Softball | 6/9/2022 2:30:00 PM

DENTON, Texas - Gay McNutt, a veteran head coach with 36 years of collegiate coaching experience, has been named the head coach of the Texas Woman's University softball team, Director of Athletics Sandee Mott announced Wednesday.

McNutt becomes the seventh head coach of the Pioneers softball program since the program was reinstated in 1997.

"We are excited to have a coach the caliber of Gay McNutt lead our softball program," Mott said. "She is an experienced program builder and her passion is unquestioned. The level of respect Coach McNutt has within the softball community is incredible – her former players, colleagues and administrators were universal in their praise for her as a coach and a person and we believe she is the right leader to return Pioneers softball to national prominence."

McNutt has spent 22 years as a Division I head coach, earning five conference coach of the year awards along the way. McNutt was named Southland Conference Coach of the Year four times during her tenure at Stephen F. Austin (1998, 1999, 2000 and 2004) and was named Conference USA Coach of the Year in 2010 during her tenure at Southern Mississippi.

With 628 career wins as a head coach, McNutt joins the Pioneers after spending the last four seasons at outgoing Lone Star Conference member Texas A&M-Commerce, spending the 2022 campaign as the interim head coach. In her lone season at the helm of the Lions program, McNutt led TAMUC to a 43-15 overall record, a 22-8 mark in Lone Star Conference play, and the first Lone Star Conference tournament championship in program history after the Lions swept through the LSC championship.

The Lions earned a No. 2 seed this season and hosting rights for the Division II South Central Region Championship.

Prior to taking the interim head coach position, McNutt had served the previous two seasons as Associate Head Coach at TAMUC. During her tenure in Commerce, the Lions pitching staff set single-season records for lowest team ERA, lowest opponent batting average, fewest walks allowed, most strikeouts per seven innings and most shutouts.

McNutt spent nine seasons as the head coach at Stephen F. Austin, leading the Lumberjacks to five Southland Conference postseason tournaments and the 2008 tournament title – the first in program history. Prior to SFA, McNutt spent seven seasons at Southern Miss, where she captured a pair of Conference USA titles. She remains the program's all-time leader in wins.

She began her head coaching career at Northwestern State, spending six seasons and capturing three consecutive Southland Conference championships in her final three seasons. She has led her teams to eight overall conference titles and five NCAA regional championships.

McNutt has also served as an assistant coach on the staffs at North Texas, Alvin Community College, the University of Houston, and the University of Louisiana-Lafayette (then Southwestern Louisiana), where she received her bachelor of arts in behavioral science.

Prior to her coaching career, McNutt was an all-American at Texas A&M, earning induction into the Texas A&M Hall of Fame in 2011. She was a four-year starter behind the plate for the Aggies, earning all-America honors as a senior and all-region honors all four years. A two-year captain, she helped lead the Aggies to three consecutive national championship games, winning the AIAW Women's College World Series in 1982 and the NCAA Women's College World Series in 1983, finishing as national runner-up in 1984.

"I want to thank Sandee Mott for the opportunity to lead the Pioneer softball program," said McNutt. "I am excited about being a part of her vision not just for the softball program, but the entire athletic program. In the time I spent on campus with the coaches and staff, it became quite clear that their core values align with mine. I would also like to thank all of the former players. There is such a strong alumni presence within this program, and I look forward to building a team that we can all be proud of."