Michael R. Rappl[2] is an American former basketball and softball coach. From 1980 until 2014, Rappl was the head softball coach at Canisius College.[3] While at Canisius, Rappl helped build the program from a club team into a perennial NCAA tournament team and is considered a legendary figure in Canisius athletics history.[4][5]
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | Canisius |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1980–2014 | Canisius |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 831–526–2 (.612) |
| Tournaments | 3–22 (.120) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Awards | |
| Records | |
| |
Coaching career
editSoftball
editAfter graduating from Canisius in 1977, Rappl was tasked with building the school's softball program in 1980.[6] After posting a 5–9 record in his first season as head coach, Rappl led the program to 22 consecutive winning seasons, spanning from 1981 until 2002. Rappl ultimately led the Golden Griffins to 27 winning seasons in 35 years, winning 831 career games.[7]
Along the way, the Golden Griffins won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) regular season championship 13 times, as well as winning the MAAC tournament 12 times, both records. The team qualified for the NCAA Division I softball tournament 11 times. Rappl is one of two MAAC coaches to win a game in the NCAA tournament, the other being former Niagara coach Al Dirschberger.[8][9]
While at Canisius, Rappl was named MAAC Coach of the Year a record seven times, winning the award each year from 1992 to 1995, 1998, 2001, and for the last time in 2008. His teams qualified for the NCAA tournament 11 times, doing so each year from 1994 to 1997, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, and each year from 2007 to 2009.[10] Upon his retirement, Rappl was the most winningest head coach in any sport in MAAC history.[11] He has since been passed in this distinction by former Siena baseball coach Tony Rossi.[12][13]
Basketball
editWhile serving as head coach of the Canisius softball team, Rappl also was the head coach of the women's basketball team from the 1986–1987 season until the 1992–1993 season. He finished his time as a basketball coach with a 93–94 record, and was named MAAC Coach of the Year for the 1991–1992 season.[14][15][16]
Head coaching record
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canisius Golden Griffins (America East Conference) (1980–1989) | |||||||||
| 1980 | Canisius | 5–9 | |||||||
| 1981 | Canisius | 9–4 | |||||||
| 1982 | Canisius | 12–10 | |||||||
| 1983 | Canisius | 12–8 | |||||||
| 1984 | Canisius | 15–8 | |||||||
| 1985 | Canisius | 28–9 | |||||||
| 1986 | Canisius | 20–6–1 | |||||||
| 1987 | Canisius | 17–8 | |||||||
| 1988 | Canisius | 16–9 | |||||||
| 1989 | Canisius | 20–9 | |||||||
| Canisius Golden Griffins (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) (1990–2014) | |||||||||
| 1990 | Canisius | 21–11–1 | 4th | ||||||
| 1991 | Canisius | 27–10 | 11–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1992 | Canisius | 22–7 | 6–0 | 2nd | |||||
| 1993 | Canisius | 36–3 | 10–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1994 | Canisius | 38–8 | 11–1 | 1st | NCAA Regionals | ||||
| 1995 | Canisius | 28–14 | 11–1 | 1st | NCAA Play-In | ||||
| 1996 | Canisius | 33–7 | 11–1 | 1st | NCAA Play-In | ||||
| 1997 | Canisius | 31–14 | 10–2 | 1st | NCAA Play-In | ||||
| 1998 | Canisius | 22–18 | 14–2 | 1st | |||||
| 1999 | Canisius | 32–12 | 14–2 | 1st | |||||
| 2000 | Canisius | 34–23 | 9–7 | 4th | NCAA Regionals | ||||
| 2001 | Canisius | 28–15 | 14–2 | 1st | |||||
| 2002 | Canisius | 33–16 | 13–3 | 2nd | NCAA Regionals | ||||
| 2003 | Canisius | 15–31 | 6–10 | 8th | |||||
| 2004 | Canisius | 23–30 | 9–7 | 3rd | NCAA Regionals | ||||
| 2005 | Canisius | 22–19 | 10–6 | 3rd | NCAA Regionals | ||||
| 2006 | Canisius | 28–23 | 13–3 | 1st | |||||
| 2007 | Canisius | 27–21 | 12–4 | 1st | NCAA Regionals | ||||
| 2008 | Canisius | 39–14 | 15–1 | 1st | NCAA Regionals | ||||
| 2009 | Canisius | 26–25 | 9–7 | 4th | NCAA Regionals | ||||
| 2010 | Canisius | 34–19 | 13–3 | 1st | |||||
| 2011 | Canisius | 20–21 | 7–9 | 6th | |||||
| 2012 | Canisius | 20–30 | 11–5 | 3rd | |||||
| 2013 | Canisius | 22–25 | 6–10 | 7th | |||||
| 2014 | Canisius | 18–30 | 8–12 | 8th | |||||
| Total: | 831–526–2 (.612) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
edit- ^ "Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame announces 12 new members". wgrz.com. June 3, 2015.
- ^ "Canisius College Softball" (PDF). section6.e1b.org.
- ^ "Rappl announces retirement as Canisius softball coach". Buffalo News. July 28, 2014.
- ^ "MIKE RAPPL – Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame". June 4, 2015.
- ^ "Tributes on Twitter for retiring Canisius softball legend Mike Rappl". Buffalo News. July 29, 2014.
- ^ "End of an Era: Rappl '77 Retires from Coaching | Canisius College - Buffalo, NY". www.canisius.edu.
- ^ Gazette, Doug SmithNiagara (August 11, 2014). "Base Paths: Canisius' Rappl will be missed". Niagara Gazette.
- ^ "Griffs Rappl Steps Down after 35 Years". wgrz.com. July 29, 2014.
- ^ "Softball Postseason History". maacsports.com.
- ^ Moritz, Amy (July 28, 2014). "Legendary Canisius College softball coach Mike Rappl steps down". Buffalo News.
- ^ "Mike Rappl to Retire from Coaching". Canisius College Athletics. July 28, 2014.
- ^ "Siena's Tony Rossi retiring after record-breaking tenure". Associated Press. March 7, 2023.
- ^ "Tony Rossi, NCAA's longest-tenured DI baseball head coach, announces retirement | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com.
- ^ "WBB ALL TIME RESULTS THROUGH 2023 (PDF)" (PDF). Canisius College Athletics.
- ^ "Mike Rappl (2009) - Hall of Fame". Canisius College Athletics.
- ^ "Women's Basketball All-MAAC Awards".