Clint Meyers is a No Brainer for NFCA Hall of Fame Induction

Clint Meyers is a No Brainer for NFCA Hall of Fame Induction

Clint Meyers has been coaching as long as I've been alive. I like to think I've accomplished quite a bit during my 29 years on this earth, but Meyers' 29-ye

Dec 6, 2015 by Sarah Hoffman
Clint Meyers is a No Brainer for NFCA Hall of Fame Induction
Clint Meyers has been coaching as long as I've been alive. I like to think I've accomplished quite a bit during my 29 years on this earth, but Meyers' 29-year-coaching career pretty easily stacks up against my entire life accomplishments, most recently with his induction into the NFCA Hall of Fame.

Hall of Fame Worthy 

Auburn’s third-year head coach Clint Meyers joined a prestigious group of 68 other coaches when he, along with Texas A&M’s long-time head coach Jo Evans and Montclair State head Coach Anita Kubicka, was inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame December 4, 2015 at the NFCA Convention in Atlanta.

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The entire class of 2015 have amassed over 2,800 victories between the three of them. In addition, the three coaches together boast  44 NCAA tournaments and 17 Women’s College World Series appearances. Meyers, however, is the only one with NCAA Division 1 National Championships.

Meyers himself has over 1,000 wins in his entire coaching career and proudly boasts that he has coached over 1,000 players and in over 3,000 games — and he's had success all along the way. His coaching achievements include 10 Regional appearances, 9 Super Regional appearances, 8 Women's College World Series appearances, and 2 national championships. In addition, Clint has 6 NJCAA national championships and a host of Coach of the Year awards both at the junior college and Division 1 level. Meyers had already been inducted into the NJCAA Softball Hall of Fame and the Arizona Softball Foundation Hall of Fame in 2001, and his induction into the NFCA Hall of Fame as as a member of the 2015 class is a no brainer.

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Auburn University assistant coach Corey Meyers introduced his father during the elder Meyers' NFCA Hall of Fame induction.
Meyers' assistant coach and son Corey Meyers had the honor of introducing his father at the ceremony. During his acceptance speech, the elder Meyers reflected on his honor and coaching as a teaching profession and being part of the Auburn family. “It’s a great honor and I’m very excited. I’m thrilled to death to have this opportunity. But I coach because I love to teach, and I’ve been doing it for years. "


Meyers' Early Coaching Success

Meyers' coaching career began at Central Arizona University during the 1986-1987 season and he immediately began writing his legacy. He needed just one season under his belt before he brought the Vaqueras a NJCAA National Champion. He and the Vaqueras added four more straight national titles, giving him a string of five in a row from 1988-1992. Meyers tacked on a sixth final NJCAA Softball National Championship and was named NJCAA national coach six seasons with the Vaqueras as well as being honored as the National Softball Coaches Association (NSCA) regional and National Coach of the Year in 1990, 1991, and 1992.

Following his unprecedented success with Central Arizona's softball team, Meyers took over the Vaqueros baseball team in 1996. During his 10 years as Central Arizona baseball's head coach, Meyers made two Junior College World Series appearances, winning it all in 2002 as well as being named NJCAA Coach of the Year. While coaching the Vaquero's baseball team in 1998 and 2001, Meyers was inducted into the NJCAA Softball Hall of Fame and the Arizona Softball Foundation Hall of Fame in 2001, respectively.

Return to the Sun Devils

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Clint Meyers won two National Championships with his alma mater in eight seasons.

An alumnus of the Arizona State Sun Devils, Meyers returned to his old stomping grounds in 2006. As a former Sun Devil baseball player himself, Meyers played four successful seasons with the Sun Devils from 1970-73, being named College World Series runner-up twice in 1972 and 1973 before being drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in third–round following his senior season.

Riding on his past playing and coaching success, Meyers made his presence felt immediately at Arizona State. In his very first season, he and the Sun Devils made their first WCWS appearance since 2002. He needed only two seasons to win the WCWS in 2008 for the first time in Sun Devil history. In Meyers' eight seasons with his alma mater, he had two 60-win seasons, made seven WCWS appearances, won two national titles — the only two WCWS Arizona State softball has ever won. 


He left the Sun Devils in 2013 with 422 wins, a .805 win percentage, and an average of 53 games per season, all easily solidifying himself as the best softball coach Arizona State has ever had.

Auburn Tigers and Family

Despite all the success and history Meyers had with Arizona State, the state of Alabama had one thing Arizona didn't: family. Meyers and his wife have two sons, Corey and Casey, who live in Alabama and who interestingly enough followed in their father's footsteps by playing professional baseball then making the switch to coaching softball.

In a 2013 interview with AZ Central's Tyler Killian, Meyers explained that the opportunity Auburn offered him to coach alongside his sons was too much for him to turn down. “It all came down to family. When the boys were young, I said, ‘Someday, when you guys are done playing, maybe we can all coach together.’ And we kind of liked that idea. We’ve never had that opportunity, but now it’s been given to us. And I couldn’t pass up that dream.”
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Clint Meyers with his sons and assistant coaches Casey (L) and Corey (R).

Arizona State's loss is the Auburn Tigers gain. True to Clint Meyers' MO, his coaching expertise made an immediate impact on the Auburn program. In arguably the most competitive collegiate softball conference in the country, Meyers took a 30-win team in 2013 to a 56-win season and a SEC Tournament Championship in 2015.

In his two short seasons with the Tigers, Meyers has won 98 games and has produced four All-Americans. Auburn's defense tied for the best in the country with a .979 fielding percentage his first season and last season was a historic one for the Tiger offense. Meyers and his team set school offensive records in batting average (.339), runs (526), hits (606), home runs (99) and RBI (474).

The 2015 season was also a season of firsts for Auburn. The Tigers won their first ever Regional, Super Regionals, SEC Tournament Title, and made their first WCWS appearance in which they were only one run away from knocking off 2015 NCAA Champion Florida Gators. To top it all off, Meyers won SEC Coach of the Year Award last season. And he's done it all with his family — both the Meyers and the Auburn Tigers families — by his side.

Clint's son Corey joined the Auburn staff with his father and took over responsibilities with the pitching staff. Corey's staff last season posted a 3.59 ERA with 53 wins and 10 shutouts. Before joining Auburn, Corey was an assistant coach and director of player development for the Birmingham Thunderbolts 18 Gold softball team. He had previously owned and operated the CM Baseball & Softball Academy in Chandler, Arizona and was a volunteer coach working with the elder Meyers from 2007-08 at Arizona State. Meyers' older son, Casey serves as a volunteer assistant coach with the Tigers.

During Meyer's induction into the NFCA Hall of Fame December 4, 2015, he again emphasized the importance of his family while showing gratitude to the Tiger family for fulfilling his dream.

"The greatest moments in my life have been with my family. If you play for me, you enter our family. And for those who know me, my family is the most important part of my life," he said.

"To my Auburn family," Myers said, "you gave me an opportunity to coach with both my sons. That was my dream. Thank you for allowing this old man's dream to come true. I have a passion to go to work with a smile on my face every day to do something I love... The interesting thing about it… the athletic department gave me a cake (on Wednesday), and I’ve had people that have seen that cake that played for me years ago and have contacted me with congratulations. It’s unbelievable the number of people that follow Auburn and our family.”

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