Bill Gray served as the Patriot head softball coach for six seasons, from 1997 to 2002.
He recorded a 195-136 mark, including five 30-win seasons.
In his final season (2002), Francis Marion recorded a 35-20 mark, after going 34-21 in 2001 and 35-23 in 2000. In 1999, the Patrots went 25-27 and placed sixth during the Peach Belt Athletic Conference regular season. In 1998, FMU was 30-26, tied for seventh during the PBAC regular season, and tied for fifth at the PBAC tournament
In his first campaign at FMU, he coached the team to a 36-19 record, a fourth-place regular season conference finish and a fifth-place tie at the PBAC Tournament. The win total was the third highest in team history, and the most since the 1987 squad posted a 42-4 record and lost in the national title game of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Tournament.
Gray came to Francis Marion from Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas, where he served as women’s softball head coach for two years. He began the ICC softball program in the fall of 1994 and in its first year ICC recorded a 24-30 record. In 1996, the Pirates compiled a 38-15 mark and finished fifth in the NJCAA Region VI. During the season, ICC recorded wins over the sixth- and ninth-ranked teams in the country. During his two seasons at ICC, the program also produced two All-Americans.
The Pittsburg, Kansas native earned a B.S. degree in education (physical education) from Pittsburg State University. He served as assistant softball coach at his alma mater for three seasons (1991-93), during which time the Gorillas improved from a 23-27 mark in 1991 to a 36-20 mark in 1992 and a 36-8 record in 1993 and a NCAA Division II national tournament appearance.
Prior to taking the position at ICC, he also served as head softball coach at Pittsburg High School for the 1994 season. In only its third year of existence, Pittsburg recorded a 9-12 mark under Gray’s guidance, a win total that exceeded the first two years combined (3-36 record).
He also had two years experience as an Amateur Softball Association 16-and-under coach. He led his ASA teams to regional and state appearances.
Gray was the seventh head coach in the history of the FMU softball program.
(6-2024)
