Patty Gasso on her future at Oklahoma: 'I'm going to be coaching again'

Oklahoma softball head coach Patty Gasso has as accomplished a resume as just about any coach, regardless of the specific sport. But despite eight national titles and more than a dozen conference crowns, the Sooners head coach is hungry for more.

After Oklahoma hoisted its eighth national championship trophy in softball on Thursday night — all won with Gasso at the helm, including seven since 2013 — the head coach shared where she’s at with her coaching career. In short: She’s not going anywhere just yet.

“We have some really outstanding future Sooners on their way. I’m going to be coaching again. Rebuild this program, get it back here hopefully,” Gasso said.

Thursday also marked a bit of history for Oklahoma, as the Sooners won a fourth-straight national title, the first program to ever do so in softball. And it marked a tremendous send off for a nearly unrivaled senior class, a group that Gasso raved about.

“This group of seniors really left their mark,” Gasso said. “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. I think they both won awards tonight. I didn’t hear. They were, like, sobbing on each other. I’m like, What is the matter? What just happened? There was pandemonium down there. That’s something to build off of, as well.”

And with such an accomplished, seasoned group leaving town, Gasso is actually somewhat energized. As the Sooners rolled through college softball the past two years, especially, Gasso wasn’t needing to do a lot of coaching to get the experienced, talented roster where it needed to go.

But with a bit of a roster reset coming and a bevy of underclassmen set to fill major roles in 2025, Gasso is excited to get back to the nuts and bolts of coaching.

And if she keeps it up, she could be adding a 17th regular season conference championship, a 10th conference tournament championship and a ninth national crown sooner, rather than later.

“I’m really excited,” Gasso said. “They are, too.”

Gasso praised the way her team played all year

The Sooners swept rival Texas in two games, defeating the Longhorns 8-4 on Thursday to cap off the four-peat — the first of its kind at the Division I level.

However, the elusive fourth championship wasn’t always Oklahoma’s for the taking. Following the win, the Oklahoma head coach attempted to explain the hardships and hurdles that the Sooners had to overcome during the offseason, regular season and into their playoff run.

“It was really hard because we had to do some things outside of the field to kind of connect a little bit better and they really stepped up as women,” Gasso told ESPN’s Holly Rowe after the game. “I don’t even know how to explain it. They’re just gritty and they’re fearless. They lived that way, they practiced that way. You see the way they play. They’re full of energy, they’re full passion and we will not apologize for that because that’s the way they play the game. And that’s why we’re here right now.”

In those four seasons, OU has compiled a 235-15 record. Seven of those came this season, which led the Sooners to be the NCAA Tournament’s No. 2 overall seed behind Texas, despite defeating them in the Big 12 Tournament final last month.

Regardless, Gasso’s team have won four-straight national championships — a dynasty now unrivaled in modern college athletics history.

“God is good and he’s blessed this team, he’s bless his program,” Gasso continued. “We worked hard, we do it a blue collar style. We fight, we’re gritty. There’s nothing we feel that we can overcome. And that’s why we go out with just play free. I can’t tell you what this means for the seniors. For Kelly Maxwell. I will remember — this was the hardest of all, without question, and it’s going to probably be the most remembered for just the magnitude of what these guys have done. It’s unbelievable.”