Maryland athletics announced Mark Montgomery as its fifth head softball coach in program history Monday. Montgomery joins the Terps after seven years at the helm with Louisiana Tech, where he most recently guided the Techsters to 45 wins and a 2019 Conference USA title.
During his time at Louisiana Tech, Montgomery went 226-161, earning two NCAA tournament berths while posting five consecutive seasons with 30 or more wins.
“Mark brings nearly two decades of collegiate head coaching success to our softball program, including a tremendous tenure most recently at Louisiana Tech,” athletic director Damon Evans said in a release. “More importantly, his student-athletes have a proven track record of succeeding in all facets of the collegiate experience and we are confident he will transfer that success to College Park.”
[Read more: Maryland softball coach Julie Wright resigns after four seasons]
Before Montgomery joined Louisiana Tech, the Techsters had produced just one season with 30 or more wins in the previous 23 years. In 2013, his first season in Ruston, Louisiana, Montgomery’s squad finished at 27-26. He rounded off his tenure with two conference tournament titles and helped Morgan Turkoly and Jazlyn Crowder earn Conference USA Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
The new head coach will face a similar initial challenge at Maryland, a team that has struggled to adapt to the Big Ten Conference. The Terps finished last in the Big Ten in two of former coach Julie Wright’s four seasons. Wright resigned in August after compiling a combined 61-147-1 record.
Montgomery has been a head coach for 19 years, most recently at Louisiana Tech. Before that, he spent two years at Northern Colorado, eight with Centenary College of Louisiana and two at Georgetown College in Kentucky, a small NAIA program.
Montgomery played a pivotal part in turning around Centenary’s softball program, too. In 2004, he led it to its first winning season in 13 years, and went on to clinch NCAA tournament berths with the Gents in 2004 and 2005.
Now, he’ll take on a new challenge in College Park.
“I was also thrilled by the chance to coach in the universally renowned Big Ten Conference,” Montgomery said in a release. “I cannot wait to get to campus and meet the young women as we work together to shape the limitless future of the Maryland softball program.”
