MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. | FMU Director of Athletics Jason Horn is pleased to announce the addition of C.J. Combs as head softball coach. Combs comes with over 10 years of coaching experience, including at the college and high school levels as well as coaching travel teams and conducting private instructions for youth.

"C.J. brings years of softball experience and a championship pedigree to our softball program, and we are thrilled to have her join our athletics department," said Horn. "She is a perfect fit to coach our student-athletes as we continue to win, grow, and graduate."

In her first year as head softball coach at Talladega College, she lifted the program to an above .500 winning percentage. In her second year, Combs was named Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and led her team to winning a conference championship, defeating what was then Edward Waters College 8-3 in the championship game. The softball journey has dealt her highs and lows throughout her career, but it all started with fundamentals.
















"I started playing softball as an eight year old girl in Indiana," said Combs. "To be really candid, I was actually really bad at first. But, the competitive spirit in me wouldn't allow me to sit on the bench, so I trained really hard for three straight years, never taking a day off (including Christmas), and by the time I got to high school, I made the varsity team as a freshman," coach explained. "In my sophomore year, I became a starting pitcher. By the time I made it to my junior year, I earned first-team All-American honors, and in my senior year I earned All-State honors.

Combs was first recruited by Central Florida Community College in Ocala, where she played ball during her freshman year. After one year, she transferred to Indiana University Southeast, and that's where her life unexpectedly changed forever. One day while sitting and watching television in her dorm room, she suddenly lost vision in her right eye, not realizing she was having a stroke.

"A stroke ended my career as a player," Combs explained. "However, my coaching career started as a result of that episode." As a result, Combs then became a student-assistant under former IU Southeast head softball coach Todd Buckingham, who took her under his wing and groomed her to be a coach.

Several weeks ago, Combs' mentor reached out to inform her that he just took a head coaching job, coincidentally at a school in the same conference that Florida Memorial plays in - the Sun Conference. He requested her to become his assistant softball coach at Webber International, which is also located in Florida. 

"The funny thing is, my mentor had no idea I was planning to move to South Florida," said Combs. "The day he accepted the head coaching position at Webber, he asked me to be his assistant coach, but that was literally the same day I accepted the head coaching job here at Florida Memorial University. He could not believe it. Strange things always seem to happen to me," she explained.

The new Lions head softball coach most recently conducted private instructions in her home town of Saint Leon, Indiana.

"I'm really excited for this season," said Coach Combs. "My girls are really responding and we are all on the same page in terms of obtaining the same goal; we want to win. I am super pumped about my new start, and one thing about me is that I enjoy being the underdog."

The new underdog coach and the Lions will get their first action on the diamond in February 2023, when the softball team begins regular season play.