Head Coach Mike Heard
Mike Heard was hired to lead the softball program in August 2021. He enters his third season.
Since his arrival in 2022, Heard has accumulated an impressive winning record of 95-40. Heard and the Mavericks achieved the longest win streak in the nation during the 2024 season. Mixed into their 16 consecutive victories were five Power 5 wins against Arizona, Purdue, and Nebraska. His leadership and rolling success boosted Omaha to a 54 RPI ranking, the highest in program history.
In just his second year, Heard led Omaha to their first-ever Summit League Championship title. The 2023 tournament title gave the Mavericks their first NCAA DI Tournament berth where Heard guided the Mavericks to becoming Omaha's first women's program to win an NCAA tournament game.
In the 2023 season, under the guidance of Heard, the Mavericks posted a 3.699 team GPA. The team's collective GPA was recognized by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association as a top 10 GPA among all DI programs.
In his first season at the helm, Heard led the Mavericks to one of their best Division I seasons in the books. Omaha finished the year 32-14 overall. It was the most wins in a season since 2014 and just the third time the team eclipsed the 30-win mark in DI history. Omaha finished 17-4 in league play. The 17 wins was a DI record and the most league wins since 2011 when the Mavericks tallied 18.
Heard and the Mavericks made their second straight appearance in the Summit League Tournament and championship game. With the No. 2 seed, Omaha earned a first round bye and eventually took on the Jackrabbits for the title. The Mavericks forced a winner-take-all game after beating South Dakota State 3-0 in game one. The run came to an end with a 5-0 loss in game two.
Omaha recorded four conference series sweeps vs. North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas City, and Western Illinois. It marked the first time since 2016 the team completed a series sweep.
Heard coached Kamryn Meyer and Izzy Eltze to Summit League First Team honors, while Jamie White and Lynsey Tucker were named to the Second Team. Meyer was also tabbed to the NFCA Central All-Region Second Team.
Over three seasons, Heard has coached 12 All-Summit League selections, one Summit League Player of the Month, and one NCFA All-Region Second Team. His teams have also had success in the classroom collecting four All-League Academic nods and 17 NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete honors.
Meyer, Tucker, and Eltze also earned Academic All-League accolades.
Interim Athletic Director Mike Kemp announced Heard as the ninth head coach in program history on Aug. 24, 2021.
Heard joins the Mavericks after a six-year stint at Midland as the head softball coach. While with the Warriors, Heard compiled a 147-92 overall record and was a three-time GPAC Coach of the Year award winner.
Heard led Midland to the regular season title in 2021 and a share of the title in 2019 and 2018. In all three of those seasons, Heard also led the Warriors to appearances in the NAIA National Championship Tournament.
Prior to Midland, Heard was the head coach of the Nebraska Fury Fastpitch/Gold travel softball team for 10 seasons. In 2015, Heard's Nebraska Gold 16U Team won the ASA/USA 16U Gold National Championship, becoming the first championship team from the state of Nebraska.
Since 2005, Heard has helped coach within the Nebraska Fury Fastpitch program. Nebraska Fury teams have consistently finished in the Top-20 of major softball championships since its inception.
In addition to Nebraska Fury Fastpitch, Heard was the head coach at Omaha Marian for three seasons. In 2014, Heard led the Crusaders to a state runner-up finish and the program's first state tournament appearance in eight years. In 2015, the Crusaders went on to win Omaha Marian's first ever Class A State Championship.