Sense of responsibility, opportunity factors in Lewis’ decision to take Kansas assistant’s job

Many of life’s big decisions seem to come down to responsibility and opportunity.

That’s the scenario that Justin Lewis faced when he recently decided to give up being the head coach of the Nicholls softball program for an assistant’s position at Kansas.

For Lewis, the father, the future welfare of his 18-year-old special needs son was a major part of his decision. For Lewis, the coach, a chance to be part of a major college program was an opportunity he just couldn’t pass up.

“Unfortunately sometimes it is about the finances. He’s got an unknown financial future,” Lewis said of his son.

“The goal has always kind of been to get into the Power 5,” Lewis said of the coaching opportunity. “It was a really good opportunity. Kansas is a program that is on the upswing.

“They have really good facilities. They have been investing in softball. They kind of were in the Top 25 a little bit last year. I’ll be going as the hitting coach, and a lot of their best hitters are young. The timing of it just seemed to be really, really good.”

The fraternity of coaches tends to be pretty tight knit. Most coaches seem to know one another for years. Lewis’ acquaintance with Kansas coach Jennifer McFalls, however, is a recent one.

“It’s kind of funny how I actually met Coach McFalls,” said Lewis. “I met Coach McFalls this past year at our National Fastpitch Coaches Association convention in Louisville. I’m a big whiskey fan. I went to an Angel’s Envy whiskey distillery tour, and she just happened to be in the same tour. That’s how I met.

“I had no idea that they were going to be hiring six, seven months later. We just met as humans and got to know each other. That’s kind of where it stemmed from.”

An opening developed at Kansas when veteran assistant coach Rich Wieligman decided to retire following the recently concluded 2024 season.

“He’s one of the good guys in college softball and has been around and done amazing things,” Lewis said. “I’ve got some big boots to fill over there. Apparently, according to (McFalls), once she knew he was retiring I was kind of on the top of her short list.

“I got a phone call from her and was interested, at least talking about the opportunity. Once I got to know her as a human and her staff, it seemed to be a really good fit.”

The Kansas opportunity gives Lewis a chance to be part of a Big 12 program, but it also means relinquishing running his own program as he did the last three years at Nicholls.

“Everything had to be perfect in order for me to kind of give up that freedom, so to speak,” said Lewis. “But again, getting into the Power 5 and the chances of them hiring me straight from Nicholls as a head coach was probably not realistic.

“As I started researching and been doing this long enough, it seems like the best way to get to the Power 5 level is you have to get to the Power 5 level at some point.”

The goal, Lewis said, is to eventually return to being a head coach, but at a major college program.

“Getting to that level and having that experience and seeing how they do things on that level just seemed like the right move. Yeah, you’re going to have to, as I say, ‘shovel shit,’ as an assistant again, and that’s OK. I don’t mind that work,” said Lewis.

Should that time come, he will have a resume that includes being a Power 5 assistant, but also as a head coach who turned around a program at a smaller school on the Division I level.

Lewis led Nicholls to a 72-88 record, including 33-33 in Southland Conference play, in his three years as Lady Colonels coach. Nicholls concluded the 2024 season 31-26, including 16-8 in the Southland.

A former firefighter, Lewis began his collegiate coach career at Texas A&M-Kingsville in 2019. He served as an assistant at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in 2021 before moving on to Fresno State, where he was an assistant coach and primary hitting instructor.

Lewis inherited a team that went 8-43 overall and 4-23 in conference play the year prior to his arrival at Nicholls in 2021.

Nicholls went 12-38 in his first year at Nicholls, including 4-14 in the Southland. The Lady Colonels saw dramatic improvement in Lewis’ second season was Nicholls posted a 29-24 mark, including 13-11 in the SLC.

“Having that experience here at Nicholls and doing what we’ve done and growing the program, and not only the program, and not only on the field, but talent-wise and the wins and losses, but a lot of the upgrades we made to the facility and going through all that process and having all that that experience, hopefully makes me a desirable head coaching candidate at that level down the road,” Lewis said.

“At the same time, we gotta go get results at Kansas,” he continued. “If I don’t get results at Kansas, you know it’s not gonna work out. I don’t think like that. I know what I’m capable of adding to a program

“We’ve kind of had to set a plan in place when I came back to coaching seven years ago and we’ve just been executing on that plan. This is just the next step.”

With the majority of the Nicholls players back, including a core of upcoming juniors that have helped to turn the program around, a big season seems in store for the Lady Colonels in 2025.

So why not wait another year to make the move?

“Those are all the things that go through your head when you’re weighing decisions like that. This Nicholls team has a chance to be really special and battle that,” Lewis said. “I took longer than usual than I normally do to make this decision.

“A lot of it was because of the talent we have here and coming back and just the relationships you have with this team. There’re just some really special kids. This big freshman group that we brought in a couple of years ago is now going to be in the leadership position. It’s a special class. I’m really excited about that.  It’s just one of those things where you weigh it out and you don’t know if an opportunity like this is gonna come again. I’m really big into saying yes to opportunity and you don’t look back.”

As with any coaching job, there are highs and lows that come with the position. For Lewis, the low point came at the start of his tenure at Nicholls.

“I think the low point was when they handed me my keys and I walked into the mess that we walked into was the biggest shocker,” Lewis said. “Nicholls has its challenges, but you don’t really understand the challenges until you get right in the middle of it.

“I came here because it was an opportunity. That was the biggest thing is really you knew it was going to have challenges, but once you get in and see the challenge, it was kind of overwhelming. You just kind of got to take a step back and you’re not going to solve them all in one day. It was a three-year process.  We’ve upgraded all the equipment, upgraded all the uniforms, batting cages and all the stuff we’ve done.”

The high points developed over time.

“There’s so many moments on the field that were high points that you’re just so proud of the girls for having those moments,” said Lewis. “I wear sunglasses a lot because they make me cry a lot when they have those moments, so I get to hide my tears.

“The high point is really just the amount of quality people that we have here at Nicholls and getting to meet them and become part of their lives. Having an athletic director like J.T. (Jonathan Terrell), that’s another thing you have to think about when moving jobs.”

Along with the players and athletic department personnel, Lewis said he also will miss the Thibodaux area.

“I’m a people person,” Lewis said. “The softball and the coaching, obviously I’m going to miss the players. It’s the relationships you’re going to miss. Coaching is coaching, you know you’re gonna go build new relationships.

“It’s a special place and you see why. This place grabs people and holds on to them. I’m gonna miss the daily interactions with these people. I’m a relationship guy. As I told J.T. and them, we’re family now. They ain’t getting rid of me that quick. We’ll stay in touch and that’s just how I am.”