You don’t usally get to be the WCWS National Champions by playing it safe and the Texas Longhorns made a big coaching move this week in case you missed it (as I did when hospitalized to have my gall bladder removed!).

Ehren Earleywine, the longtime Missouri head coach and, most recently an assistant at Ole Miss, was hired this week as the Associate Head Coach under the leadership of Head Coach Mike White.

Earleywine was a three-time conference coach of the year honoree with over 600 wins throughout 14 seasons as a head coach.

As one source connected to the program noted:

“It’s a great hire because of his (Earleywine’s) softball smarts.”

On Tuesday (August 29, 2025), the UT Sports Media office issued the press release below and on social media had a simple message:

Welcome to the Forty Acres, @EhrenEarleywine 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/58Sk8DctbC

— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) August 19, 2025

Here is the complete announcement under the title:

Softball Tabs Ehren Earleywine as Associate Head Coach

By: Grace Tafolla

AUSTIN, Texas – Ehren Earleywine has been named Texas Softball’s Associate Head Coach, Head Coach Mike White announced Tuesday. Earleywine will oversee UT’s offense after spending the 2024 season as an assistant coach at Ole Miss.  

A three-time conference coach of the year with over 600 wins throughout 14 seasons as a head coach, Earleywine brings a storehouse of expertise to the Forty Acres.

Earleywine spent 11 seasons at the helm of the Missouri softball program from 2007-18, the Tigers made three Women’s College World Series appearances, recorded the first three 50-win seasons in school history and advanced to eight NCAA Super Regionals.

With a career winning percentage of .726 (628-237 over 14 seasons), Earleywine has established himself as one of the top softball coaches in the country. He helped the Tigers averaged 43.8 wins per season in Columbia.

At Ole Miss in 2024, he helped the Rebels turn in a historic campaign that resulted in the program’s first trip to the Women’s College World Series.

Ole Miss concluded the season as a consensus top-10 program, including a No. 7 final ranking in Softball America’s poll and a No. 8 ranking in the NFCA, ESPN/USA Softball and D1Softball final polls.

All four rankings marked the program’s best finish in each poll in program history and clinch the first time finishing as a consensus top-10 program in the nation.

Earleywine was part of a Rebel coaching staff that was named the NFCA South Region Staff of the Year. Spearheading Ole Miss’s offense, the Rebels broke nearly every single-season offensive record in their history, while recording program records for most All-SEC First and Second Team honorees and All-Region honorees.

Under Earleywine’s direction, the Ole Miss offense surged, setting single-season program records in runs (361), hits (503), doubles (88), home runs (67), RBI (330) and total bases (810).

Lexie Brady broke the 22-yard-old, single-season home runs record with 17, and Jaden Pone paced the SEC with a .427 batting average in conference play to earn All-SEC First Team praise. Aliyah Binford and Persy Llamas set a new single-season RBI record with 55 each.

Prior to coaching at Ole Miss, Earleywine served as District Activities Director for Jefferson City Public Schools for five years, where he managed and directed 300 coaches and 100 teams.

Under Earleywine, Missouri Softball established itself as one of the top programs in the nation.

In 11 seasons, the three-time conference coach of the year became the first Missouri softball coach to lead his squad to six-straight NCAA Regional titles, one of only three schools (joined by Arizona State and Florida) in the country to accomplish the feat from 2008-13.

The Tigers competed at the highest level during Earleywine’s time in Columbia, leading Missouri to two of the program’s seven all-time conference championships.

Striving for excellence in all phases of the game, shut-down pitching, consistent fielding and explosive offense were all constants during his tenure in Columbia.

With Earleywine at the reins, Missouri’s batting averages steadily rose. The program saw a .313 mark in 2009, a .304 mark in 2013, .310 rate in 2014 and .320 posting in 2015. Additionally, the team ERA declined, highlighted by 2011’s 1.40 mark, the Tiger’s best end of the year ERA since 1998.

As part of a stellar 50-12 overall record in 2009, Mizzou won the 2009 Big 12 Conference Tournament. The Tigers followed that up with a Big 12 Regular Season Championship in 2011, posting a stout 53-10 overall record.

From 2009-11, Earleywine took Missouri to three-consecutive Women’s College World Series. His 2009 and 2010 teams finished seventh in Oklahoma City, and the 2011 squad finished sixth, all surpassing the 50-win threshold.

In Missouri’s first season in the SEC in 2013, Earleywine’s squad left an immediate impression, placing third in the league’s regular season standings before finishing as runners-up at the SEC Tournament.

The Tigers won the Columbia Regional to advance to their sixth-straight NCAA Super Regional. The following season, Mizzou finished third again in the SEC standings but failed to advance out of their home Regional.

The Tigers bounced back in 2015 and 2016 with Super Regional appearances before punching their ticket to the 2017 Eugene Regional.

Mizzou’s entire softball staff received deserved recognition while helping the program ascend to the upper echelon of college softball. Earleywine and crew were named NFCA Midwest Region Staff of the Year three times in a four-year span (2009, 2010, & 2012).

Prior to arriving at Missouri, Earleywine spent five seasons at Georgia Tech, serving as head coach for the final three years. Earleywine’s teams made five-consecutive NCAA Regional appearances, finishing runner-up on three occasions.

Among his accomplishments, Earleywine’s squads broke every offensive record in school history, setting eight ACC records along the way. 

In 2006, Georgia Tech displayed the top offensive season for any program in ACC history.

The Ramblin’ Wreck claimed ACC regular season and tournament titles in 2005, and to his credit, Earleywine was named the 2005 ACC Coach of the Year. Named the top assistant coach at Georgia Tech in 2002, Earleywine served as the hitting and infield coach. During his two seasons as assistant coach, the Ramblin’ Wreck hitters broke 16 school records and two conference records.

A 1994 graduate of Westminster College, Earleywine played baseball at Missouri State University (formerly Southwest Missouri State) for one year before transferring to the Fulton, Mo., school for the remainder of his collegiate career.

Earleywine served as an assistant coach at Westminster through the 1997 campaign under the guidance of former Major League Baseball outfielder and former Tiger, Phil Bradley, then took the reins as head coach until 1999.

Following his time at Westminster, Earleywine was named assistant baseball coach at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in 2000, remaining there until 2002 before taking the head assistant coaching position at Georgia Tech.

A standout in men’s major fastpitch softball, Earleywine was a four-time member of Team USA (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003), including being named captain for his final two seasons with the national team.

In 2002, Team USA captured its first-ever gold medal in the Pan Am Qualifier, where Earleywine hit .429. During his career, Earleywine collected four medals: one gold, two silver and one bronze.

At the 2003 Pan Am Games, hosted by the Dominican Republic, Earleywine helped lead Team USA to a silver medal, doing so again in the 1999 Pan Am Games held in Winnipeg, Canada. Earleywine and his team earned bronze in Valencia, Venezuela, at the 1998 Pan Am Qualifier.

A six-time American Softball Association (ASA) All-American, Earleywine was an All-World selection in 1999 by the International Softball Congress (ISC).

As a member of the Decatur Pride, Earleywine’s team earned the ASA Softball National Championship title in 1999, also taking World Championship honors in 2001 with the ISC.