Redburn makes first appearance as Southeast Missouri State softball coach

~ Southeast's new softball coach was officially introduced on campus Tuesday

A passion for softball and an agenda to recruit in the state of Missouri and along I-55 were two of the sentiments that recently hired Southeast Missouri State softball coach Mark Redburn announced to an audience during a reception to introduce him Tuesday at Kem Statuary Hall in the Wehking Alumni Center.

Those happened to be the ideals that Southeast athletic director Mark Alnutt and senior associate athletics director Cindy Gannon, who were among the audience that included Southeast administrators and student athletes, searched for when in the process of hiring the fourth softball coach in school history.

"I think the one thing that really impressed me most about coach Redburn is that he truly, genuinely has a passion for the sport of softball, and he truly expressed himself as being someone who wants to develop young people -- softball being that mechanism for them to come to college, have the college experience, to compete in Division I," Gannon said. "But then he really expressed how he's going to help these young women grow and bridge that gap to the next level, understanding that softball probably won't go beyond college.

"He really expressed to me his concern for what they can accomplish when they leave college and the growth and the experience that they can have through softball, and then how that's going to lead them into their next job, life situation -- whatever they move into next. He really seemed to have that connection and really get that as being an important part of it."

Gannon also appreciated that Redburn, who was announced as former coach Lana Richmond's replacement June 26, understands that success with the program may not come immediately and that he's focused on the rebuilding process.

Redburn said the team has a lot of work to do in the fall as he tries to establish a foundation.

"It's really how quickly they can master the concepts, the terminology, and that's really going to determine how quickly we can move forward," Redburn said. "I think we've got some smart things and everything. That's going to be the process, so it's going to be focused and consuming, but I think they'll do fine with it."

Redburn has stayed busy since his hiring, which includes relocating his family to Cape Girardeau and working toward filling assistant coaching positions and talking to his players.

"[The players] have talked about [how] they're ready to play and that sort of thing, so I think they're excited, and that's the first key that you have to have is the excitement to want to be there," Redburn said. "Now we just want to take it to that next level and we want to keep that excitement going."

Redburn said he is going to recruit players over the weekend, and his knowledge of the area from previous coaching positions at St. Charles Community College, Jefferson College and the University of Evansville as well as his time as an assistant and recruiting coordinator at the University of Missouri stood out to Alnutt.

"If you have a person that I feel can build relationships or re-establish relationships in key areas -- I talk about the I-55 corridor a lot, but St. Louis is a big one for us," Alnutt said. "St. Louis has a wealth of talent and the state of Missouri has a wealth of talent when it comes to softball. But someone who is well-versed, well-experienced with the area, already has these relationships in the area, to me I think that's going to transcend very well to what we're trying to produce here so by far he was one of the candidates that we felt could go into St. Louis and find players for us, or the surrounding areas."

Gannon, who led the search for Southeast's softball coach, said the university was looking for a candidate who had head coaching experience and a vision for building a program.

Redburn has had success in some of his stints. He served as the head coach at St. Charles Community College from 2001 to 2004. In 2003 the team finished seventh in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I National Tournament after winning the Region 16 championship, and the team won a school-record 33 games the following season.

He served as the head coach of the Jefferson College softball program in its first two seasons of existence. He was named the Midwest Community College Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2006 after leading Jefferson to a 49-16 record, a Region 16 championship and ninth-place finish in the NJCAA Division I National Tournament in the maiden season.

He was an assistant coach at Missouri for three seasons, which included a trip to the College World Series by the Tigers, and worked with pitchers and catchers.

He was the head coach at the University of Evansville, which is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, for the past five seasons, compiling a 90-175 record.

Southeast went 99-157 over the same five-year span, which included a pair of losses to the Aces last season.

"When I talked to the administrators at Evansville, I talked about the core values that we establish, and understand that it was a very difficult league and he was working under some very difficult financial circumstances, and the [Evansville] administration was even one of the first to point that out when we did call," Gannon said. "Everyone was aware of that, and I felt like the experience that he had brought into that program and what he managed, the way the team when we played them ... the demeanor of that team. And actually we didn't have the opportunity to beat them when we played them. And I'm not saying that in a negative light. What I'm saying is that I think from an administrator's perspective and the way I view what he brings as a softball coach I think he did some phenomenal things given the circumstances that he was in."

Redburn resigned from Evansville on May 7 but remained with the university until May 31. The Purple Aces were 19-32 last season.

"When you look at Evansville, people might say, 'Gosh, you look at the record, this and that,' and I know that people have already talked to him about that," Alnutt said. "To me it's comparing apples and oranges. Two different conferences, two different schedules, two different institutions, whatever the case might be.

"Could there have been more success there? I don't know. But I see, at least coming here you have, in my opinion, an opportunity in the league that we play, the proximity again with St. Louis, to be able to make more impact and be able to show more to your recruits than he had at Evansville. I think at the end of the day you throw those records out and I feel we have a very capable [coach]."