With Gerry Glasco’s surprise exit after seven seasons as UL’s head softball coach, the attention naturally shifts to the program’s next head coach.
This isn’t your everyday coaching search with the program now looking for only its fourth head coach in 43 years.
Alyson Habetz, former UL player
The most obvious choice would be former Ragin’ Cajun Alyson Habetz, who retired after 25 years as Alabama’s assistant coach last summer for family reasons. There’s no indication that situation has changed.
Habetz helped former UL assistant coach Patrick Murphy to 14 World Series trips with the Crimson Tide, as well as 11 SEC championships. Most likely, she’d only need to say the word.
Assuming that perfect hire doesn’t take place, however, some other candidates could make sense in Lafayette.
Rick Fremin, Southeastern head coach
Rick Fremin has been Southeastern’s head coach for the past nine seasons and just led the Lions to the program’s first NCAA regional appearance. The Lions defeated Clemson twice in the Tuscaloosa regional, but lost to Alabama in the regional finals.
Fremin is 298-181 in his career at SLU. The Belle Chasse native previously coached at Jackson State and Belhaven.
James Landreneaux, McNeese State head coach
Staying in the Southland Conference, McNeese’s James Landreneau was one win away from the super regionals last season. Landreneau is 278-161 in his 12 seasons as the Cowgirls’ head coach.
In 2022, he led McNeese to the program’s first NCAA regional finals at Northwestern, before duplicating that feat at Washington a year later.
Ironically, the Cowboys led the nation in double plays during that stretch, which the Cajuns did this past season. He’s had five 40-win seasons in Lake Charles.
Howard Dobson, LSU assistant
Staying in the state, longtime LSU assistant coach Howard Dobson could also be worth a look.
Dobson is a 1997 McNeese graduate and has been an assistant coach in Baton Rouge for 13 years, primarily as the hitting coach. He previously worked on staffs at Houston and Oklahoma and was a head coach at Southern Miss for four seasons with a record of 93-128-2.
Mark Montgomery, former La. Tech coach
Another potential candidate with Louisiana ties is Mark Montgomery. The Kentucky native was the head coach at Centenary from 2003-10 and Louisiana Tech from 2013-19. He most recently was the head coach at Maryland, where he resigned after the 2023 for personal reasons.
After two losing seasons with the Terrapins, he enjoyed a 29-23 third season and then 38-19 in 2023, including wins over Oklahoma State and Oregon. The 38 wins were the most at Maryland in 12 seasons.
Mike Roberts, former UL pitching coach
Mike Roberts was UL’s pitching coach for two seasons under Glasco and also served as pitching coach at Oregon, Washington and Virginia. He was a head coach for one season at Buffalo in 2018.
