Haley Long begins her third season as an assistant coach of the Texas State softball program. Long was introduced to Bobcat nation on Sept. 19, 2017 after a successful run at St. Mary’s University.
Long is primarily responsible for the Bobcat outfield, short game and base running, while also handling all technology.
Prior to coming to Texas State, she spent five seasons (2013-17) at St. Mary’s University, which is located in San Antonio. The Rattlers are an NCAA Division II institution that competes in the Heartland Conference.
Texas State finished the 2019 season with an overall record of 29-25 and a league record of 16-10. The Bobcats earned the No. 4 seed in the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Championship. Long helped manage junior outfielder Christiana McDowell to 2019 Second Team All-Sun Belt Conference honors. McDowell, was also named Third Team NFCA All-Central Region.
The 2018 season, Long’s first season in San Marcos, was historic the Bobcats. Texas State finished the season with an overall record of 43-16, a Sun Belt Conference championship in both the regular-season and the tournament and an automatic bid into the NCAA Los Angeles Regional. The regular season and tournament championships were the first since joining the Sun Belt in 2013. Texas State last won the conference title in 2012. The 43 victories marked the third-highest win total since Woodard took over in 2001. The Bobcats posted the nation’s 30th RPI and ended the season ranked No. 22 in the NFCA/USA Today Top-25 Coaches Poll.
During her time at St. Mary’s, she helped lead the team to a 234-71 (.767) overall record and an 89-17 (.840) mark in league play. The Rattlers won conference championships in all five years and made five-straight appearances in the NCAA Championship South Central Super Regional.
St. Mary’s never won fewer than 44 games and had banner years in both 2014 and 2015. The ’14 squad reached the 50-win plateau for just the fourth time in program history, while the ’15 team made an appearance in the NCAA Division II College World Series. She was also a member of the National Fast Pitch Coaches Association South Central Region Coaching Staff of the Year in 2015.
She began her coaching career at Blinn College, helping lead the Buccaneers to a fourth-place finish at the 2012 NJCAA Division I World Series. Blinn received the NFCA Midwest Coaching Staff of the Year award both years Long was on staff.
She compete collegiately for both Blinn and the University of Nebraska. She posted a .355 batting average with 43 runs scored, five doubles, 33 RBI, 18 stolen bases and 10 triples in her lone season with the Buccaneers. She then became a three-year starter for the Cornhuskers and was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team as a sophomore. She also landed on the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team as a junior and spent all three years on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
The Brenham, Texas, native completed her bachelor’s degree in sociology from Nebraska in 2009 and earned a master’s degree in kinesiology from the University of Texas-Permian Basin in 2012.
