Just weeks after winning their second straight National Championship, the Texas Longhorn softball team is building another roster worthy of a Women's College World Series title.
Beyond the recruiting and transfer portal additions, head coach Mike White also added a highly lauded coach to his staff. Former Southeastern Louisiana head coach Rick Fremin is now his new associate head coach.
Read more: Texas softball transfer portal tracker: Longhorns' path to a 3-peat starts now
The hire followed the departure of two members from Texas's coaching staff, both of whom Fremin will replace. The departures of associate head coaches Kristen Zaleski and Ehren Earleywine were both announced last week. Zaleski worked under White during both Championship seasons, and Earleywine joined the staff last season as an offensive-minded assistant.
NEWS: Southeastern Louisiana head coach Rick Fremin will join the Texas coaching staff https://t.co/t2jBQzA4kB
— Softball America (@SoftbalAmerica) June 17, 2026
Fremin, who spent nearly a decade with the SLU Lions, coached his former team to five straight seasons with 40 or more wins and racked up quite the resume along the way.
Mike White adds Rick Fremin to Texas coaching staff
Fremin earned a 394-213 record over his 11 years with the Lions, and was named a three-time Louisiana Coach of the Year and the 2026 Southland Conference Coach of the Year. In 2026, he led Southeastern Louisiana to a 46-16 overall record and a Southland Conference regular-season title.
His team may have ended its season on a three-game losing streak, but it outscored opponents 368-120, dominating both on the mound and at the plate. That prowess is exactly what the Horns need to add to the coaching staff after Zaleski and Earleywine left the program.
He started his head coaching career in 2006 at Belhaven, earning a 186-114 overall record, before being named the head coach at Jackson State in 2011, where he earned a 138-133 overall record. He took over the SLU program following the 2025 season.
Earleywine left to take the same position with the Tennessee Volunteers, but Zaleski has yet to announce her next job. However, she is likely on the shortlist for a slew of head coaching jobs across the sport.
Fremin isn't the only addition that White has made to his team this offseason, bringing in three dominant players from the transfer portal.
White received commitments from former Florida State shortstop Isa Torres, filling the void left by Leighann Goode's graduation, former Arizona State catcher Samantha Swan, replacing Reese Atwood's dominance behind the plate, and former Texas Tech pitcher Samantha Lincoln, adding depth to a Texas bullpen that already features Teagan Kavan.
Additionally, the Longhorns landed the No. 3 recruiting class of 2026, bringing in even more talent for a team that is now on the hunt to secure a third straight National Championship.
While Texas lost Atwood, Goode, and Citlaly Gutierrez to the AUSL, as well as backup infielder Shylien Brister and pitcher Cambria Salmon to the transfer portal, the Longhorns will be just fine with White steering the ship.
Also read: Texas is pulling off what Patty Gasso could only dream of in softball transfer portal
White has been on an absolute tear this offseason, and the additions to both his roster and his coaching staff highlight exactly why Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte wanted him to lead the softball team to exactly where it belongs: atop the world.
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