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From the Top: Julie Darty Journeys In Collegiate Coaching

From the Top is a blog series exploring the journeys of collegiate head coaches that find themselves at a new school, some in the top role for the first time. Read along as they tell us how they ended up where they are, and talk about who helped them on their journeys.

In athletics, injuries can ruin a career. However, for Julie Darty, the injury she sustained during her sophomore season at Mercer University would prove to be just the beginning of her journey. Sitting on the bench watching her teammates play opened her eyes to the future she wanted to pursue after graduation.

“That’s when I was really like, oh my gosh, this is such a different perspective and I can see so much, in such a different way, and this is so cool. I think I want to coach one day.”

After college, Darty went home to Oviedo, near Orlando, FL to teach high school and coach part-time. It did not take long for her to decide she wanted to be a full-time coach. She applied for jobs everywhere she could and eventually was brought on by Josh Steinbach at Villanova to be an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Darty credits a lot of her success to her “forever mentor.”

Most recently, Darty was the head coach at the Jacksonville University. Things were rolling; the program was gaining steam and she was gaining experience. Around mid-December, she heard that the Mississippi State job was open and that her name was in the hat. After a couple of years at South Carolina earlier in her career, Darty’s dream was always to return to the SEC, but her initial thought was that the job was too big for her - that it was too big of a jump. To her excitement, the search firm reached out to set up a time to talk. She became a finalist, and before long, they invited her to visit the campus and offered her the job.

“I know our hashtag is cliché, but I truly feel like it means more. The SEC is a very special place,” Darty explained.

Moving from one head coaching job to another, Darty was afforded the opportunity to do certain things differently. She thought of all the things she wished she had known in her first job, and took those things to heart as she struck out on her new path.

“My first couple of years at Jacksonville I was trying to be somebody that I wasn’t, because I was a head coach I had to be up and be stern, loud, and screaming. I’m not a screamer. I don’t really raise my voice like that at players,” Darty explained.

This time around, Darty is set on being true to who she is and how she coaches. She knows that coaching changes are brutal - brutal on the kids, the recruits, everyone. She’s aware that her style appeals to some athletes and not others and she spent her first month on campus letting her athletes know what they would be getting from her, figuring out who her team was, what they wanted individually and what was best for the team moving forward.

“One of the things I pride myself on is that I love people, I just love on people and have those connections and relationships, and I wanted to kind of figure out their story, where they were, and meet them where they were. But also, let them know that change was coming, and I’m here to help you make sure this is a good fit for both of us.” said Darty.

Heading into this season Darty is prepared for some ups and downs, but more importantly, she is leaning on the advice she received from a book her sister gave her for Christmas: "One Word" by John Gordon. The word Darty chooses to live by is ‘grace.’

“I have to forgive myself and understand that every day is not going to be exactly what I think in my head, I’m not going to perfect all the time, and I’m going to make plenty of mistakes. But, I have to give myself some grace, because if I’m giving my assistants, my staff, and the players that grace, I have to give it to myself too.”

Although Darty knows things can’t change overnight, she is excited about the future of this Mississippi State program. She has the necessary support of the athletic department to make great strides and she is loving her new role.

“I jokingly call my parents sometimes and I’m like I didn’t know I could be this happy, like I didn’t know what this is like. I’m stressed all the time, but I tell my staff that not all stress is bad stress, this is definitely good stress.”

The Bulldogs will kick off their season at home against Mississippi Valley State on August 24th.

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