Coe softball coach Bob Timmons won his 900th game recently, according to the record books, becoming just the third coach in NCAA Division III history to break 900, but he might describe it a little differently.

“I haven’t won a game coaching. I haven’t swung a bat or thrown a ball,” Timmons said.

After traveling around the country playing fast-pitch softball for 18 years as a young man, a few of Timmons’ former players approached a college about him coaching, unbeknownst to him.

“They called me and I said ‘Well, I’ll give it a try.’ Thought I’d do it for a little while, now it’s been 29 years,” he said.

Timmons has been influenced over the years by former teammates as well as other prominent figures in his life. “I have to contribute a lot of the coaching part of it from my father, who was a very successful coach,” he said. “And of course I have great assistant coaches and have been fortunate to have some wonderful players.”

His success came as no surprise to this year's team at Coe.

“Our assistant coaches brought signs with them to Florida so we were prepared for it to happen down there,” said catcher Abby Flannagan, a senior from Manchester.

Arran Weeces, a sophomore pitcher from Solon, enjoyed his achievement as well. ”Once we won you could tell he was pretty emotional,” she said.  “It was fun to be a part of it.”

Timmons coached at Mount Mercy University for 12 seasons and is in his 17th season as the head coach at Coe.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have the opportunity to coach at two very good schools. And had great support at both schools,” he said.

Flannagan said Timmons has gotten support because of the way he plays the game. “I’m proud to be a part of the program that he’s put together because everyone respects him and likes the way he plays softball,” she said.

Both Flannagan and Weeces described the fun aspect of working with Timmons. “He’s really fun to play with, he keeps things light, and he makes it fun for us,” Weeces said. “It’s kind of a balance between hard work and keeping it fun.”

When speaking of his favorite memories of his time coaching at Coe, Timmons said two moments stick out from the rest.

“The first one would be going and vying for the College World Series, and having to win three games in one day to do that, and going to Raleigh, N.C., and being fifth in the country," he said. "And the second one would be winning two games back to back at Illinois Wesleyan to get to go to Montclair, N.J., to another World Series and playing in the championship game.”

Tiimmons finds joy in every team he works with and not only the bigger moments in his career. “I said I enjoy the fact of not being able to play the game anymore, but being around kids that can and seeing their growth,” he said. “That’s my reward.”

Flannagan described him as being a “father or grandfather figure in many of our lives,” and commented that she came to Coe because she knew he was the right coach for her.

Weeces came to Coe for similar reasons after being recruited by Timmons. “This is the only school I applied to,” she said. “I knew that he wanted me here which was really nice.”

Timmons is back in the coaching mindset for this season and talked about how he approaches every game. “Very competitive, very intense," he said. "And when I lose that I’ll quit coaching.”

This mindset applies to the advice he gives his team as well. “As I told them in practice yesterday, don’t be satisfied. Always try to improve.”

Timmons’ success as a coach at Coe and throughout his career is not under-appreciated by his players.

“He really emulates what we try to get across, being a good student-athlete at Coe and always putting academics first, and he is everything Coe wants their students to believe,” Flannagan said.

In terms of plans for the future, Timmons is happy where he is and doesn’t plan on leaving anytime soon. “As long as they’ll have me I’ll probably still be here,” he said.

For Weeces, the future is not a worry. “I definitely see a lot more wins for Coach,” she said.