Carol Hutchins

Carol Sue Hutchins (born May 26, 1957) is an American former softball coach. In 38 years as the head coach of Michigan Wolverines softball, (1985–2022), she won more games than any other coach in University of Michigan history in any sport, male or female with 1,684 wins. Hutchins had a career record of 1,707 wins, 551 losses, and five ties, for a winning percentage. She led the Wolverines to their first NCAA softball championship in 2005.

On April 2, 2016, Hutchins became the winningest head coach in NCAA Division I Softball history when Michigan defeated Indiana, passing Margie Wright's record of 1,457 career wins. She reclaimed the record as winningest head coach on February 25, 2022, passing Mike Candrea's record of 1,674.

Softball and basketball player A native of Lansing, Michigan, Hutchins attended Everett High School, where she was an All-City basketball player from 1973 to 1975.

She led the Michigan softball team to its first (NCAA) Women's College World Series championship in 2005. The Ann Arbor News described the team's accomplishment this way:"What happened during the past five months might be the most unlikely accomplishment in the history of a storied athletics program, analogous to setting out to win an NCAA hockey title at the University of New Mexico. Then doing it. Now, before you dismiss that as hyperbole, consider a few factors. Like the fact that, because of cold weather, the Wolverines played their first 33 games on the road, roughly half the season. Try doing that in football or basketball. Then there's recruiting. Softball is still a sport dominated by West Coast talent. ... There's a reason no team East of the Mississippi had won an NCAA softball title until now." The performance of the 2005 team also set Michigan records in several categories: The team's 65 victories was the most in program history. In 2007, she became the seventh coach in NCAA softball history, and the first in any sport at the University of Michigan, to reach 1,000 career wins.

On February 25, 2022, Hutchins reclaimed the record as the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history, passing Mike Candrea's record of 1,674. On May 1, 2022, she became the first softball coach to reach the 1,700 wins milestone.

On August 24, 2022, Hutchins announced her retirement after 38 years as head coach at Michigan. At the time of her retirement, she was the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history with a record of 1,707–555–5. During her career as head coach, Michigan never suffered a losing season, and she led the team to 22 Big Ten regular-season titles from 1995 to 2021, including nine in a row from 2008 to 2016, 10 Big Ten Tournament championships, and qualified for the NCAA Tournament 29 times, including each of the last 27 years.

Honors and personal life In 2000 Hutchins was inducted into the Greater Lansing Sports Hall of Fame. In 2006, she was inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame. In 2011, she was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. She was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 2022.

Hutchins is an avid mountain biker and runner, and continued playing organized softball and hockey until 1998.