East Texas A&M University announced the hiring of Rodney DeLong as the fourth head softball coach in school history on May 20, 2026.
An 11-year head coaching veteran, DeLong has amassed 376 career wins as a head coach, including 271 as a Division I head coach at North Texas and Austin Peay. He has led his team to three conference championships and three NCAA Tournament appearances. His career winning percentage of .653 ranks 40th among all active Division I coaches.
In each of his three prior head coaching stints, DeLong has won 31 or more games in his first season at the helm, while having set the single season record for most wins and advancing to the postseason at all three stops.
He takes over a Lion softball program that has amassed eight winning seasons in its 12-year history, won 30 or more games in six seasons, played in the NCAA Tournament five times, and won one conference tournament championship.
In his 11 years as a head coach, DeLong’s teams have won 31 or more games in all seasons outside of the COVID-shortened 2020 season when the Mean Green were off to a 19-5 start. Individually, he has mentored 46 all-conference selections, 17 all-region selections, and two All-Americans.
DeLong most recently spent seven seasons as the head coach at North Texas, winning two conference regular season championships and the Conference USA Tournament in 2022, advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
During his time as the skipper in Denton, he amassed a record of 232-119 and is the winningest coach in program history. He also managed the most wins in a single season during the 2021 campaign, was named the Conference USA Coach of the Year twice, and recorded nine wins over ranked opponents, including Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Nebraska, and twice each against Louisiana and Florida Atlantic. DeLong holds a career record of 27-7 against current Southland Conference schools.
Before taking over as the head coach at North Texas, DeLong spent one season at Austin Peay, going 39-19-1 overall and 17-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference, advancing to the National Invitational Softball Championship in 2018. It was the program’s first winning season in 24 years, and the 39 wins are the program record for most wins in a season.
He began his collegiate head coaching career at Cameron in Lawton, Oklahoma. The Aggies made it to the postseason in two of the three seasons with DeLong in charge, including a 41-18 record in 2015, which is the program record for most wins.
In between his head coaching stints at Cameron and Austin Peay, he was the assistant coach at Georgia Tech in 2017. DeLong was tasked with instructing the hitters and the infielders. The Yellow Jackets showed improvement in 11 different offensive categories, while being top 20 in the country in home runs and top 60 in double plays per game.
DeLong holds a 211-64 record as a high school softball coach prior to being named the head coach at Cameron. He won the 2013 state championship at Cache High School in Oklahoma, while winning four regional championships and five district championships.
A two-year letter winner on the baseball team at Cameron, DeLong played shortstop, appearing in 79 games. He started his collegiate baseball career at Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa.
The Lawton, Oklahoma native graduated from Cameron in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in history before receiving his Masters of Education in sports administration at East Central in 2013.
THE DELONG FILE
2026-Present – East Texas A&M, Head Coach
2019-2025 – North Texas, Head Coach
2018 – Austin Peay, Head Coach
2017 – Georgia Tech, Assistant Coach
2014-16 – Cameron, Head Coach
2012-13 – Cache High School (Oklahoma), Head Coach
2011 – Lawton MacArthur High School (Oklahoma), Head Coach
2008-10 – Cache High School (Oklahoma), Head Coach
HEAD COACHING RECORD
Cameron – 105-62 (Three seasons)
Austin Peay – 39-19-1 (One season)
North Texas – 232-119 (Seven seasons)
Total – 376-200-1 (.653)
Division I – 271-138-1 (.662)
| Year |
School |
Overall |
Conference |
Notes |
| 2014 |
Cameron |
31-23 |
15-12 (LSC) |
NCAA Tournament participant |
| 2015 |
Cameron |
41-18 |
16-12 (LSC) |
NCAA Tournament participant, most single season wins in program history |
| 2016 |
Cameron |
33-21 |
18-14 (LSC) |
|
| 2018 |
Austin Peay |
39-19-1 |
17-4 (OVC) |
National Invitational Softball Championship participant, most single season wins in program history |
| 2019 |
North Texas |
35-19 |
19-5 (CUSA) |
Conference USA Regular Season champions |
| 2020 |
North Texas |
19-5 |
2-1 (CUSA) |
|
| 2021 |
North Texas |
38-12 |
18-2 (CUSA) |
Conference USA Regular Season champions, most single-season wins in program history |
| 2022 |
North Texas |
37-16 |
17-7 (CUSA) |
Conference USA Tournament Champions, NCAA Tournament participant |
| 2023 |
North Texas |
35-22 |
16-8 (CUSA) |
Conference USA Tournament Finalist |
| 2024 |
North Texas |
32-24 |
17-10 (AAC) |
|
| 2025 |
North Texas |
36-21 |
16-11 (AAC) |
American Tournament Finalist |
