"Coach Buksa means well and was someone you could go to if you needed to talk—on her good days, she was laid-back and approachable. However, the inconsistency in her behavior made it hard to know what version of her you were going to get. Some days were smooth, and other days felt unpredictable and tense. One of the biggest concerns was her level of professionalism. She often shared information with players that was inappropriate or simply not our place to know. She made personal jabs, frequently commented on players’ weight, and created an uncomfortable environment for some of the team. While she may not have intended harm, it affected trust and morale. From a coaching perspective, she often repeated the same basic feedback about hitting all season without much depth or adaptability. At the end of the day, she likely cares about her players and their success, but coaching may not be the best fit for her strengths. A more structured, professional, and consistent environment would help everyone thrive, and that starts at the top."

"Coach Curylo brings a unique perspective to the role, especially with her strong emphasis on academics. Her background as a former teacher really shows—she genuinely cares about players succeeding in the classroom and supports them in choosing majors that align with long-term goals, not just athletic ones. That’s something we really appreciated. That said, when it came to softball itself, there were definitely challenges. There seemed to be some inconsistency in how players were treated—some days felt relaxed and productive, while others felt like everyone was walking on eggshells. Injuries weren’t always fully understood or handled with the sensitivity you’d hope for in a high-level program. One of the more difficult dynamics was how assistant coaches were often criticized or undermined in front of the team. It made it hard for the group to buy into the staff as a united front. When a new coach joined—someone with national championships both as a player and coach—she wasn’t fully utilized. Despite having a wealth of experience, she was mostly limited to working with pitchers, and players had to seek her out privately for advice on the game as a whole to avoid tension. Overall, not the worst coaching experience out there, but there is definitely room for growth—especially in terms of communication, staff management, and consistency. The academic support was a huge plus, but to be a successful head coach, staying level-headed and building trust across the whole team and staff is just as important."

"Coach Buksa deserves positive ratings considering that the UIC athletic administrators fired the head coach 2 days before season probably from parent complaints. She could have resigned and left the team with nobody. Players and parents doing the blame game. Next year we will see how successful the team is. Btw, two senior on this team were Conference champions and went to regionals. It was a successful program with these coaches and players. "

"Jamie Buksa, the now former Interim Head Coach for UIC, is a failure at coaching and was demeaning to her team. At the beginning of the season, she said she was going to make history - and she did! With her 9-46 record this season, she became the losingest coach in UIC history. She led the country in losses across all D1 softball programs this year. She had the brilliant idea to start all her seniors almost every game, which is a group that has collectively lost over 150 games since they've been there. So what did the seniors do this year? Lose! Same as they have done the entire time they've been there. Jamie Buksa said she would live and die with her seniors, and she died with them. The Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) League recognized this too, as not one of the seniors received any recognition or awards from the league. Hailey was the only senior standout, and should have received something for her offense, but I blame the coach because the teams record was so abysmal that she was probably overlooked. Jamie Buksa has lost over 230 games since she joined the program in 2018, and along with her predecessor, they have 2 of the losingest seasons in the history of the UIC softball program. These are FACTS! She does not take any accountability for anything, and instead she would ridicule the team, never encouraged them, instilled a loser mentality and didn't know how to adapt. She also drove away the pitching coach, who quit in the middle of the season. Her assistant, Coach C (Joanna Cirrincione), is just as terrible as she is and should never coach again. She Buksa's little minion, and was never a part of the solution, but always part of the problem. For the sake of the program, I'm glad Buksa and her coaching staff of 1 are leaving, along with the toxic seniors. There is still talent on this team, and with the right coaching staff they can possibly turn things around. "

"RECRUITS - PAY ATTENTION! Coach Buksa is a terrible coach who finds a way to lose games. She’s the most toxic coach in NCAA softball. Her whole approach is to demean us, yell at us, cause unnecessary stress, and it makes us hate playing the game. She’s a complete liar and can’t be trusted. Now that our losing streak is in the 20’s, it’s become an embarrassment to us, the program and the school. I hope the AD at UIC is seriously watching this train wreck and is going to bring in a great staff next year. Most of these girls are going to leave, and they should. "

"No coaching technique just metrical quotes. "

"If I could give this coach "0" stars, I would. If you want a coach that makes former all-state players lose confidence, allow stars players to quit the team, and basically kills off any motivation, then this coach is for you. Jamie Buksa claims to be a "so-called" batting coach, but her time at UIC has made her batters worse. Just check the batting averages for the players on the team. She blatantly plays favorites, is not concerned about fairness or development, and is only there for the paycheck. She was promoted to interim head coach after the head coach was fired, and has even been given consideration for the position full time, but she blew it. The players are not only uninspired, they dread going to practices and playing the games because it's been such a terrible experience for them. After going on a 15-game losing streak (and counting, losing to teams that had only 1 or no wins), you'd think she'd have the decency to resign from the position and allow these girls to have a competent coach to give the seniors a chance to end their college careers respectfully. She's basically giving up, has yelled at the team for getting the head coach (her friend) fired, and doesn't give a damn about what the administration does nor does she care about the players. She figures by the time the administration gets around to firing her, she can run the team into the ground even more by losing another 20+ games. Please, if you ever find out that Jamie Buksa is coaching a softball team, please don't allow your child (or young adult) play for her. Trust me, you'll regret it. "

