The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
07.06.2016 | Softball
MacKay has worked with Scrap Yard Sports and as softball assistant at the University of Oklahoma
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas head softball coach Connie Clark announced on Wednesday that current Scrap Yard Sports Director of Player Development and former University of Oklahoma assistant coach Tripp MacKay has been named the new assistant coach for the Longhorns softball program.
MacKay will be taking over the position previously held by Corrie Hill, who spent the last 11 years overseeing all aspects of the Texas offense while serving as bench coach on Clark's staff.
"Tripp is one of the best coaches in the business," Clark said. "His specialty is with the offense, but he studies every aspect of the game and prepares athletes at an exceptionally elite level. His energy, passion and knowledge shine when he is teaching student-athletes. I wanted an immediate impact guy for our open assistant position and with Coach MacKay, we got that. He will be a tremendous complement to our coaching staff."
MacKay has spent the past year as the Director of Player Development for Scrap Yard Sports in Houston, Texas, while also working with the newest National Pro Fastpitch expansion team, the Scrap Yard Dawgs. During his time with the organization, he has been in charge of overseeing player and coach development as well as development camps and clinics while currently serving as the team's co-head coach.
"My family and I are very excited to become a part of the University of Texas softball program," MacKay said. "We are thankful to Coach Clark for providing us with this opportunity, and we are looking forward to the exciting future of Longhorn Softball."
Prior to his time with Scrap Yard Sports, MacKay served eight seasons as part of Patty Gasso's coaching staff at the University of Oklahoma, where as an assistant, he was responsible for working primarily with OU's outfielders and offense.
During a stint stretching from 2007-2015, he helped guide the Sooners to a 389-97 overall record, eight consecutive NCAA postseason appearances, including four Women's College World Series berths (national runner-up in 2012), five Big 12 Conference regular-season titles, two Big 12 Conference Tournament Championship crowns and the 2013 NCAA Division I National Championship. For his efforts, he shared 2013 NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year honors and four straight NFCA Regional Coaching Staff of the Year (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015) accolades.
Helping craft offensive teams that consistently ranked among the nation's elite during each season of his tenure, the 2013 Sooner offense proved especially potent on the way to winning the national title, leading the country in runs scored per contest (7.8) and slugging percentage (.582), while also rating in the Division I top 10 in batting average (.333), home runs per game (1.54) and doubles per game (1.57). The powerful lineup also established the NCAA single-season record for walks with 348 and set Big 12 season marks for runs scored (476), RBIs (444), slugging and on-base percentage.
Among the numerous individual offensive standouts MacKay helped tutor at Oklahoma were Lauren Chamberlain, who completed her playing days as the NCAA's career HR leader (95 HR's), two-time USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Keilani Ricketts and multi-time All-American Shelby Pendley (finished sixth on the NCAA career HR list with 84). Overall during his time at OU, the Sooners earned a total of 19 NFCA All-America, 39 NFCA All-Region and 52 All-Big 12 Conference honors.
He began his coaching career as either an assistant or volunteer assistant coach with stops at Blinn College (1999-2000), Palm Beach Community College (1998), Cardinal Newman High School (1998) and Northeast Texas Community College (1997).
From there, MacKay spent seven years as a private hitting instructor in Dallas and, in 2004, became a partner in the Dallas Performance Edge Training Center, where he proved instrumental in all aspects of the softball side of the academy including pitching, hitting, fielding, catching, base running and position specific skills. Prior to his stint at Dallas Performance Edge, MacKay served as a hitting instructor at the Dallas Baseball Academy of Texas from 2000-04 and as head coach of Dallas Tigers Baseball (2003-06). He also spent time as a hitting instructor at Mike Candrea's University of Arizona Summer and Holiday Camps.
MacKay began his own standout playing career on the diamond at the University of Florida (1993-94) before completing his final two seasons of eligibility at Oklahoma State (1995-96). A career .310 hitter and two-time All-Big Eight Conference choice, he reaped second team All-American accolades while helping OSU to a 1996 College World Series berth.
Drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft, MacKay went on to play professionally for the Vermont Expos (1996) and the Cape Fear Crocs (1997) before concluding his pro career with the Northern League's Winnipeg Goldeyes (1998-99) and Sioux City Explorers (1999-2000).
He earned a bachelor's degree in physical education & health from Oklahoma State in 2000 and is certified as a functional fitness trainer by both the Tom House Absolute Performance Group and The American Sports Medicine Institute.
A native of Mt. Pleasant, Texas, MacKay and his wife Holly are the parents of three children, Ali, Jack and Brooks.
