College Spotlight: 8 Assistant Coaching Hires That Made a Splash This Summer

Last week, we looked at 7 significant college head coaching moves that took place this Summer and now it’s time to talk about assistant coaches!

Coaching staff turnover is nothing new in college softball and we’ve seen more than 160 assistant coaching moves to-date.

There are still a handful of unannounced and open positions, as well.

We’ll rank the top 10 assistant moves later in the Fall, but here are eight that caught our eye this summer.

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Utah hires Paige Parker

The Gasso connection to the Utah program runs deep and now includes both of the Utes’ assistant coaches, as former Sooners national champion Paige Parker joined DJ Gasso (son of head coach Patty Gasso) on the Utah staff. Parker spent the 2021 season as an assistant coach at Tulsa and is already meteorically moving up the coaching ladder just a few years removed from her stellar playing career.

Columbia hires Paige Smith

Let’s turn the Paige here… when Paige Smith left the head coaching position at Seton Hall early this summer, she termed it as her retirement from coaching. Only one would position would bring her out of that retirement – an assistant role at Columbia. A couple of months later, that exact role opened after Tarah McShane left the coaching world and Smith is now part of the Lions staff. Every member of the Columbia coaching staff has head coaching experience, a major benefit to the Ivy League contender.

*** Scroll down to see who else makes this list of assistants sure to make an impact…

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