UMBC will not play another college softball game in 2026. The Retrievers voted to cancel the rest of their season after their head coach and her husband were fired over inappropriate behavior allegations.
It is unclear as to whether the athletes will receive an additional year of eligibility.
This unfortunate sequence of events took place just 18 games into the college softball regular season. There are a lot of questions still without an answer.
UMBC fired its college softball coach.
News first broke of this sudden ouster at the beginning of last week. Angie Nicholson and her husband Rick Nicholson were removed from their roles after the University of Maryland, Baltimore County launched an investigation pertaining to the treatment of student-athletes.
Rick, an assistant on the staff, allegedly brushed the chest of two different players on his roster while attempting to swat away insects on two separate occasions. According to a parent who spoke with Edward Lee of The Baltimore Sun, he later threatened to cut the player who objected to the contact.
To make matters worse, both coaches have a history of poor behavior. Multiple former players spoke to Maren Angus-Coombs of Softball on SI about the recently-fired head coach and her husband. They did not have great things to say. It has been a recurring issue across multiple stops.
Neither Rick nor Angie Nicholson have released a statement at this time. In fact, neither has UMBC.
However, the Nicholsons were fired because of the scandal. They were removed from their respective roles after the university’s investigation found enough reason to let them go. That made things awkward because they have two daughters on the team. It also put the remainder of the season in limbo because there was only one remaining coach on the staff.
The season is now canceled.
The Retrievers had already canceled multiple games before the ouster became official. They also canceled multiple games in the wake of the ouster. It was unclear as to how the season would continue.
And, well, it won’t. According to Angus-Coombs, the remaining games have been canceled.
Players voted at a team meeting with administration present on Monday not to keep playing. A majority of 10 votes were needed to continue the season. The vote fell short of 10 votes. The season is canceled.
However, it sounds like UMBC already has a plan in place for how to proceed. The administration told the players during the meeting that they have already hired the replacements for Angie and Rick Nicholson but would not tell them who. It is unclear as to when the hires might be announced.
This puts the athletes in limbo. Especially the seniors.
The Retrievers played only 18 games this season before their head coach was fired. Will the NCAA grant them with an additional year of eligibility because of the unusual circumstances or is this it? If they do get another year back, will they choose to enter the transfer portal? Who is the next coach at UMBC?
There are still a lot of unknowns. What we do know for certain is that the Retrievers will not play another game in 2026.