In the world that is college coaching, personnel turnover is inevitable. Holding a coaching staff together is an achievement worth being celebrated, even if the unit is only together for a few years. Look no further than this summer, when the nation’s two longest-tenured coaching staffs (Missouri State and Michigan) both saw changes for the first time in decades. The staff at Notre Dame also saw change for the first time in 17 years.
The title of longest-tenured coaching staff now belongs to a group that came together in just 2009, a mere thirteen years ago. Some staffs in the top ten will enter their 7th season together in 2023. The only criteria used to determine the list was 1) It only applies to full-time staff members – sorry, volunteer assistants; 2) two-member staffs count the same as three-member staffs to determine tenure; and 3) the year of formation applies to the full staff, not the longest-tenured members thereof. There are no points for two-thirds completion.
Without further ado, the top 10!
Honorable Mention: Wisconsin, Arkansas, Albany (2017)
The respective staffs of the Badgers, Razorbacks, and Great Danes came together for the 2017 campaign. The Arkansas group has been wildly successful, leading the program to SEC championships in 2021 and 2022. Chris Cannata’s staff at Albany went to back-to-back NCAA tournaments in 2017 and ’18, while Wisconsin has been an NCAA tournament mainstay and player development factory.
T8. Central Connecticut State (2016)
Head coach Breanne Gleason and assistant coach Pat Holden will enter their eighth season as a unit leading the Blue Devils in 2023. Award winners and statistical achievements have followed in the years since, as well as a Northeast Conference Coaching Staff of the Year honor in 2021.
T8. South Alabama (2016)
Jaguars’ head coach Becky Clark and lead assistant coach Kristina McCain have been part of the USA staff for more than a decade, though pitching coach – and program alumnus – Hannah Campbell joined the staff prior to the 2016 campaign, two years removed from her own stellar career. The group led the Jags back to the NCAA tournament in 2021.
T8. Northwestern (2016)
A 2022 Women’s College World Series berth was the first for the Wildcats’ current staff, which includes sisters Kate and Caryl Drohan and pitching coach Michelle Gascoigne. Kate Drohan is the all-time wins leader in the NU softball program; Caryl has been by her side as associate head coach from day one; and Gascoigne has proven herself to be a quality leader of the bullpen.
7. Canisius (2015)
Head coach Kim Griffin and assistant coach Ray Hennessy have led the Griffs for nearly a decade, with the pair helming the 2022 MAAC champions and guiding the program to an NCAA tournament berth. Griffin is just the second head coach in program history and broke a 5-year postseason drought with a MAAC tournament appearance in 2021.
6. UCLA (2013)
After a decades-long tenure as Oregon State’s head coach, Kirk Walker returned to his roots in Westwood prior to the 2013 campaign. His return completed a Bruin coaching unit that includes a pair of now-program Hall of Famers in Lisa Fernandez and Kelly Inouye-Perez, the latter inducted in the class of 2022. The group led UCLA to a national title in 2019.
T4. Long Island (2012)
The Sharks’ staff of Roy Kortmann, Andy Russo, and Bill Gehrke have guided the program for a decade, including overseeing a transition to a new team nickname and the absorption of the LIU-Post campus a few years back. The program has long been a perennial NEC contender and is the longest-tenured D1 staff in the entire Northeast region.
T4. LSU (2012)
Beth Torina has certainly made her mark since arriving in Baton Rouge. She has shown that the school ultimately got the right person for the job, and has retained both Howard Dobson and Lindsay Leftwich on her staff over the most recent few years; both have garnered significant attention for vacant coaching positions elsewhere and to inspire change at times in BR, but have both stayed put with the softball-playing Tigers to this point.
3. Kentucky (2011)
The consistency of the UK coaching staff has translated to 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.
2. Hawaii (2010)
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.
1. Nebraska (2009)
Before they even ascended to the top spot on this list, Nebraska went on quite a run, winning the Big 10 tournament championship and appearing in the NCAA postseason. The Huskers’ staff has been together since 2009, when hitting coach Diane Miller came on board. Head coach Rhonda Revelle and pitching coach Lori Sippel are Husker lifers, both program alums and longtime members of the coaching staff.. 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.
