Mike Wallace joined the Western Michigan softball staff in September of 2025 as an assistant coach, primarily working with WMU's hitters.
Wallace joined the Broncos after returning to his home state of Michigan following over two decades in California. Wallace has a long background in softball coaching, having worked in the profession for over a decade. Wallace spent most of his coaching career in California across multiple age ranges ranging from youth softball to the college level.
Before moving back to Michigan, Wallace was the District Athletic Director in the Central California area while also leading the Firecrackers, a national level travel ball organization. Wallace helped bring the Firecrackers to the Central California area in 2015 after joining the organization in 2014. Wallace's teams with the Firecrackers were consistently nationally ranked with multiple Top 20 finishes.
Wallace is known for his person-first development approach with student-athletes while specializing in the development of hitters. During his development career, Wallace has worked with the 2025 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, several NFCA All Americans, three National Team members, a Gatorade State Player of Year, a State Player of the Year, and numerous All-State and All-Region athletes.
Originally from Wyandotte, Mich. Wallace played college baseball at Henry Ford College in Dearborn for a year. Following an injury, Wallace joined the United States Navy and served for four years. Wallace went back Henry Ford College after his time in the Navy and earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice while coaching the baseball team.
Wallace has been married for 25 years and moved to Michigan with his wife, his two daughters, Madison and Mackenzie, and their two dogs, Jaxson and Spectre. His eldest daughter Madison played college softball at Fresno State and St. Johns through 2024. When not coaching, Wallace enjoys lifting weights, swimming, studying strength and conditioning techniques, and military special operations.
2026:
In his first year on the Bronco softball staff, Wallace helped WMU's hitters reach new hights. The Brown and Gold roster broke five offensive program records with the scond best batting average in program history at .292 under Wallace's direction. For the second season in a row, Western Michigan set a new record for home runs, launching 52 long balls in 55 games.
Wallace also guided the Broncos to set new team program season records for doubles (85), walks (168), RBIs (272), and runs scored (285). WMU also had the fifth most hits in a season under Wallace's direction, putting 426 pitches into play. Wallace also helped the Brown and Gold to a pair of new game program records as Western Michigan had four home runs against both Oakland (3/24) and Ball State (4/12) and walked 14 times at Kent State (5/2).
Individually, Wallace had three hitters recognized for their performances at the plate as Jordan Smith and Caitlin Tighe made the All-MAC Second Team while Bella Duncan earned All-MAC Freshman Team honors. Duncan became the Broncos leader at the plate in her freshman campaign under Wallace's guidance. Duncan set a new program record for most RBIs in a season, bringing 55 runs home to average one RBI a game. The utility infielder also led WMU in batting average (.350), at bats (183), hits (64), and triples (3).
Wallace helped Jordan Smith to a career season in 2026 as her batting average jumped from .277 to .341. Smith was one of the Brown and Gold's power leaders at the plate with a team-leading 14 doubles, .659 slugging percentage, and 1.081 OPS. Smith was also right behind team leaders Duncan and Tighe in home runs with nine homers over the course of 49 games. Along with her work at the plate, Smith was the lone Western Michigan player selected for the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America ballot, showcasing Wallace's holistic approach to developing players.
In his first season, Wallace also helped Tighe to a career season. The junior shortstop had her best offensive season with a .337 average with 60 hits, 12 doubles, three triples, 10 home runs, and 38 RBIs. Wallace guided Tighe to lead the Broncos in home runs (10), runs scored (39), sacrifice hits (7), and sacrifice flies (4) while having a career game at Kent State (5/2). While facing the Golden Flashes, the infielder had a career-high four hits, three doubles, and two runs scored. Wallace also helped the junior have a four game stretch where she hit at least one home run (5/2 - 5/7).
