Kate Drohan on Caryl: "Working with Caryl is like a dream come true. I admire the loyalty and dedication she possesses and her knowledge of the game is outstanding."
Caryl Drohan has been a vital part of the Northwestern staff since she was hired as an assistant coach in 2002, and has spearheaded the Wildcats’ offensive attack since she was promoted to associate head coach in 2005 by her twin sister, head coach Kate Drohan. She came from Hofstra University after spending five years on the coaching staff there -- four as an assistant coach and the 2001 season as the associate head coach.
On March 27, 2021, Caryl and Kate became Northwestern softball's all-time wins leaders with a 15-7 win over Wisconsin for their 641st career win with the Wildcats.
Started by the legend Sharon Drysdale, carried on everyday by Kate & Caryl Drohan. #BeRemarkable | @katedrohan • @CarylDrohan pic.twitter.com/WdpU7TZ6qb
— Northwestern Softball (@NUSBcats) March 28, 2021
Primarily responsible for hitting, Drohan has led the Wildcats into the offensive upper echelon of the nation, breaking and re-breaking school records in the process. In 2014, the squad's top-to-bottom plate presence resulted in a new school-record .332 team batting average and a program-best 6.55 runs per game.
From the beginning of her tenure, Drohan helped NU establish new standards for offensive excellence. As a team in 2004, NU broke school records for home runs, RBI, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Then-freshman Garland Cooper won the Big Ten batting title with a .384 mark and shattered five Wildcat single-season records.
That offensive production exploded during NU's 2005 season. Sixteen individual Northwestern batting records fell, and Cooper was named Big Ten Player of the Year. NU shattered team marks for home runs (by 23; 56 total) and slugging percentage (by .054; .462 total), while putting up in the second-best team batting average in school history.
In 2006, Northwestern qualified for its first Women's College World Series in 20 years, and went a perfect 3-0 through bracket play to reach the championship series. In those three games, the Wildcats hit a WCWS-best six home runs. The Wildcats also captured their first Big Ten title since 1987 and reached the 50-win plateau for the first time in school history.
Drohan coached Cooper to her second-consecutive Big Ten Player of the Year honor and her third-straight batting title in `06, while helping freshman Tammy Williams set school records for runs scored, total bases and home runs. Williams was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
The offensive numbers continued to skyrocket in 2007, when Northwestern again broke its school record with 52 wins. The Wildcats shattered 35 individual and team single-season or career records, including crushing a whopping 85 home runs to annihilate the old mark of 56.
Cooper was named an NFCA All-American for the third time and became the first student-athlete in conference history to win a third-consecutive Big Ten Player of the Year award. Freshman Nicole Pauly's 14 home runs and 62 RBI helped her become NU's third conference Freshman of the Year in the previous four seasons. Cooper hit a school-record 23 home runs in 2007, ending her career as the Big Ten's leader in homers with 55. Williams re-broke her own school records for runs scored (73), hits (91) and total bases (155).
In 2008, Williams earned her second NFCA All-America first team honor and was named Big Ten Player of the Year while breaking school records for batting average (.440) and on-base percentage (.538). NU finished in the top 10 in the nation with 1.25 home runs per game. Up and down the order, the Wildcats were solid, with eight Wildcats hitting better than .250 and 10 batting better than .244.
Williams was named Big Ten Player of the Year again in 2009, breaking her own school-record for batting average with a .448 mark. Adrienne Monka had the best first-year season in program history to date, earning an NFCA All-America first-team accolade after slugging a school-record .900 and ranking in the top-five in the nation in home runs per game, slugging percentage, RBI per game and total home runs. As a team, NU ranked second in the country with 1.72 homers per game and broke school single-season marks for batting average (.294), slugging percentage (.542) and on-base percentage (.383).
With an offense more focused on contact and speed in 2011, Drohan coached the Wildcats to a school-record .309 batting average -- the first time any Wildcat team ever hit better than .300. Sophomore slapper Emily Allard shattered Williams' school-record for batting average with a .491 mark while Monka also surpassed it with a .461 average while slugging .865 with a school-record .707 on-base percentage.
Sophomore Marisa Bast joined the ranks of Drohan-coached All-Americans in 2012, falling just two RBI shy of the school single-season mark during a campaign in which she batted .411 with a .730 slugging percentage, 13 home runs and 68 RBI.
In 2013, sophomore Amy Letourneau won the Big Ten batting title at the plate while also winning the strikeout crown as a pitcher in the circle -- becoming the first conference student-athlete to ever accomplish that feat.
In 2018, first-year Rachel Lewis became the fourth rookie to earn an NFCA All-America award under Drohan's tutelage when she was tabbed a second-teamer in 2018. Lewis broke NU's first-year records for RBI with 64 and doubles with 16 while finishing as a top-10 finalist for the NFCA National Freshman of the Year award.
In 2019, Drohan helped first-year Jordyn Rudd achieve first team All-Big Ten honors after leading the team in the team in batting average (.328), hits (57), RBI (51) and doubles (13). Junior Rachel Lewis and senior Morgan Nelson also finished first and second in the Big Ten in walks with 51 and 48, respectively. Lewis’s 51 walks were the second highest single-season mark in program history.
Drohan and the NU coaching staff were named Speedline/NFCA Mideast Region Coaching Staff of the Year in 2005 and 2006, and earned the 2006 Speedline/NFCA National Staff of the Year award.
During her tenure, Wildcat batters have earned 12 All-America accolades, and Cooper and Williams both earned U.S. National Team selection camp invitations. Williams became the first NU hitter to ever make the U.S. National Team in 2010, and she is the only four-time NFCA All-American in school history.
During Drohan's time at Hofstra, the Pride won four-consecutive America East championships (1998-2001) and advanced to the NCAA Championships three straight times (1999-2001). In 2000, the Hofstra coaching staff was a National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) regional staff of the year.
In her five years with the Pride, Drohan coached a pair of All-Americans. Her players earned 21 All-Region awards as well as 27 All-America East honors.
Prior to her arrival at Hofstra, Drohan spent a year at Providence as an assistant coach. She also played at Providence from 1992-95, lettering four times as the Lady Friars went 145-72. They won ECAC Championships in 1994 and 1995, the Big East title in 1994, and played in the 1994 NCAA Championship. Drohan was second- team All-ECAC in 1994 and second- team All-Big East in 1995. She received a degree in social science from Providence.
Active on the camp circuit, Drohan has traveled all over the nation to work with high school, club, ASA and fellow collegiate coaches. Her travels have taken her from the East Coast to Hawaii and all points in between, lecturing on hitting and offensive technique and strategy.
Drohan also served as an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Force of National Professional Fastpitch in 2006. She resides in Evanston.