Texas softball coach Steve Singleton leaves for top job with Cal Golden Bears

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas associate head softball coach Steve Singleton is headed west to take over the program at Cal, the school announced Monday.

Singleton, named D1Softball.com's assistant coach of the year in 2024, spent six seasons with the Longhorns, starting as assistant coach in 2019 before being promoted to associate head coach in 2022. Singleton spearheaded the Longhorns' offensive approach, helping the Longhorns win the program's first national championship this past season.

Texas was second in Division I with 460 RBIs, third with a .352 batting average, 9th with 94 home runs and 10th with a .583 slugging percentage. The Longhorns averaged 7.15 runs per game, No. 14 in the country.

He's originally from Oakland, so he's headed back home to help guide the Bears through the Atlantic Coast Conference with his 15-plus years of playing and coaching experience. Singleton draws a lot of his knowledge from his days in Minor League Baseball, playing 654 games from rookie ball to Triple-A, as a middle infielder in the Twins organization. He also coached in the minors with stops in Fort Myers, Florida, and the Gulf Coast League Twins.

Singleton was an 11th-round pick by the Twins in the 2006 MLB First-Year Player Draft after playing three years collegiately at San Diego.

He's the ninth coach in Golden Bears history. The team went 37-21 overall with an 11-13 mark in ACC play last season. Singleton takes over for Chelsea Spencer who stepped down in June after five seasons.