John Rittman

John Richard Rittman (born October 5, 1963) is an American college softball coach, serving as the first head coach of the Clemson Tigers softball team, scheduled to begin play in 2020. He previously served as head coach at Stanford and an assistant with USA Softball, Kansas, Washington, Minnesota, and Oregon.[1][2]

John Rittman
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamClemson
ConferenceACC
Record19-8
Biographical details
Born (1963-10-05) October 5, 1963
Playing career
Baseball
1982Yavapai
1983–1985New Mexico State
Position(s)Outfielder
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Softball
1988–1990Oregon (asst.)
1991–1992Minnesota (asst.)
1993–1996Washington (asst.)
1997–2014Stanford
2001–2008United States (asst.)
2015, 2017Kansas (assoc. HC)
2016–presentUnited States (asst.)
2020Clemson
Head coaching record
Overall769–359–3 (.681)
TournamentsNCAA: 41–36 (.532)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
As assistant coach:

As head coach:

Awards
  • NCAA Pacific Region Coach of the Year (1998)
  • 3× Pac-10 Coach of the Year (2001, 2004)

Education

An outfielder, Rittman played college baseball at Yavapai College before transferring to New Mexico State University and playing three seasons there from 1983 to 1985.[3] As a junior in 1984, Rittman played 51 games and batted .338 with 50 hits, 27 RBI, and one homer.[4] Rittman graduated from New Mexico State in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in journalism.[3]

Coaching career

Assistant coach (1988–1996)

Rittman was an assistant softball coach at Oregon from 1988 to 1990, Minnesota from 1991 to 1992, and Washington from 1993 to 1996, during which Oregon advanced to the 1989 Women's College World Series and Minnesota won the 1992 Big Ten Conference title. Joining the inaugural Washington coaching staff in 1993, Rittman helped Washington win the 1996 Pac-10 title and advance to the championship game of the 1996 Women's College World Series.[3]

Stanford (1997–2014)

In July 1996, Rittman became head coach at Stanford, a program that became a varsity sport in the 1994 season.[5] As head coach from 1997 to 2014, Rittman had a cumulative 750–351–3 record and one Pac-10 title in 2005,[6][3] with 16 consecutive NCAA Division I Softball Championship appearances from 1998 to 2013, five Super Regionals, and two Women's College World Series berths in 2001 and 2004.[3]

At Stanford, Rittman coached several players who went on to play for the U.S. national women's softball team or elsewhere professionally, including Jessica Allister, Ashley Hansen, Lauren Lappin, and Jessica Mendoza. Mendoza and another Stanford player under Rittman, Ramona Shelburne, later became broadcasters for ESPN. Allister played two seasons in National Pro Fastpitch before returning to Stanford as an assistant coach under Rittman from 2007 to 2009 and becoming head coach at Stanford from 2018.

Rittman resigned from Stanford on June 2, 2014 after the team finished 5–19 in Pac-12 Conference games that season.[7][8][9][10][11] His resignation was surrounded by controversy and findings of a major NCAA rules violation.[12][13]

Kansas and USA Softball assistant (2015–2017)

He then spent two seasons at Kansas as associate head coach in 2015 and 2017, and also two stints as an assistant with USA Softball.

Clemson (2017–present)

On November 3, 2017, Rittman was named the first head coach at Clemson, with the first game scheduled to be played in 2020.[2]

Head coaching record

Sources:[14][15]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Stanford Cardinal (Pacific-10/Pac-12 Conference) (1997–2014)
1997 Stanford 31–27–110–185th
1998 Stanford 41–1817–113rdNCAA Regionals
1999 Stanford 40–2510–18T–6thNCAA Regionals
2000 Stanford 45–189–124thNCAA Regionals
2001 Stanford 54–16–111–10T–3rdWomen's College World Series
2002 Stanford 44–207–14T–6thNCAA Regionals
2003 Stanford 41–267–14T–6thNCAA Regionals
2004 Stanford 49–1913–8T–2ndWomen's College World Series
2005 Stanford 43–1613–8T–1stNCAA Super Regionals
2006 Stanford 42–1810–116thNCAA Super Regionals
2007 Stanford 35–21–17–13–16thNCAA Regionals
2008 Stanford 49–1511–104thNCAA Super Regionals
2009 Stanford 48–1113–84thNCAA Super Regionals
2010 Stanford 37–198–13T–6thNCAA Regionals
2011 Stanford 42–1710–115thNCAA Super Regionals
2012 Stanford 40–1911–136thNCAA Regionals
2013 Stanford 39–2113–114thNCAA Regionals
2014 Stanford 30–255–198th
Stanford: 750–351–3 (.681)185–222–1 (.455)
Clemson Tigers (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2020–Present)
2020 Clemson 19–85–13rdSeason canceled due to COVID-19
Clemson: 19–8 (.704)5–1 (.833)
Total:769–359–3 (.681)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References
  1. "Clemson hires former Stanford coach to lead Tigers' program". USA Today. November 3, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  2. "Clemson hires first-ever softball coach for new program". Post and Courier. Charleston, South Carolina. November 3, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  3. "John Rittman". Stanford University. Archived from the original on April 18, 2016. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  4. http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/statsPDFArchive/MBA1/Baseball_Men's_Division%20I_1984_472_New%20Mexico%20State%20University.pdf
  5. Davidson, Robin. "Rittman brings a winning look to softball squad". The Stanford Daily. Archived from the original on February 6, 1997. Retrieved June 14, 2018. ...what Stanford softball coach John Rittman aims to do as he takes over the softball program in its fourth year as a varsity sport.
  6. "NCAA Statistics: John Rittman". NCAA. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  7. Cohn, David (June 3, 2014). "Softball head coach John Rittman resigns". The Stanford Daily. Archived from the original on June 10, 2014. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  8. Reid, John (June 3, 2014). "Silence is deafening at Stanford after successful coach exits". Palo Alto Daily News. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  9. Beyda, Joseph; Cohn, David; Trinh, Elizabeth; Chen, George (May 28, 2015). "Stanford softball in shambles after infighting, controversial resignation". Stanford Daily. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  10. Frazier, Greg (May 27, 2015). "Once-proud Stanford softball program brought to its knees". Palo Alto Daily News. Archived from the original on May 19, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  11. FitzGerald, Tom (June 13, 2015). "Coach's ouster created schism in Stanford softball program". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  12. FitzGerald, Tom (2016-09-15). "NCAA fines, reprimands Stanford for football, softball violations". SFGate. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  13. Press, Associated. "Stanford guilty of 'major' NCAA violations for first time". latimes.com. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  14. "Annual Standings". 2015 Pac-12 Softball Media Guide. Pac-12. 2015. pp. 55–56.
  15. "Stanford at the NCAA Tournament". GoStanford.com. Stanford University. August 15, 2014. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
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