College News: Loyola Marymount Names Olympic Gold Medalist Tairia Flowers as Head Coach

The coaching carousel continued in Southern California on Monday as former Cal State University – Northridge (CSUN) head coach Tairia Flowers took over at Loyola Marymount University, which lost previous head coach Sami Strinz-Ward to Texas Tech University on Oct. 16, 2020.

Here are the releases from LMU and CSUN detailing the latest move…

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LMU Names Olympic Gold Medalist Tairia Flowers Head Coach of Lions Softball

Tairia Flowers, an Olympic gold medalist in softball and former head coach at CSUN, will lead Loyola Marymount University’s softball program, LMU Athletic Director Craig Pintens announced.

“Tairia has played and coached at the sport’s highest levels and won championships,” said Pintens. “She is an outstanding leader and mentor for young women. Coach Flowers brings a wealth of experience to LMU, and will lead the Lions to unparalleled heights.”

Flowers, the second-winningest coach in CSUN’s Matadors softball program, was a standout athlete at UCLA and won a gold medal as a member of the United States national softball team at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Flowers accumulated 259 Division I wins in her 10 seasons leading the Matadors. She was named Big West Conference Coach of the Year in 2015, when she led the team to the NCAA tournament after winning the conference title outright.

Click HERE to see Tairia Flower’s USA Softball bio!

“I’m thrilled with the opportunity to lead the LMU softball team and eager to build upon the success and tradition of the program,” Flowers said. “I have great respect for the prestige of the university and the vision of LMU Athletics, and I’m looking forward to coaching some very talented student-athletes.”

At UCLA, Flowers helped the Bruins to four consecutive College World Series appearances, and a national championship win in 2003. The two-time All-American (2001, 2003) batted .373 with 61 home runs, 59 doubles, seven triples and 228 RBIs and ranks second on UCLA’s all-time list in home runs, games played (252, all of which were starts), RBIs and total bases (252). She was named to the Pac-12 Conference’s All-Century Softball Team and was inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in November 2019.

Flowers played for the U.S. national softball team from 2001-08. In addition to winning gold at the Athens Olympic Games, the team won silver in Beijing in 2008 and a pair of gold medals at the 2002 and 2006 world championships.

Flowers graduated from UCLA with a degree in history in 2005. She and her husband, Jason Flowers, have three children: daughters Jasmine and Tristyn, and son Jayce.

She succeeds Sami Strinz-Ward, who accepted the head coaching position at Texas Tech University.

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Here is the release from Cal State Northridge…

Flowers To Resign To Take Loyola Marymount Softball Position

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—CSUN head softball coach Tairia Flowers has announced her resignation to accept the head coaching position at Loyola Marymount.

“We appreciate the commitment Coach Flowers has given to our student-athletes, university and community over the last 10 seasons,” said CSUN Director of Athletics Mike Izzi. “We wish her the best as she embarks on this new chapter of her life and career. She leaves the program in a good place where I believe we will attract a strong, diverse applicant pool for the head coach position.”

Flowers leaves the Matadors’ program with a 259-263 record. Her 259 wins are the second most in CSUN history. Flowers led the Matadors to the 2015 Big West Championship. Under her tutelage, two CSUN players earned All-American honors, 12 were named All-Region, and 37 were named All-Conference.

A national search for Flowers’ replacement will begin immediately.