After 27 years Fresno State’s winningest coach, Margie Wright, hangs up the cleats

When Margie Wright was hired on as the third head coach of the Fresno State softball program, she had an itch that her time here would be a success.

“There’s magnificent potential present in the Bulldog’s softball program. The community’s support and the athletic department are second to none,” Wright told The Daily Collegian in 1986.

Wright was right.

After 27 seasons at Fresno State, she became the university’s first coach to win an NCAA Division I team title, became the winningest coach in softball and second all-time across all collegiate sports, and made Fresno State one of the most successful softball programs in the nation.

Wright is 1,454-539-3 (.728) in 33 seasons as a Division I coach. She is 1,291-448-1 (.742) in 27 seasons at Fresno State, including 10 NCAA Women’s College World Series appearances. The Bulldogs have three runner-up finishes, three third-place showings, three fifth-place performances and the 1998 WCWS title.

Wright has also led the program to 17 outright or shared conference titles, including 10 conference Coach of the Year awards.

“Margie Wright has shared her passion for excellence with hundreds of student-athletes, inspiring them to be achievers in the classroom and on the diamond,” said university President John Welty.

Wright created a program that not only developed great softball players, but great student-athletes.

“Of course the national championship is a highlight,” Wright said. “I think more of a highlight to me is just about every kid that went through their four years at Fresno State graduated.”

Wright has coached 16 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans ”” the most among active coaches and third overall among Division I schools with 18 honorees.

This season, Wright coached her 1,700th game as Bulldog head coach which ended in a 6-3 road win over then-No. 7 UCLA.

“There is never really a right time to do this, to announce that you are going to retire,” Wright told the press Monday.

“To me, the wrong time to do it is when everything is done and you tell your team when everybody goes home for the summer. There’s absolutely no closure and I didn’t want any player on this team to have regrets for this year. They have an opportunity to change that if they want.”

The hall-of-fame coach also improved athletics for women, and was the driving force behind the construction of the “New” Bulldog Diamond in 1996.

“Her commitment to the student-athletes and to Fresno State has been tireless and we are very fortunate to have had an individual who championed the mission of what being a student-athlete means, both on and off the field,” said Director of Athletics Thomas Boeh.

“She set a standard at Fresno State that other coaches around the country have spent years attempting to duplicate. One can review all the stats and accomplishments, but what stands out most is the fact that she was always passionate and the quintessential competitor,” he added.

Wright leaves a legacy at Fresno State and wants to be remembered not for her accomplishments, but the nature in which she achieved them.

“I just want them to to say everything I did, I did with integrity and a lot of passion and was willing to fight for what I thought was right.”

Regardless, Wright isn’t done competing as she leads her final Bulldog squad against Louisiana Tech today at 6 p.m. in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament in Las Cruces, N.M.