DOUG HOKE, THE OKLAHOMAN
DOUG HOKE, THE OKLAHOMAN
Patty Gasso is one of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year, a recognition of women who have made a significant impact in their communities and across the country. The program launched in 2022 as a continuation of Women of the Century, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. Meet this year’s honorees at womenoftheyear.usatoday.com.
Patty Gasso remembers the day that changed her life.
Three days after massive and violent tornadoes tore through Oklahoma in May 2013, the Oklahoma softball coach invited a youth softball team from nearby and hard-hit Moore to come to Norman. One of the team’s players had been killed in the worst of the tornadoes that hit the state.
Gasso and her Sooners were in the middle of the NCAA Tournament, readying to host a super regional and trying to advance to the Women’s College World Series and avenge a heart-breaking loss from the year before, but they wanted to do something to help.
“And we were playing games like Red Rover and relay races, all kinds of silly things,” Gasso remembered.
As she watched her players that day, she found herself drawn to Keilani Ricketts. The Sooners’ ace pitcher and clean-up hitter was having a phenomenal season, but Gasso could see that Ricketts was stressed. She wanted so badly to win that the pressure was dragging down her spirit, her attitude, her joy.
Being with the girls from Moore changed that.
“I felt Keilani feel this new freedom of, ‘I'm so fortunate to be able to do this,’” Gasso said. “And I’ll never forget that. The biggest lesson that I’ve learned is when we understand it’s not about us … it’s just again that word, freedom.
“That’s the first time I felt that. I felt it since, but I think that moment changed my coaching.”
What Gasso’s Sooners have done since is dynastic. They've won five national titles in the past decade, starting with 2013 championship and continuing their latest in 2022. (They also won in 2000.) But Gasso, who ranks fifth all-time in college softball in career coaching wins, believes OU wouldn’t have become a college softball behemoth had her approach not changed in 2013.
“I really started to recognize that outcomes were the issue,” Gasso said, adding that she would talk about winning in terms of “we have to” or “we must.”
“I had to change that.”
Gasso remained a stickler for details, refusing to tolerate repeated mistakes and placing high standards on her players. But also, she constantly reinforced the notion they were more than softball players.
“The goals from my side are to make them understand that, win or lose, you’re loved, you’re appreciated and you’re fabulous,” Gasso said.
“It doesn’t mean we don’t want to win; we want to win every game. It’s true. But that’s not where our focus is.”
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
USA TODAY's Women of the Year for Oklahoma: Patty Gasso
University of Oklahoma Softball Coach Patty Gasso focuses on making her players feel valued as women and as athletes.
Bryan Terry, Oklahoman
Who has been your biggest influence as you’ve grown as a coach?
My husband (Jim) has been very involved, so I get to bounce a lot of things off of him. He’s got good ideas, so I count on him a lot. My coaching staff is brilliant; they have fabulous ideas, outside the box. Jackie Livingstone, my director of ops, very creative.
There is a gentleman named Brett Ledbetter who wrote the book “What Drives Winning,” and I attribute (to him) a lot of my mindset and the change of mindset and understanding what athletes need and treating them more like people versus just athletes. I count on him quite a bit.
You’ve had an informal committee of people who you can call on and learn from. Is that something you have done throughout your career or is that a practice you adopted along the way?
It’s a lost art, to be honest. Back when I started, I knew I wanted to be in charge of everything. But being in charge of everything means I’m good at nothing. So I needed to trust (assistant) coaches to come in and handle their positions and trust them. That was a big change for me.
(Legendary UCLA softball coach) Sue Enquist was instrumental in getting me started. Margie Wright at Fresno State was instrumental for me. Plenty of other coaches that I’ve reached out to were so free in giving information. But I knew that the smartest thing to do was to go to the people who have already done it (because) I didn’t know how.
So people like Sue and Margie helped pave the way for you. Do you feel like you’re doing that for others?
I’m trying. I don’t know if they’re following. (Laughs) I don’t get a lot of phone calls asking for a lot of advice. There’s some coaches I talk to on a regular basis, but I think what I’m trying to do is trying to be more vocal publicly on certain things in our game that need to be changed. That’s not ever been my agenda. I’m not that person. I always leave it for someone else who has that passion. But as I’m older and I know that I am one of the elders in this sport, my attitude is like, “Just go for it. This is important to the sport.” I’ve tried to fight for stadiums, salaries, rules, anything I can to help leave the sport better and hoping to hand the torch to somebody else who wants it. I wasn’t ready to take it. It just kind of landed on me, and I grabbed it.
What has been your proudest moment?
I really love watching my former athletes go into coaching. There’s nothing I enjoy more than seeing them out recruiting. The other day I was out recruiting, and I saw Syd Romero, Fali Aviu and Shay Knighten all sitting right next to each other, watching the same game. I love seeing them. That means to me that they enjoyed their experience here at OU, and they saw that you can be a mother, a wife and a coach and do it successfully, so that makes me feel good.
Has there been a lowest moment?
I had some tough times. There was a dry spell (of championships). I was too concerned about winning. I was too concerned about outcomes. I was not happy, and I felt like I didn’t want to do this anymore. It was just suffocating me and my thoughts. I wouldn’t sleep at night. I’d worry about my job, my livelihood, my family. It was just me praying about it, and the Lord saying, "Stop, you’re doing this wrong." I listened.
DOUG HOKE, THE OKLAHOMAN
DOUG HOKE, THE OKLAHOMAN
Do you have a guiding principle or mantra?
I share with our athletes a lot about womanhood and empowerment and being able to stand on their own feet. Certainly, I want them to get married if that’s what they choose and have children, but regardless, you still have to stand on your own feet. You have to be independent in who you are, confident in who you are.
The word "lukewarm" is a dirty word in this program. That means you’re either half in or you’re half out. Either be all in, or don’t be in at all. That’s important to me. And if you’ve settled … you’ve surrendered. As soon as I heard that phrase, I just gravitated to it and I’ve held onto it. When you say, "Well, OK," you’re stuck with it, and that’s on you. So I fight through that, and I try to share that with our athletes.