Abilene Christian University announced Tuesday afternoon that they have selected ACU’s next softball head coach after being assisted by Game One and its University Advantage program during a week-long, nationwide search.
ACU vice president of athletics Zack Lassiter announced Tuesday that Abilene Christian has agreed to hire Larry Hays, a longtime West Texas college baseball and softball coach, as the Wildcats’ next head coach.
“Abilene Christian is a university that honors God and I’m excited to be a part of that because that’s what I want to do,” Hays said in a news release. “It is a great opportunity to accept the challenge and try to make a difference.”
The news comes on the heels of ACU announcing the resignation of former Wildcats softball head coach Jo Koons, who stepped down from her position last week.
Hays is now set to become the eighth head coach in the history of Abilene Christian softball.
“We could not be more excited to add a coach of Larry Hays’ caliber to the Wildcat family,” Lassiter said. “Coach Hays has not only proven he can build winning programs for decades but is also an outstanding fit for ACU’s mission of educating students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world.”
Hays has enjoyed a decorated college coaching career spanning nearly four decades across the greater West Texas area.
He got his start as a collegiate coach when he took over as the head baseball coach at Lubbock Christian University, a position he held from 1971 through 1986. In 16 seasons as LCU’s head baseball coach, he led the Chaps to the 1983 NAIA national championship and 10 seasons with 40+ wins.
Hays then took over the Texas Tech baseball program in 1987 and served as the Red Raiders’ baseball coach until 2008.
In 22 seasons at the helm of Texas Tech baseball, he helped lead the Red Raiders two their first Southwest Conference and Big 12 conference championships in school history as well as nine NCAA Baseball Tournament appearances.
In 2008, Hays became the fourth coach in the history of college baseball to surpass 1,500 career wins as a head coach. He’s also the Red Raiders’ all-time winningest head baseball coach with a career 815-478-3 record, logging only two losing seasons in 22 years at Tech.
He was recognized as the Southwest Conference’s baseball Coach of the Year in 1995 and then won the Big 12’s Coach of the Year award in 1997 as well.
His No. 27 jersey was retired by Texas Tech during a 2009 game against Lubbock Christian.
Then he made his pivot to collegiate softball.
Hays returned to Lubbock Christian in 2010 to become the university’s new head softball coach. He led the Lady Chaps to a 54-7 record and an appearance in the 2010 NAIA National Tournament.
He then stepped away from the softball diamond for the next eight years before accepting his most recent position as the head coach of NCAA Division II Colorado Christian from 2019 to 2026.
In an eight-year stretch as Colorado Christian’s head coach, Hays led the Cougars to three 50+ win seasons, three Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament championships and five regional appearances in the Division II NCAA Softball Tournament.
In 2026, Hays’ Colorado Christian squad logged a 47-game winning streak and finished the season at – overall.
He has amassed a combined 394-91-4 career mark in nine seasons as a college softball head coach at the NAIA and NCAA Division II levels.
Hays is also a member of the NAIA Baseball Hall of Fame and the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015.
He holds a 1,902-951-8 career record in 38 seasons as a college baseball and softball head coach.
Hays also previously served as the head coaches of LCU’s men’s basketball (1969-75; 1978-80) and women’s basketball (1982-83) teams.
Hays’ son, Shannon, previously worked as Abilene Christian’s men’s basketball coach from 1996 through 1999, and ACU’s athletic director from 2002-03.
Shannon Hays is currently the head softball coach at Grand Canyon University.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: ACU hires Texas Tech baseball legend as next softball coach
Reporting by Andrew McCulloch, Abilene Reporter-News / Abilene Reporter-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Andrew McCulloch, Abilene Reporter-News | USA TODAY Network
