Texas A&M Softball Coaching Staff
Last Game
Texas
Loss
5-6
May 26, 2024
2024 Austin Super Regional
Next Game
Utah State
Feb 6, 4:30pm
Bryan-College Station, TX
Trisha Ford
Head Coach
Trisha Ford was hired as the softball program's 10th head coach on June 7, 2021. Ford comes to Aggieland following a six-year stint at the helm of Arizona State.
Over her head coaching career, Ford has amassed a 397-226-1 (.686) record at Saint Mary's (CA), Fresno State and Arizona State, including a 212-89 (.704) ledger with the Sun Devils. She has twice been named the Mountain West Coach of the Year (2015, 2016) and the Pac-12 Coach of the Year (2018, 2022).
Ford earned her second Pac-12 Coach of the Year honor last season after guiding ASU to its 17th-straight NCAA Tournament and the program's 28th-consecutive winning season. The Sun Devils won their third Pac-12 Championship and first since 2011, winning a program-record 20 league games.
Jeff Harger
Assistant Coach
Harger rejoins Ford in Aggieland after spending the last five seasons at Arizona State and will work directly with offensive development.
Harger helped Arizona State’s offense rank among the best nationally and in the Pac-12 Conference. In 2022, the Sun Devils led the league in scoring (6.85 runs per game), slugging percentage (.610), on-base percentage (.422), home runs per game (1.93), doubles per game (1.57) and walks (199). ASU’s home runs per game, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and scoring all ranked in the top-10 in the country.
Russ Heffley
Assistant Coach
Russ Heffley joined Trisha Ford's inaugural staff at Texas A&M as volunteer assistant coach in August of 2022 before being elevated to assistant coach in July of 2023.
Heffley oversees the development of the Aggie catchers and coaches first base in-game, while assisting with recruiting efforts, hitting duties and day-to-day activities. In his first season in Aggieland, he mentored and elevated Julia Cottrill’s game as she earned NFCA Third Team All-America and NFCA All-South Region First Team accolades as a junior. Along with national and regional recognition, Cottrill garnered All-SEC First Team honors after finishing the SEC regular season ranked in the top 10 in numerous offensive categories, including three top five rankings as No. 3 in RBI (22), No. 4 in doubles (6) and No. 5 in total bases (49).
Before coming to Aggieland he spent two seasons at Arizona State with Ford, specifically working with the outfielders.
Eric Leyba
Assistant Coach
Eric Leyba joined the softball program in June 2023 as an assistant coach. Leyba comes to Aggieland after spending the previous five seasons at Oregon State working with the infielders and hitters.
In 2023, Leyba coached infielders Frankie Hammoude and Kaiea Higa to All-Pac 12 Third Team and Pac 12 All-Freshman honors, respectively.
Leyba helped lead the Beavers to one of the best seasons in program history in 2022. Oregon State finished with a 39-22 record and a trip to the Women’s College World Series for the second time in school annals and the first since 2006. Under Leyba’s guidance, Hammoude was named to the NFCA All-Pacific Region First Team as a junior and earned back-to-back All-Pac 12 First Team recognition.