Maryland athletic director Damon Evans announced Monday morning that Mark Montgomery will be the next head coach of the Maryland softball program.
Montgomery, who replaces former Maryland softball head coach Julie Wright after she resigned in August, comes to Maryland after leading Louisiana Tech to conference regular-season and tournament championships, earning himself 2019 Conference USA Co-Coach of the Year honors.
Proud to introduce our new Head Coach Mark Montgomery! Welcome to the Terps family!
— Maryland Softball (@TerpsSoftball) September 9, 2019
https://t.co/QQT9uTQFvG#FearTheTurtle #GoTerps pic.twitter.com/ojLfNNQcxR
“Mark brings nearly two decades of of collegiate head coaching success to our softball program, including a tremendous tenure most recently at Louisiana Tech,” Evans said. “More importantly, his student-athletes have a proven track record of succeeding in all facets of the collegiate experience, and we are confident he will transfer that success to College Park.”
Montgomery has spent the past seven seasons as the head coach at Louisiana Tech, leading his team to two conference tournament championships (2017, 2019), two NCAA Regional appearances (2017, 2019) and five consecutive 30-plus win seasons. Prior to his tenure at Louisiana Tech, the program recorded one 30-plus win season in the previous 23 years.
Last season, Montgomery led the program to 45 wins, which is the second-most in program history, and 19 Conference USA wins, which were the most in program history.
“I am extremely excited about the opportunity to join such a prestigious institution both academically and athletically, in addition to a fraternity of coaches at Maryland who are among the most respected nationally,” Montgomery said. “I was also thrilled by the chance to coach in the universally renowned Big Ten Conference. I cannot wait to get to campus and meet the young women as we work together to shape the limitless future of the Maryland softball program.”
Montgomery, who owns a 556-483 record in his 19 seasons as a head coach (17 of which were at the Division I level), takes over a program that went 20-31 last year and lost its final eight games of the season. Under Wright, Maryland posted a 59-147-1 overall record and a 19-73 mark in the Big Ten. The Terps also missed the conference tournament, which includes 12 of the league’s 14 teams, during three of her four years with the program.
“Maryland has done its homework,” Baylor head coach Glen Moore said. “[Montgomery] will quickly make the Terrapins compete in the Big Ten.”