Former James Madison coach Mickey Dean was named softball coach at Auburn on Thursday.
Dean replaces Clint Myers, who retired last month amid player allegations of abusive treatment and sexual harassment by the Tigers' coaching staff.
Dean comes to Auburn after five seasons as coach at James Madison.
"Coach Dean's accomplishments at JMU are remarkable," Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs said in a statement. "He's won consistently at every level throughout his career. He's done it the right way, winning with class and integrity while graduating his student-athletes at a high level. Auburn already has a winning program and we're going to get even better."
Auburn went 49-12 in 2017 and fell in the super regionals to eventual national champion Oklahoma. Clint Myers' son, associate head coach Corey Myers, abruptly announced his resignation March 30. According to a letter sent to the school on behalf of former player Alexa Nemeth, it was the same day that "several players approached Head Coach Myers with proof in the form of text messages from a student-athlete's cell phone that Coach Corey was having an inappropriate relationship with one of the student-athletes."
In 11 years at the collegiate level, Dean has coached seven NCAA tournament teams, including one super regional participant, and won nine conference championships.
"The future is bright for Auburn softball," Dean said in a statement. "We want the fans to be as excited as we are to come out and watch the program represent them in the highest standing."
During his five-year stint at James Madison, Dean complied a record of 237-56 (.809). His 2017 team included Megan Good, who was named the national player of the year by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Before his time at James Madison, Dean spent six seasons as the coach at Radford. He also served as an assistant coach at Akron (2001-02), Indiana (2002-04) and Longwood (2005-06).
Dean also served as the head coach for the Chicago Bandits (2004-10) in National Pro Fastpitch. He was named the NPF manager of the year three times and won the title in 2008.
