Softball coach Dr. JoAnne Graf finished her legendary career coaching on the field at Florida State that has been named in her honor. Over the span of her 30-year career with Seminole softball, Graf
managed the unique accomplishment of building FSU into a national power in slow pitch softball and adjusting to the adoption of the fast-pitch format and continuing the programs domination. Coach
Graf's slow pitch teams won back-to-back AIAW (now NCAA) National Championships in 1981 and 1982 and she became the first collegiate softball coach in the country to earn 1400 victories before
retiring in 2008. Florida State advanced to the College World Series seven times under Coach Graf and made 21 NCAA Regional appearances. She led the Seminoles to 10 Atlantic Coast Conference titles
and was named ACC Coach of the Year six times.
Graf won over 75 percent of her games as a head coach (1437-478-6) and her Seminoles posted three seasons with 60 or more wins, 15 50-win seasons and
25 seasons with 40 or more victories.
Graf's players earned 25 All-America honors, 96 All-Region awards and 74 of her players were named All-ACC. In celebration of its 50th Anniversary, the ACC
named the top 50 athletes in each sport and 23 of her FSU players made the 50-member roster.
After a successful career coaching, JoAnne went to work in the classroom as a professor until retiring
this summer.
Selected as a Champion Beyond the Game in 2016 Dr. JoAnne Graf, a member of FSU's F-Club, softball, and tennis teams, graduated in 1975. After completing her bachelor's
degree, she spent two years at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro where she earned her master's degree in physical education. While there, she worked in the athletic department as head coach
for the men's and women's swim teams while also serving as assistant softball coach. Returning to FSU in 1978 as the first full time softball coach, Graf added "Dr." to her name in 1992 after
completing her doctorate degree in athletic administration. Graf is a former president of the Florida Collegiate Athletic Association, has served as a member of the NCAA Softball Committee, chaired
the NCAA Softball Advisory Committee for the South Region, and served on the NFCA All-American Committee. In addition, she has lent her expertise to a pair of books, penning the chapter "Organizing
and Orchestrating a Winning Program" in the Softball Coaching Bible as well as the chapter "Ethics" in She Can Coach. Graf recently edited the book, "Practice Perfect Softball" for the National
Fastpitch Coaches Association. Softball coach Dr. JoAnne Graf finished her legendary career coaching on the field at FSU that has been named in her honor. Over the span of her 30-year career with
Seminole Softball, Graf managed the unique accomplishment of building FSU into a national power in slow pitch softball and adjusting to the adoption of the fast-pitch format and continuing the
programs domination. Graf led FSU to two AIAW National Slow-Pitch National Championships, 7 NCAA College World Series and 10 ACC Softball Championships. Graf has been inducted into both the NFCA and
FSU Hall of Fame. After a successful career coaching, JoAnne went to work in the classroom as a Sport Management professor at FSU. Unparalleled is the best, and perhaps the only, word to describe the
career of Florida State University's Dr. JoAnne Graf.