"Brian is a great coach and he loves all of his players. Knows his stuff, is realistic with the girls about our playing time and what we need to improve. "

"Unfortunately being a player under Tom is anything but wonderful. To say that “if you don’t have thick skin he’s not the coach for you” is an understatement. If you enjoy being ridiculed, lied to, made fun of in front of your teammates, turned against your teammates and struggling with mental health then he is definitely the coach for you. He might have “turned the program around” but it was short lived as playing in fear is not long lasting. And neither is the human body when put through unnecessarily demanding physical conditioning that only hurt more players than helped. Physically wrestling other players on the field with no objective but to shove them out of the circle resulted in many dislocated joints and concussions. Drilling soccer balls straight into girls faces resulted in many concussions, not to mention a record of 10 concussions in one season. I have to say we did play in the SEC where soccer was kickball against most teams like arkansas and mizzou for starters, but most of those concussions were earned in practice. Most girls enter college soccer knowing it wont be easy, the training will be physically tough, sacrifices are made, but no one should ever be expected to sit silently and accept treatment like we were forced to under this man's leadership."

"He is very knowledgeable but egotistic and full of himself. He was my trainer working through an injury and did not have a good experience. Felt belittled and disrespected at different times. The last straw was when I came by the training room on an agreed time in between classes. I approached him in his office to say hello and he told me "Can't you see I'm eating my sandwich?" and proceeded to tell me to get out the training room. Did not even look me in the eye. After that day I decided to not work with him any longer. Would not recommend. "

"Tried to recruit me out of the portal. Was not a fun conversation. Said they don't give money away unless you are sure you are going to commit. "

"Cared about me as an athlete but more importantly as a person. Lucky to swim for him"

"One of the worst people I've ever met in college athletics. She didn't know any of my teammates names and never showed any support for us. She always made it feel like she wanted gossip or rumors to get others in trouble "

"Very hypocritical and lacks transparency. Says he doesn’t care about garbage yardage then proceeds to give garbage yardage. Complains about his workload, lashes out at swimmers, lacks empathy, and is a poor communicator. Only wants to deal with the “in the pool” matters and doesn’t not want to know personal details of swimmers outside of the pool. "

"Overall a coach that shouldn't be leading a team at the Division I level. Practices are not consistent with specific training for athletes. Very few swimmers were able to progress under him. Very awkward, and unable to communicate well with his team and hold swimmers and coaches accountable. Great assistant coaching staff but seems like they have no say."

"A coach that cares about his swimmers but who’s training style lacks individuality. Seems we trained for open water swimming rather than specific races that we’ve specialized in. Believes yards+aerobic ability = success but yards swimming is far past that training style. Sets are mentally draining and the sets made the training environment negative. "

"Not good at communication, often not paying attention during practices, “garbage yardage”, not motivating at meets, overall disorganized. You can tell he does care about his athletes and their success but does not show it well. Training is very generic and not very individualized, felt like I didn’t see as much improvement as I should’ve. "

"Lying to his athletes, doesn’t care that much, not easily approached, bad communicator"

"Coach Matt is very caring but has a hard time expressing himself and what he wants. Overall though his way of training is great and I couldn’t ask for a better collegiate coach. "

"Extremely old school coach. He is extremely intense, which has potential to create some results. However, if you do not have a thick skin, he is not the coach for you. He has also been known to lead players on in the recruiting process. "

"I have been able to work with Suzanne for about 3 years and have found that she brings a positive attitude daily. There is no job too big or too small that she will not dedicate herself and do her best. I know that Suzanne is reliable, professional and fair. Any meet with Suzanne, leaves me inspired to dream and chase those dreams."

"Turned a bunch of losers into winners. Change the culture and made us better than any of us thought we could be. Will do anything for his players Direct tough honest and cares for us as people more than players "

"A coach who helped me both with my swimming and getting ready for life after swimming"

"Hans has one priority for student athletes. Have the best experience they can and grow into successful people when they graduate. Academics Sports and Social Life are weighed equally and the team has a great balance that during my 5 years made us successful in tennis (Horizon League Finalists 2019) and successful in school (highest GPA in athletics"

"Great coach and better person. Brought me to another level of training "