As a freshman in 2017, Jaimie Hoover‘s first collegiate home run was a grand slam in her third game as a Florida Gator. As her career continued, Hoover moved from starting at the third base position to regular outfielder in Gainesville and finished her career with nearly 600 at-bats in a Gator uniform.
Earlier this fall, Hoover was announced as the new full-time assistant coach at North Carolina Central. “Her expertise and overall intensity towards the game is exactly what the team needs in an assistant coach,” Eagles head coach Cat Tarvin said of Hoover when she was hired.
Following her arrival in Durham, Hoover talked about beginning her coaching career; moving from a player’s mindset into that of a coach; and her style and philosophies between the white lines.
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Extra Inning Softball: When did you know that you wanted to pursue coaching as a career path?
Jaimie Hoover: I didn’t know what I wanted to do after I graduated from UF. I knew I wasn’t interested in sitting behind a desk from 9-5 every day. During my last year in college, I sat down and thought to myself, “What will fulfill me? And where do I find meaning?” That’s when coaching quickly found its way into my mind. I knew that I was passionate about softball, but I also knew how much I learned from the game. Softball is more than just a game, it prepared me for life and showed me how difficult things can get, but most importantly how to overcome the challenges. It’s essentially a game of failure, but so is life. Regardless, with every team I’ve been on, we were able to find a way and respond to successful moments and unsuccessful moments. Ultimately, I knew how rewarding coaching would be for me and the lives I could change, so I wanted to give it a shot.
EIS: Beginning your coaching career so quickly after your playing career ended, do you feel like that gives you any kind of advantage or disadvantage as you now put on your permanent coach hat?
Hoover: I’m a young coach, there’s no doubt about that. I will say being a young coach has its pros and cons. I do feel that I can relate [to] and understand my players a little more than some coaches who have been coaching the game for a while. At Florida, I was lucky to have a coach like Coach (Tim) Walton who taught me so much that I truly became a “student of the game”. I also know that there are coaches who have years of experience on me and that is fine! I hope to learn from them at the end of the day. I came up playing for some really good coaches in travel ball, high school as well as in college. Even playing internationally helped shape me as a player, but those experiences also have made me reflect on good coaching moments and lessons I can use now with my players.
EIS: What intrigued and interested you about the NCCU position and what made you decide to begin your coaching career as an Eagle?
Hoover: I had no idea how many young black softball players I had impacted during my career until after I graduated. I was often reminded how it wasn’t very common to see black girls play ball at a Division 1 school. I knew I would be doing my job by impacting more softball players of color, but in a more direct fashion. Coach Tarvin was one of my former travel ball coaches and was the interim head coach of NCCU at the time I graduated from Florida, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to reach out to her and see if I could help her in any way. North Carolina Central University is recognized as one of the top HBCUs in the South and had loads of talent on their softball team. I wanted to build on their success last year and continue elevating black softball players.
EIS: How does that familiarity, with Coach Tarvin, already being there benefit you as you seek to develop as a young coach?
Hoover: Like I mentioned before, Coach Tarvin coached me about six years ago. I remember her being a young coach full of energy, positivity, knowledge, and passion for the game. My dad brought her onto his coaching staff with Georgia Elite and she made an immediate impact on me and our entire travel team. I remind myself of her in those ways now. She has been a great person to learn from and accept me into the program thus far.
EIS: What lessons and tools will you utilize from your playing career at Florida in your role now as a coach?
Hoover: There are so many lessons and tools I want to utilize from my playing career at UF. The biggest lesson I want to utilize from my playing career is to focus on the things that I can control. As a player, the moment I began to think negative things or tried to change things out of my control, I was defeated. The secret is to accept what you cannot control, but to over-prepare to give yourself a chance to have positive outcomes over the things you can control.
EIS: As someone who balanced both academics and athletics at a high level, give us some insight into what you did during your playing years to help achieve and consistently maintain that balance?
Hoover: I truthfully utilized the resources UF offered. I spent many nights at Hawkins Center (pre-covid). That’s where all the studying, tutoring, and advising happened. One thing that really helped me was using my free time to get ahead as opposed to getting behind in schoolwork. Doing this, made following weeks so much easier to relax and set time aside for myself. I also learned to keep things in perspective and methodically work through tough times by being disciplined and remaining consistent. I still use these techniques daily.
EIS: Describe your coaching style for me. What do you feel like are your biggest attributes and strengths as a coach?
Hoover: I’m not sure if I have a traditional coaching style. I’ve had and have learned from so many great coaches, from a young age. My objective is to create my own style of coaching where I can bring all the features that I liked and learned from them and put them together in my own way. I know what worked and what didn’t work for me and to me, makes it easier to bring pleasure and passion to my players. One thing I know about myself for sure is that I believe in preparing well, practicing hard, being consistent and meeting each player where they are, and working with them to take their game to new heights. That is a goal any coach can be proud of no matter what the scoreboard shows.
— Justin McLeod, Extra Inning Softball College Editor
