What could have been a negative in Marlee Wilson's collegiate softball life, actually turned into a huge plus and helped her decide that coaching softball was a good career move. 

Having a highly successful softball-coaching mom as an influence didn't hurt, either. 
 
Wilson is Western Michigan University's newest head coach, having been hired in August to lead the softball program. Her resume of assistant coaching success at Tennessee-Martin and Dayton brought her to WMU as an assistant coach in 2022 where she had success as a player from 2014-18. 
 
The former Western Michigan standout, however, had an injury just prior to the start of the 2016 season and was out the entire year. 
 
''I really didn't want to coach until my junior year here,'' she said. ''I was a captain, but I had to figure out how to lead in a different role."
 
''It wasn't fun at times, not playing, but I was able to help my teammates in a different way than what I was used to.'' 
 
Wilson switched her major from Graphic Arts to University Studies with concentrations in Human Performance and Health Education, Art and Business and graduated with a bachelor's degree. She also took master's classes in Sports Management at Western Michigan before earning a master's degree in Family and Consumer Sciences at Tennessee-Martin. 

Her mother, Wilma, has been the softball coach at South Haven for many years, having won more than 800 games in her career. Marlee Wilson started seeing what her mom liked about coaching and did a career change. 
 
''I bounce ideas off her because she has had a lot of success,'' the WMU head coach said. ''I also have great support from my dad (Mark), who still plays slow pitch softball and from my brother, Nick, who played four sports at South Haven, earning all-state in swimming.'' 
 
Looking back at the season she lost, ''I have always had a coaching mindset about the game,'' she said. ''I was very analytical as a player, but you can't overthink on offense and I didn't figure that out until I was hurt." 
 
''That experience was helpful for my playing career as well as sparking my coaching interest.'' 
 
When she was young, riding with the high school softball team on a short bus her mom drove helped fuel the fire to play softball. She would go on to excel at first base and at the plate for WMU, especially in 2017, her senior year, when she hit .308 and had 15 doubles which is tied for second in the Bronco record book.
 
This is her first head coaching job, but it's not like she doesn't know her players. Serving as the recruiting coordinator at WMU last season, she helped put together a lot of the roster…and a lot of them are new this season. WMU has seven transfers and six freshmen on the team. 
 
''Being my first head coaching position doesn't feel daunting because of the environment in this athletic department,'' Wilson said.
 
''Last year, we collaborated as a staff and many things we implemented are similar to those I want to continue to implement this year. My coaching philosophy is very much relationship driven and building those from the start is important. I believe a championship culture has good player-coach relationships built on trust."
 
''With successful Western Michigan coaches like Chad (Wiseman, men's soccer) and Colleen (women's volleyball) and many others, you can feel the contagious energy and competitiveness throughout athletics.'' 
 
Still, the first practice was interesting. College softball and baseball can have limited practices and scrimmages in the fall. Those practices proved invaluable for Wilson. 
 
''Having 13 newcomers, I had seen very few of them play in person, and I didn't know what to expect,'' she said with a smile. ''I didn't tell players what positions to practice at, but rather play where you think you best help the team, see where people are around you and evaluate that on your own." 
 
''I value players learning from within and that's gone away in a lot of sports. I'm big on respect, communication and having awareness of all things which is helpful in softball and life.'' 
 
The toughest thing about being a first-time head coach is delegating jobs to her assistants. After all, she's always been the assistant who picked up whatever she could. 
 
''I want people to be rewarded and I have a very good staff,'' Wilson said. "Morgan (Fleetwood) has full autonomy of the pitching and catching. Bill (Shipman) coaches hitting with me and the outfield and Erika (Whittington) will be helping with everything in between. We're excited about this year.'' 

Wilson set up special times to get to know her players off the field, too. 
 
''We had breakfast with the freshmen,'' she said. ''The sophomores chose to make cookies and watch Christmas movies at my place." 

''We went bowling with the juniors and had dinner with the seniors. Those off-the-field activities bring out a lot more of their personalities.'' 
 
Wilson feels confident about her team, especially her pitching staff. 
 
''I've told the pitchers I feel we have the best staff in the Mid-American Conference,'' she said. ''When I met with them, I explained that they are all going to make each other better this year.'' 
 
This from a former graphic arts major who is designing her first team to be in the thick of the Mid-American Conference race.