Another Coach Leaves

 On this week, in As the UTA Coaches Carrousel Turns, another sport is looking to replace a head coach. At the beginning of the month, the UT Arlington Athletic Department announced that PeeJay Brun was resigning after five seasons of running the program. 

Unlike Coach Darrin Thomas' resignation, this one doesn't move the needle as much for me. Coach Thomas was at UTA when I was a student broadcaster and I built a casual relationship with him. He was in the department for over 20 years. He had a decent run a little less than midway through his career. Conversely, he also was facing a growing call of Maverick fans wanting a change at the helm. There's not much of the latter that I was aware of with Coach Brun.

Some similarities do exist however. Both are spring sports where UTA has traditionally done well. Both led programs that have all-time winning records. Both replaced a head coach who finished sub-.500, but whose predecessor prior won less than they lost. Both ended their time in Arlington with two, full losing seasons in a row after the NCAA shut down 2020 play in the spring. And finally, both play in the toughest mid-major conference, if not the toughest, in the NCAA. The Sun Belt top-to-bottom can compete with any team in the NCAA.

But Thomas also made an NCAA tournament (though one in 15 years isn't a resume builder), won a conference title (again, just one), and a Sun Belt Division championship. While SBC softball hasn't split into divisional play while UTA was a member, the rest of the softball accolades are pretty bare, with one exception.

The Mavs won at least 30 games the first two years of her tenure and were invited to the National Invitational Softball Championships in 2019. After going 3-1 in the regional, with wins against SFA (106) and McNeese, (85) UTA swept Liberty (55), Loyola Marymount (67) and Iowa State (48) in the championship tournament to claim the hardware. The numbers in parenthesis indicate the final RPI of each team. UTA finished second in the SBC that year with a final RPI of 53. In most measurable ways, it was the best season for UTA softball whilst in the Sun Belt.

And that ultimately may have set the stage for the resignation. A season like that in a tough conference certainly raised expectations. Unfortunately, that became UTA's penultimate season under Brun's tenure. Her two third place finishes in the first two years were followed with an incomplete season, a tie for sixth and a fifth place showing this year. By all measures, things certainly declined. 

Allan Saxe Field, the softball home is quite similar to Clay Gould Ballpark. The player amenities are similar and top notch in NCAA Division I. However, the game day experience and fan amenities are lacking. Does that factor into recruiting? I don't know. I know baseball has stayed competitive for what it offers the players. I'm not sure if that applies to softball players.

Also in the mix is the DFW rivalry as the University of North Texas made their first tournament appearance in their program history this year. In one year, they equaled UTA's total NCAA appearances and tournament win/loss record. With only two seniors and five juniors on that team, there may be concerns for what that holds in Arlington. With no teams from the other two DFW Universities, it's a two horse race for home-grown talent.

The new coach will have some work cut out for them as this year's UTA team had nine seniors/graduate transfers and four juniors. Many of the seniors didn't have much playing time this year, but that kind of leadership is going to be missed.

A change in conference and a change in coach gives UTA an opportunity with the softball program. The right hire couldn't be more timely. UTA will need it to restore UTA softball to prior high's. I had faith that Brun could do it. Now, with her resigning, we'll never know.