MIAMI (Aug. 1, 2014) – FIU Executive Director of Sports and Entertainment Pete Garcia announced on Friday the hiring of Gator Rebhan as the fourth head coach in FIU softball history. Rebhan, who served as an assistant coach for the program during the 2014 season, will take over a squad that boasted the Conference USA Freshman of the Year and All-South selection Stephanie Texeira, along with all-freshman team member Gabby Spallone.

"Coach Rebhan is a proven winner," said Garcia. "Given the success he has had on the state and national levels, along with the early success he had last year as an assistant coach, it made the decision clear to us that he is the right person for the job."

 "I want to thank Pete Garcia and Julie Berg for giving me this opportunity," said Rebhan. "I've been a local coach in the area for over 20 years and am excited to be given the chance to lead this program. We have a great group of players and a lot of talent on this team. I think being a local coach will bring a lot of excitement to this program. Having been an assistant coach for the team last year, I have a great rapport with the athletes already and am extremely excited to begin."

Rebhan comes to FIU after spearheading the Miami Stingrays Softball Organization for well over a decade. Since 1998, he has won titles at the state and national levels and has developed athletes who have gone on to play NCAA Division I softball across the country, including at Harvard, Syracuse, Florida and Auburn.

He guided the Stingrays to a top 20 national ranking following the 2013 travel season, and boasted 12 First-Team, All-Dade selections during the same year. In addition, Rebhan coached Texeira on her way to earning the 2013 Softball Player of the Year award.

A native of Miami, Rebhan was the head coach at Miami Palmetto Senior High School from 1999-2003. A two-time state champion, he oversaw a squad that won the state title in 2000 and 2002.

Prior to coaching, Rebhan played baseball at Miami-Dade College for two seasons (1987-88), before transferring to the University of New Orleans in 1989. His achievements while at Miami-Dade earned him a spot in the Miami-Dade College Hall of Fame.

A graduate of Regents College of Liberal Arts, Rebhan earned his B.S. in sociology in 2001. He and his wife, Jesse Rebhan, have three children, Hunter (10), Brooke (9) and Taylor (6).

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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports, and is a proud member of Conference USA. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and the FIU Football Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU is worlds ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission and enrolls nearly 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. More than 140,000 alumni live and work in South Florida. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.