re: NCAA Softball WCWS - OU beats Texas 2-0 in Champ Series, claims 4th consecutive NC

She is coming back, wants to be a part of SEC:

'I'm not done yet': Retirement is the last thing on Patty Gasso's mind after another OU title
The Sooners' fourth consecutive national title punctuates the legendary coach's 30th season.

Jenni Carlson

OKLAHOMA CITY — Patty Gasso rose wearily from her chair in the press conference room at Devon Park.

Yes, winning your fourth consecutive national championship is fun. Your sixth title in eight tries? Your eighth title overall? That is also an absolute blast. Still, the whole thing can be exhausting, too.

But when I walked toward the OU softball coach and told her it was quite the way to end her 30th season, she got a mischievous twinkle in her eye and a wry smile on her face.

"I should say, 'And by the way, this is my last season. Thank you, and good night!' Mic drop," she said, laughing.

I laughed, too, but I had to ask the follow-up question.

"But that's not what you're saying, right?" I asked.

"Not yet," she said.

On the night OU walloped Texas (again), this time 8-4, and swept the Longhorns right out of the championship series, there was finality. It was the last game for a ballyhooed senior class, including a few who spent their entire careers at OU and only knew seasons ending with a Women's College World Series dogpile. It was the last time Jayda Coleman and Tiare Jennings, Kinzie Hansen and Rylie Boone, Alyssa Brito and Kelly Maxwell would wear the crimson and cream. Hardly seems possible there was a time Sooner softball existed before they were part of it.

But of course, it did exist. And for much of its existence, Gasso has been at the helm.

So, as a big chapter closed with a fairytale ending, it wouldn't have been too farfetched to think this might be the end for Gasso, too. An even 30 years. An unprecedented fourth consecutive title. It would seem like a perfect time to retire.

Sooner Nation can exhale — that ain't happening.

"I'm not done yet," she told me as other reporters were packing up and heading out.

But even during the formal part of her post-game press conference, she sure didn't sound like a coach who was ready to walk away any time soon.

"I'm ready to start coaching again because I don't have to coach this," she said, motioning toward the seats filled a few minutes earlier by half of her seniors. "They know it. They've got it. They coach each other."

The coaching Gasso did the past year or two was more management than teaching.

That changes next season. While Gasso and the Sooners return some big pieces, namely sluggers Kasidi Pickering and Ella Parker, they're going to need help from some of the incoming freshmen. Sure, they'll likely land some transfers out of the portal to bolster the roster, but the young players will be key.

Coaching a team reliant on freshmen and sophomores is entirely different than coaching one with 10 seniors.

"I'm really excited," Gasso said. "They are, too. This group of seniors really left their mark. That's one thing you want them to do, is leave the program better than you found it. They really did a good job of training and teaching these young athletes what it's going to look like in the future."

Of course, it's also a future in the SEC.

In less than a month, OU's move from the Big 12 to the SEC will be official. The league sent all of its softball teams to the NCAA Tournament this season, so there will be a step up in competition for the Sooner softballers.

But it's a challenge Gasso is fired up about.

Speaking to the Rotary Club of Oklahoma City back in January, she said, "I want a piece of the SEC."

Now, don't misunderstand: these seasons are hard on Gasso, who recently turned 62.

This season, in particular, was a grind with the pressure of winning another national title and making history and sending out such a big senior class on a high note.

"It's probably the hardest coaching season that I've had in a while because of a lot of the naysayers," she said.

She called it heavy.

"I don't know how to explain how heavy," she said. "Heavy is a head that wears the crown is the one thing that really stuck out. I heard someone say that. That really has felt true.

"It's been exhausting."

And these days, it doesn't ever seem to stop.

"To be honest, this is like being on a hamster wheel," Gasso told me as she stood in the press conference room. "So as soon as this is done, I've got portal recruits coming in and we're gonna have party probably Saturday and then ... "

She shrugged.

"It's just you can't breathe to think about what you just did.

"You gotta keep going."

Gasso sounded tired when she said that, but rest assured, she is going to keep going. More than that, she is excited to keep going.

Now, she's not ready to start a new season this weekend or anything. She needs to rest and recover. Spend time with her grandkids. Go to bed at more normal hours.

But come next spring, Gasso will be ready for her 31st season at OU.

"I never thought that I would still be here, to be honest," she told me. "It's been a great place to raise kids, now grandkids. The way my life has unfolded here has been unbelievable."

And right now, Patty Gasso can't imagine life without coaching the Sooners.

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Wow, I didn't know Gasso has been there 30 years. She was really good her first 20 years, but she has separated herself from the pack the last 10 years.

Some truth from a tx fan

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What? Gasso explained why she did it. It wasn't to toy with them.. It's because they haven't seen their pitchers and she had confidence in them to keep Texas off balance before they could adjust.

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Lol. That wasn’t me it was a tx fan who posted that.

Her plan was to use other pitchers and see how the game went. If tx was beating us good then she was saving her big guns for game 3. But if OU was ahead she was willing to bring them in late to finish tx off.

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Nothing lasts forever….ask Nick.

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Correct on the continuing to win them. I expect to take a hit next year not because of SEC but due to loss of so many great seniors.

But incorrect on the titles, those do last forever.

Repeat Post.