It was not-so-many years ago that the Abilene Christian Wildcats were vying for a postseason berth. Despite a four-year period that prohibited them from conference & NCAA postseason play after realigning from Division II to Division I’s Southland Conference, the Wildcats were able to participate in the inaugural, pay-to-play National Invitational Softball Championship in 2017.
In the years since, though, the Wildcats have fallen in the conference race and elected to make a coaching change this summer, ultimately bringing in Abigail Farler as the program’s new leader. Farler had most recently been the head coach at Corban University at the NAIA level, and begins her career as a Division I head coach in Abilene.
Following her success at Corban, Farler knew what she was looking for in a school if the opportunity presented itself to move up in the coaching ranks. “It was kind of a running list… everything that my husband and I had put together for the ideal perfect job, and what the ideal job would be to take me away from the situation at Corban, where I was really happy… when this job was posted at ACU, it was jaw-dropping. It hit every single piece that we had said would make one ideal for us. So that kind of forced me to apply and put my name in, and it’s just kind of crazy – and no coincidence – that every piece of it lined up exactly how we wanted.”
One of two coaches to make the jump from the NAIA to Division I this summer, Farler knows that coming from a lower level may raise some eyebrows, but she believes that her approach to coaching is one that will work at the game’s highest level: “I definitely recognize that it’s a pretty big jump-up, to go from an NAIA school to a Division I program, but I am really confident in my vision of how to run a successful program, and I know it works at the highest level. My philosophy for how to play the game wasn’t set just for NAIA; it was set to play the game at the highest level with the athletes that I have.”
At the Christian-based school that is ACU, Farler has a specific approach to her recruiting, as well.
“Ultimately, it has to be a kid that wants the culture at ACU,” she said. “I want to make sure that the kids don’t come in and feel bamboozled, where they got into something where the culture is different. It really is a Christian university – they go to chapel, have Bible classes, things like that – and they’re going to perform better on- and off-the-field when the whole package lines up with what they’re really wanting out of the experience.”
When it comes to her coaching style, the Wildcats’ leader pulls no punches in analyzing her own approach. “I’m really aggressive. It’s a really high-energy style of softball,” she noted. “We’re moving constantly in practice, and in games; I think that’s one way we can control a game is with the energy that we put out… I’d rather lose a game because we took risks and were aggressive than lose a game because we were cautious. I want us to go all-out for the web gem and not just be cautiously defensively, and I want the hitters to know themselves, know their bodies, and take aggressive swings on offense.”
After accepting the head coaching position at ACU, one of Farler’s first tasks was adding to her coaching staff. At the beginning of August, she hired former Murray State Racer Jessica Twaddle as her top assistant and hitting coach. “[Twaddle] is a winner, and is willing to do what it takes to get this program to perform at this highest level,” Farler said. “I was really looking for people who were ready to get to work, and were high-energy people, blue-collar, who had a similar vision to what I do.”
While a search continues to fill her second full-time assistant’s position, Farler also added a former Team USA gold medalist as a volunteer assistant coach. Former national team member Jamie Wiggins – who helped lead Team USA to the top of the medal stand at the 2006 World Championships – lives in Abilene, and her addition to the coaching staff was a “no-brainer.” Said Farler, “How often do you find a gold medalist right here in your backyard?”
As the 2020 season and her on-field debut as a Division I head coach get ever-closer, Farler sees her team as being capable of setting their own ceiling. “What we’ve seen already in the fall is that they’re willing to put the work in, to get done what they’ve got to get done,” she said. “I think they can go as high as they allow themselves to go. I wouldn’t ever say any group couldn’t win if they were willing to put in the work and adapt to changes and stay the course.”
Abilene Christian opens the 2020 season on February 7th in College Station, Texas.
