FLORENCE — Rob Ralls witnessed a lot of winning in his time with the Florence softball program. Now he is stepping away from the dugout, leaving the program after an incredible run of success.
Ralls won three state championships in six years as the head coach. He spent several years as an assistant before that, helping the program in total win five of the past eight Class B/C titles. The Falcons came close to another this year, losing to Huntley Project in the championship.
Ralls cited his back surgery from a couple years ago as one reason for his decision. He felt it was time despite how much he loved the run.
“No. 1, you’ve got to have the athletes to coach, and they’ve got to buy into the system, which they have,” Ralls said about the winning culture at Florence. “It’s been successful. The pressure didn’t really bug me toward the end. I mean, I kind of enjoyed it, actually. We had a great program, and I’m proud of it. I’m going to miss it, there is no doubt about it. I just thought it was the right decision at the right time.”
Ralls hopes one of his recent assistants will take the head job, and he still plans to be a part of the program, just in a smaller role.
