Top 5 coaches with most WCWS NCAA softball championships of all-time ft. Patty Gasso
Congratulations are certainly due to head coach Patty Gasso. With the Oklahoma Sooners' victory in the 2024 WCWS, Gasso won her eighth national title at Oklahoma. This ties her for the all-time record and marks her fourth championship in a row.
Here's a closer look at the company Gasso has on the all-time title list of college softball's five most prolific championship coaches.
Top 5 coaches with most WCWS NCAA softball championships
#5. Kelly Inouye-Perez (tie), 2
Inouye-Perez is one of four coaches with two titles, but she has the most recent title of the group. She won WCWS championships in 2010 and 2019 with UCLA.
Inouye-Perez has been the head coach of the Bruins since 2007. She played at UCLA from 1989 to 1993 and then was an assistant coach with the school from 1994 through 2006. As a head coach, Inouye-Perez is 818-219-1. She won three WCWS titles as a player and now has added two more as a coach.
#4. Sue Enquist, 6
Enqist coached at UCLA before Inouye-Perez. She held the head coaching position from 1997 to 2006. Enquist also played for UCLA herself from 1975 to 1978 and then was an assistant coach with the school, serving as co-head coach from 1989 to 1996.
In her time as an assistant coach and head coach, Enquist was 887-175-1. Enquist's record includes WCWS titles in 1989, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2003 and 2004. She retired in 2006.
#3. Sharron Backus, 7
Backus was the UCLA coach before Enquist – notice a pattern here? – and while she played at Cal State Fullerton, she became the UCLA coach in 1975. Backus racked up an 847-167-3 record, although admittedly with an overlap with Enquist.
Backus claims WCWS titles in 1978, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1992. Probation for awarding too many scholarships hit UCLA in the mid-1990s and prompted Backus's retirement in January 1997. She went on to coach in professional fastpitch softball after leaving UCLA.
#2. Mike Candrea, 8
Candrea played and coached baseball at Central Arizona. But in 1981, he began coaching the school's softball team. He came to Arizona in 1985 and coached there until 2021. Candrea's softball record is 1,674-436-2.
Candrea won titles in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006 and 2007. He retired in 2021 as the winningest coach in softball history (although Michigan's Carol Hutchins subsequently passed his mark).
#1. Patty Gasso, 8
Gasso has only tied Candrea, but given her four titles in a row, it can't be long until the top spot is hers alone. Gasso played at Long Beach State and then coached at Long Beach City College from 1990 to 1994. In 1995, she took the Oklahoma job. Gasso's NCAA record is 1,515-352-2.
She has won eight national titles in 2000, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. At age 62, Gasso could win many more titles before deciding it's time to retire.
Which legendary softball coach do you remember? Let's hear know thoughts in the comments section below.