The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Softball
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach
E-mail: sing@utexas.edu
Promoted to the position of Associate Head Coach in Sept. 2022, Steve Singleton originally joined the Longhorns staff as an assistant coach on July 1, 2019.
A former shortstop and second baseman with the Minnesota Twins organization of Major League Baseball, Singleton possesses 15-plus combined years of college and pro playing and coaching experience.
Tabbed the Assistant Coach of the Year by D1Softball, Singleton was a key component in Reese Atwood's ascend towards the top of five single-season batting records as well as leading the team in 11 different statistical categories. Atwood, who was a four-time Big 12 Player of the Week and three-time NFCA DI Player of the Week, was named the Big 12 Player of the Year, USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 3 Finalist, D1Softball National Player of the Year, Softball America National Player of the Year and a consensus (D1Softball, Softball America, NFCA) First Team All-American. Over the course of Texas' 65-game schedule, the Longhorns set 13 team single-season records that Singleton had a hand in. As a result of taking the regular season series against then-No. 1 Oklahoma, winning the Big 12 Conference regular season championship and appearing in the Women's College World Series (WCWS) Championship Series, Singleton and the rest of UT's four-member softball coaching staff were selected as the 2024 ATEC/NFCA Division I Central Regional Coaching Staff of the Year. Singleton also worked with true freshman Katie Stewart to set a new first-year Longhorn RBI record, marking the second consecutive season the record was broken.
Singleton was instrumental in the offensive productivity of the Longhorns' five-member freshmen class that ultimately were all named to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team following the conclusion of the 2023 regular season. Redshirt-freshman Ashton Maloney ended the season by leading all qualified Longhorn offensive student-athletes with a .382 batting average (58 hits in 152 official plate appearances), while true freshman Viviana Martinez set a program record for most runs batted in (RBI) by a first-year Longhorn after totaling a team-high 52 in 188 at bats. The fifth-year head coach also worked with freshman Reese Atwood, who led the program with 11 home runs throughout the 2023 season as well as becoming the first student-athlete in program history to be credited with walk-off at bats in three consecutive games.
The 2022 campaign was truly one for the record books as Texas went 47-22-1 overall and won 15 games over ranked teams on its way to a No. 2 final national ranking while also becoming the first unseeded team to reach the Women’s College World Series Championship Series. Along the way, the UT offense was arguably the best in school history, setting new single-season team records for runs (397), hits (560), doubles (116), total bases (906), walks (224) and RBIs (355), while registering top five Texas totals for HR’s (68) and stolen bases (97). The 116 doubles led all of NCAA Division I, while the 224 walks were good for seventh in the nation. UT also led the Big 12 Conference in double plays-per-game (0.43) and stolen bases-per-game (1.39).
The Longhorns continued their offensive success under Singleton’s tutelage during the 2021 campaign as the Burnt Orange & White established numerous program offensive records on the way to a 43-14 overall record, a No. 12 final ranking and a berth in the NCAA Stillwater Super Regional. The squad set school marks for team batting average (.342 - third in NCAA Division I), slugging (.561 - seventh NCAA) and on-base percentage (.419 - fourth NCAA) while putting up top five single-season totals for hits (512 - third NCAA), doubles (79), RBIs (338) and HR’s (78).
Singleton wasted no time making his impression felt through his work with the offense as part of the Longhorns' staff during the abbreviated 2020 campaign. Texas put up a 24-3 record, tied for the third-best 27-game start in school history, and reached No. 1 in the Softball America poll while leading the nation in team batting average (.376) and total doubles (62). UT also ranked in the NCAA Division I national top 10 in doubles-per-game (2nd – 2.30), on-base percentage (3rd - .450), solo shutouts (4th – 10), slugging percentage (5th – .597), won/loss percentage (6th – .889) and scoring (8th – 7.37). UT rallied for eight come-from-behind wins, went 5-1 against ranked teams (including beating the top two teams in the nation in consecutive games for the first time in school history – No. 1 UCLA & No. 2 Washington) and scored more runs over the first 27 games (199) than any squad in program history.
Prior to Texas, he spent two seasons (2017, 2018) as the hitting coach of the Fort Myers (Fla.) Miracle (High Single A) and was originally contracted to be the hitting coach for the Pensacola (Fla.) Blue Wahoos (AA) in 2019 before deciding to accept the open assistant coach role with the Longhorns. He served as the U.S. hitting coach for the 2018 MLB All-Star Futures Game and spent time with the Twins during 2019 Spring Training, working with hitters, infielders and outfielders. During his stint as a minor league coach, he helped developed top Twins MiLB prospects Royce Lewis, Alex Kirilloff and Brent Rooker.
Singleton helped guide the Miracle to the 2018 Florida State League title by developing player routines, working to implement data-driven approaches to expedite player development and with players on their process, mental game and mindset. He also prepared daily opposing pitching and hitting scouting reports for both the manager and position players, built player development plans in collaboration with staff and front office, helped in Major League Spring Training with batting practice, cage work and in the dugout, assisted the organization in player movement, evaluation and placement of higher-level prospects and served as interim MiLB manager when required.
Prior to his time with the Miracle, Singleton led all offensive development for the rookie level Gulf Coast League Twins (Fort Myers, Fla.) in 2016. With the squad he served as both a first- and third-base coach, worked with infielders on daily skill development, helped implement and teach the system, plays, ideology and culture of a MLB club to entry level minor league players and helped the front office and minor league staff implement organizational objectives.
At the collegiate level, Singleton was previously an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Florida SouthWestern State College (Fort Myers, Fla.) from Jan.-Dec. 2015. During his brief time with the program, he worked to land a recruiting class that consisted of four eventual MLB draft picks and 10 NCAA Division 1 transfers. Besides recruiting efforts, he was also in charge of hitting development and theory as well as infield/outfield defense. He ran the team’s speed and agility programs, handled all budgeting, travel planning and expenses, assisted with scheduling, supervised weight training sessions and handled camp scheduling and marketing while also coaching first base on game days.
Singleton served as the Vice President of Baseball Operations for Scout Sports (Sealy, Texas) in 2014, where he ran the scout baseball division, a high school recruiting, video and showcase company. He also spent time in 2013 as the hitting and head infield instructor for Baseball Rebellion (Durham., N.C.), providing one-on-one private instruction that included extensive video breakdown while handling sales, marketing and advertising to reach new clientele.
An 11th round draft pick out of the University of San Diego (2006), Singleton played in 654 career games from rookie to AAA level as a shortstop and second baseman in the Twins organization. He registered a .282 career batting average, while earning three Minor League All-Star nods (2008, 2009, 2010), was a 2009 Arizona Fall League participant and received a 2010 invite to MLB Spring Training. He led the Appalachian League in both batting average (.340) and triples (five) during the 2006 campaign and topped the Eastern League, while tying for second in MiLB, in doubles (43) in 2010.
Singleton began his scholastic career at the University of San Diego before leaving school early when drafted by the Twins. He eventually went on to earn both a bachelor’s degree in sports management (2014) and a master’s degree in athletic administration (2017) from Southern New Hampshire University. He has two sons, Steven and Matthew.
