The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Softball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Texas head softball coach Connie Clark announced on July 6, 2016, that Scrap Yard Sports Director of Player Development and former University of Oklahoma assistant coach Tripp MacKay had been named the new assistant coach for the Longhorns softball program.
MacKay took over the position previously held by Corrie Hill, who spent 11 years overseeing all aspects of the Texas offense while serving as bench coach on Clark’s staff.
During his initial campaign at Texas in 2017, MacKay’s offensive group hit .278 overall while tying for first in the Big 12 Conference in triples (13), rating second in doubles (80 - second most in a single season in school history), third in walks (173) and fourth in hits (445), runs scored (268) and RBIs (239). Two of his players reaped NFCA All-Region accolades, freshman catcher Taylor Ellsworth (fifth in the Big 12 with a .394 average) and senior shortstop Devon Tunning (tied for fifth in the league with 14 doubles).
MacKay spent the 2015-16 year as the Director of Player Development for Scrap Yard Sports in Houston, Texas, while also working with the former National Pro Fastpitch expansion team, the Scrap Yard Dawgs. During his time with the organization, he was in charge of overseeing player and coach development as well as development camps and clinics while serving as the team’s co-head coach.
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.
