In today’s softball world, a coach spending ten years or more at one school is seen as a rather impressive achievement. A full staff staying together as one unit for any extended period of time is nearly unheard of. Whether due to the climbing of the proverbial ladder within the profession; tenures that end prematurely; or staffs that break off into separate paths, longevity is both rare and worth celebrating.
With that in mind, we’ve assembled the list of the longest-tenured full coaching staffs in all of Division I. For purposes of this list, we defined a full staff as a head coach and two assistants or co-head coaches with one assistant (as applicable) who have served an uninterrupted tenure together. Our criteria did not require the school to have competed at the Division I level for the coaches’ entire tenure together, but only that the school must be D1 in the present day.
The years listed on each step of the countdown reflect the first season that the staff coached together. Without further adieu… the top 10!
Honorable Mention: UCLA – 2013 (Kelly Inouye-Perez, Lisa Fernandez, Kirk Walker)
When Kirk Walker returned to UCLA in 2013 after a lengthy stint as the head coach at Oregon State, it gave the Bruins one of the most experienced, veteran coaching staffs in the nation, and the unit of Inouye-Perez/Fernandez/Walker has stuck together since that time. Take in a UCLA game, whether in person or on television, and you’ll see that the coaches mesh well together as they execute their own duties, and also flow into completing one another’s tasks as needed.
T10. LSU – 2012 (Beth Torina, Howard Dobson, Lindsay Leftwich)
One of the most popular coaches in softball today, as well as one the top talent evaluators, Torina has certainly made her mark since arriving in Baton Rouge. Despite not being the Tigers’ initial first choice, she has shown that the school ultimately got the right person for the job. Retaining both Dobson and Leftwich on her staff might be her most impressive feat over the most recent few years; both have garnered significant attention for head coaching positions, but have elected to remain with the Tigers.
T10. Alabama – 2012 (Patrick Murphy, Alyson Habetz, Stephanie VanBrakle)
After Murphy’s infamous decision and indecision about taking over at LSU, he ultimately returned to Alabama and promptly won a national title with the Crimson Tide the next year. Habetz has been his top assistant for years – the Dr. Watson to Murphy’s Sherlock Holmes, you might say – and VanBrakle joined the staff just days following Murphy’s triumphant return to Tuscaloosa. The Tide remain one of just two SEC teams to win a national championship, and they accomplished the feat under this coaching unit.
8. Kentucky – 2011 (Rachel Lawson, Kristine Himes, Molly Belcher)
The consistency of the UK coaching staff has translated to quietly-sustained success on the diamond, and some really quality player development. This is the staff that produced players like Abbey Cheek and Kelsey Nunley, and that has led the Wildcats to seven Super Regional berths and a Women’s College World Series appearance in ten years.
T7. San Diego State – 2010 (Kathy Van Wyk, Stacey Nuveman Deniz, Mia Longfellow)
Van Wyk has one of the best head coaching resumes on the west coast, and Nuveman Deniz and Longfellow have been part of that success for more than a decade each. Nuveman Deniz got to SDSU a year before Longfellow, and now holds the title of Head Coach in Waiting, though both are former PAC-12 standouts who have really come into their own as coaches since arriving in San Diego.
T7. Hawaii – 2010 (Bob Coolen, Deirdre Wisneski, Kaulana Gould)
The Rainbow Wahine are the only Division I team not located within the continental United States. During the 2010 season, the first year of the current coaching staff’s tenure together, the program reached the Women’s College World Series, marking a program first as well as the first championship appearance by a WAC team in the 21st century.
5. Nebraska – 2009 (Rhonda Revelle, Lori Sippel, Diane Miller)
Lori Sippel is almost as synonymous with Nebraska softball as Rhonda Revelle herself, and Diane Miller’s previous head coaching experience impressively completes the Huskers’ veteran unit. The trio have earned regional Coaching Staff of the Year awards twice, in both 2013 and ’14, and led the program to the Women’s College World Series in 2013.
4. Notre Dame – 2007 (Deanna Gumpf, Kris Ganeff, Lizzy Ristano)
In addition to leading the longest-tenured staff on the ACC softball scene, Gumpf is the second-longest tenured individual head coach in the league. Ganeff has been part of Gumpf’s staff since the beginning of their time at Notre Dame, and Ristano joined the staff after a quality playing career for the Fighting Irish. Both Ganeff and Ristano hold the title of associate coach, and the trio of coaches have earned three regional Coaching Staff of the Year awards in the last decade.
3. Baylor – 2004 (Glenn Moore, Mark Lumley, Britni Sneed Newman)
Now we reach the medal stand, where the Baylor Bears take the Bronze. Moore has been head coach of the Bears since the summer of 2000, and Lumley followed him to Baylor after the pair coached together at LSU. Sneed Newman, who began her career playing under Moore in Baton Rouge, joined the coaching staff in 2003, shortly after her own playing career ended. The Bears have reached the Women’s College World Series four times under the trio’s tutelage, most recently in 2017, and reached the championship tournament’s semifinal round in both 2011 and ’14.
2. Michigan – 1999 (Carol Hutchins, Bonnie Tholl, Jennifer Brundage)
The longest-tenured staff within the Power Five conferences, the tale of the Michigan staff’s continuity is almost as legendary as Hutchins’ individually-stellar career. Hutchins, Tholl, and Brundage’s alliance dates back to the last millennium, and they have led the Wolverines to unprecedented heights. The Wolverines have reached the Women’s College World Series eight times under the trio’s tutelage, including a championship final appearance in 2015 and the program’s first-ever national title in 2005. So great is the tie of each of the three coaches to U-M that Brundage (in actuality, a UCLA graduate) has even been mis-identified by various publications as an alumnus of the Wolverine program.
1. Missouri State – 1996 (Holly Hesse, Sue Frederick, Beth Perine)
And here we have the gold medal-winning Missouri State Bears, the longest-tenured coaching staff in Division I softball! Holly Hesse is in her 33rd season leading the Bears, and owns more than 800 career victories during her time at the helm of the program. She is the second-winningest head coach in Missouri Valley Conference history, and has led her team to the NCAA tournament five times. Associate head coach Sue Frederick is in her 31st year on staff with the program, having joined the Bears’ staff immediately following her playing career at Creighton. Beth Perine, who also holds the title of associate head coach, is the “newbie” of the group, after joining the Missouri State staff in 1995. She was the head coach at Eastern Illinois prior to joining the Bears’ coaching staff.
On February 9th of this year, Missouri State and Baylor met in a game at the NFCA Leadoff Classic. Despite being the sixth meeting all-time between their respective clubs, it was the first time that Moore and Hesse had faced off at the helm of their programs. Missouri State won the game and moved to 5-1 all-time against Baylor.
