Patty Gasso identifies the greatest honor a coach could ever achieve

The union of Patty Gasso and USA Softball seems like a no-brainer.

The most successful head coach in college softball, located right down the road from the organization’s headquarters in Oklahoma City.

While it wasn’t quite the slam dunk it might appear, Gasso was officially introduced as the head coach of the USA Softball Women’s National Team during a press conference Tuesday at Devon Park.

She’ll coach the Olympic team through the 2025-28 cycle, including the LA28 Olympic Games, where softball is expected to be held in Oklahoma City.

“This moment is truly special in my career and it feels like a dream come true,” Gasso said. “To be handed the baton means a lot to me. Being chosen for this role is the highest honor a coach could ever receive.”

Gasso is from Los Angeles and remembers the Olympics there in 1984.

“I think I went to Olympic volleyball because it was in Long Beach,” Gasso said. “And it was amazing energy. People everywhere. It just felt different. It felt like nothing I’ve ever felt before in the way of a sporting event.”

Then after her second season at OU, Gasso went to Columbus, Georgia, where softball made its Olympics debut a little more than a month after the Women’s College World Series was played there.

“I felt so honored to be there, but never in a million years would I tell you that I thought I would be sitting here right now,” Gasso said. “I just always kind of stayed in the background until I thought it might be the right time for me.”

For a while, Gasso avoided coaching in international competitions for family reasons. Then, softball was removed as an Olympic sport for the 2012 and 2016 games.

It returned in 2020. After a hiatus during the 2024 games, it will return for the 2028 games, hosted by Los Angeles.

“I’ve been kind of in and out of the Olympic process, and I’ve gone to some training camps, things like that,” Gasso said. “I had kids who were young at that time, and I just felt that it was a really hard thing to leave them.”

But with Gasso’s kids grown — one son, J.T., is the Sooners assistant coach while another, D.J., is an assistant coach at Arkansas — it made sense now.

“I think everyone has seen the constant winning that was happening at a high level in Oklahoma, and I guess that made sense to them to reach out to me,” Gasso said.

The USA Softball Athletes Advisory Committee recommended a list of potential candidates to take over the spot, and Gasso’s name was on it.

Several players on that committee, including former Sooners Tiare Jennings and Kelly Maxwell, were in attendance at the press conference.

“Coach Gasso did an amazing job of making me believe that she really wanted to do this, and I think that’s what it came down to, besides her great track record,” said Craig Cress, the CEO of USA Softball. “It’s just the enthusiasm, the passion she has to do this. … It’s going to be different. We’ve never had games and dealt with, you know, the NIL and portal issues before so we’re going to have to make changes.”

One of Gasso’s major talking points Tuesday was the financial commitment it will take for USA Softball to be successful in winning the gold after finishing as silver medalists in 2008 and 2020 to Japan.

“They give up their career to celebrate the United States, and the goal and dream of every little girl is to be an Olympian,” Gasso said. “Not only do I want to really push these athletes to the point of excellence, but I want to do everything I can do to help them financially not feel like they’re giving up their world and struggling. They deserve this, and I’ll fight for that. We can get it done.”

The union of Patty Gasso and USA Softball seems like a no-brainer.

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