National Coaching Staff of the Year recognition in 2002, West Regional Coaching Staff of the Year (2001, 2007) and Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) Coach of the Year honors in 1988 and 2003. In 2009, Coach Williams held the current record for the most wins of any softball coach in GSAC history (524).