Patty Gasso opens up on challenge of winning three straight national championships

After three straight national championships, Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso just wants to grocery shopping. Seriously. Just after completing their three-peat against Florida State on Thursday, Gasso explained that the spike in the team’s local and national popularity, plus the grind of winning two in a row, made No. 3 the hardest and most gratifying.

“It is incredibly hard. I don’t know how to explain it. I just can tell you the way I feel right now is free because the expectation is overwhelming, the pressure is overwhelming,” said Gasso. “They all have each other to laugh with. I’m standing here by myself, so that’s why you’re hearing my voice do this. I know what they’re feeling. I know what I’m feeling. It’s very difficult. It’s extremely rewarding. Like, I just want to go to Costco and shop and no one care that I’m there. They feel the same.”

Most college softball coaches can walk into their local grocery store and not be clamored by fans, but not Patty Gasso, not after the juggernaut she’s built in Norman. Oh there’s no more peaceful trips to the convenience store for her in that city.

“It’s so crazy to see how our lives have changed. The fans in Oklahoma are absolutely fantastic. Fans are fantastic,” Gasso emphasized. “It starts to feel like you’re getting smothered a little bit because everybody wants something. I heard them talking about it. For all of us it’s different.”

But Gasso isn’t a huge fan of the personal limelight. She just wants to coach softball, make Costco runs and live life like a normal person. Instead, she’s now getting all the attention you’d expect for the orchestrator of a three-peat, and so are her players, which is a tough road to navigate, according to Coach Gasso.

“I just want to coach. I want to just be a regular… All of a sudden your life isn’t regular any more. So that’s really where they talk a little bit about mental health. It’s so different being a student-athlete now. I mean, it’s completely different. The expectations of everything. NIL, as well. They get opportunities to be entrepreneurs while they’re student-athletes. It’s unreal. I’m still learning how to manage it the best I can for them.”

Lastly, Gasso finished her comments by praising the accomplishment of the team, taking as little credit as she could.

“So the fact that we got here and we won this is just mind-boggling with all of the wave of pressure and so forth, I could not be more proud of this group. This coaching staff that I have is just absolutely unbelievable. I’m sitting here talking about our team, but they’re the ones that are grinding every day, looking at numbers, looking at their iPads, really creating phenomenal plans. They’re great coaches, they have great knowledge. I’ve got a great support staff. I’m just blessed with wonderful people around me. It’s really not as much me as you might think. But I’m lucky, lucky.”

Kind words from Patty Gasso on the whole team. But we’re left with just one question: is three in a row really luck?