After controversial Fresno State exit, softball coach Linda Garza lands with Bulldogs rival

Former Fresno State softball coach Linda Garza was not out of work very long.

Garza, who resigned on June 15, was hired Friday as the coach at Mountain West Conference rival Nevada, the Wolf Pack undeterred by an incident with former Bulldogs outfielder Kaitlyn Jennings in an April 6 victory over Santa Clara, details of which the sixth-year senior posted to social media this week.

“We talked to everyone we could in and around the Fresno program,” Nevada athletics director Doug Knuth said in a virtual news conference posted to the Wolf Pack website. “We talked to folks at the highest levels of university administration. I talked to the athletic director. We’ve talked to other people around Fresno softball who know coach Garza, and everybody I talked to said the same thing that this one incident was one situation and not her normal character and not anything that had happened before.

“She has this incredibly long track record of success of care and concern for her athletes, great relationships with her athletes. This is one moment that flared up and one moment that happened. Everybody that I talked to said it was a tough situation. It was an intense moment, intense athlete, intense coach and it was a one-time thing that happened.”

Knuth said that he did not speak to Jennings before making the hire, out of respect for the player.

“I’ve heard from people who were involved in the situation and have a pretty good sense of what played out.,” he said. “I have enough information to make the decision I made.”

Garza had taken a leave of absence midway through the 2020-21 season, her fifth at Fresno State, following that incident with Jennings, who said in a social media post that the Bulldogs’ now-former coach had grabbed her by the jersey, yelled at her for saying something to the umpire after she was called out attempting to steal a base and pushing her against a dugout wall.

She did not coach the rest of the season, missing out on the Bulldogs’ run to a conference championship and first NCAA Tournament berth since 2017.

“I just really want to thank Doug and the entire administration, President (Brian) Sandoval, for giving me this opportunity,” Garza said on the news conference. “We’ve had extensive conversations and talked about real things and I definitely know there are things out there …

“I learned from my Fresno experience, the things I can be better at. Definitely on the field I know how to win ball games and I know that’s one side of the coin. There’s another area that I’ve always been really good at – my kids and athletes have always been able to graduate and graduate with degrees they want to be in and they’re incredibly strong and bold young women. We’re going to continue that. … I’m blessed that Doug has given me this opportunity. I went through a rough patch and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to and I’m appreciative of the opportunity to be asked, you know, ‘Tell me what’s going on, tell me what you’ve learned’ and to be able to do this.

“I have a passion for what I do. I absolute love coaching. It was a humbling experience and I’m going to do everything with my heart and everything doing it in the right way. Not that I was ever not, but I’m just going to be very more conscientious of it.”

In 4 1/2 seasons at the school in her hometown, the Hoover High graduate was 161-82 and coached 21 all-conference selections, 12 NFCA all-region honorees and made three postseason appearances, including the NCAA Tournament twice. Garza also coached two Mountain West pitchers of the year, two Mountain West freshmen of the year and one Mountain West player of the year.

“I truly believe we have found that person with the knowledge and skills and recruiting contacts and connections, but most importantly what I’ve been told and what’s been shared with me from people in the softball world is coach Garza is a tremendous person of character,” Knuth said. “Great character with tons and tons of care and concern with her athletes. Runs her program the right way.

“We’ve got the best coach in the Mountain West conference now. There’s no one in this conference that knows the other coaches or the other players as well as Linda Garza.”

This story was originally published July 2, 2021 at 4:50 PM.