John Bargfeldt Joins Oklahoma State As An Assistant Coach
Former Tulsa Head Coach John Bargfeldt is joining Kenny Gajewski’s coaching staff in Stillwater. Bargfeldt, who resigned as Tulsa’s Head Coach last Friday, will take over as the new pitching coach.
Bargfeldt will take over for Jeff Cottrill who will now be running the Cowgirls’ offense taking over for Stacie Pestrak who has decided to step down from a coaching role and will move to an administrative position. Leaving an open opportunity for Gajewski to land Bargfeldt.
Cottrill has always been flexible as he joined Gajewski’s staff as the Director of Operations in his first season before eventually taking over the pitching staff and becoming a full-time assistant coach.
Bargfeldt turn Tulsa into a perennial winning program leading the Golden Hurricane to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances with in 14 seasons, winning a conference regular season or tournament title in eight of those 14 seasons. He also never suffered a losing season at the helm.
Sources tell Fastpitch News that Bargfeldt resigned from Tulsa in part due to being burnt out by the head coaching job and the current landscape in the sport being that no matter how successful Tulsa would be during any season that they always would be placed in a regional in the state. Only three years during the 11 regionals they qualify for did Tulsa play outside of the state of Oklahoma ( 06-Fresno St, 13-Nebraska, 14-Baylor).
Seven times Tulsa had to play in Norman Regional against Oklahoma while this past season, ironically, Tulsa made it to regional final in Stillwater before bowing out to Oklahoma State.
Sources also tell FastpitchNews that despite the success, Bargfeldt had not received a raise from Tulsa since joining the American Conference in 2014.
Tulsa promoted Crissy Strimple on Wednesday. Strimple played at Tulsa and has been on the coaching staff for the last 12 seasons under her mentor, Bargfeldt.
“Many thanks to John Bargfeldt, my mentor and friend for life, for his guidance over the last 12 seasons. Coaching under John, I have learned so much about the game and how to do things the right way.” Strimple said in Tulsa press release about Bargfeldt. “His influence on Tulsa softball will endure for a long time to come. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors. I am excited to assume my new role and, with the help of my coaching staff and student-athletes, I look forward to continuing and building upon our winning tradition.”
Bargfeldt said during his “In The Circle” appearance on January 8, 2018 that one of reasons he never left Tulsa for another head coaching job was because of not wanting to move his family. Now Bargfeldt will be moving just 62 miles away at Stillwater where he coached his last game as Tulsa’s head coach back in May.
One has to wonder if that will ultimately be Bargfeldt’s last game as a head coach in college softball? Will he get the itch to be lead a program again in the future?
If he does, there will be plenty of schools interested in him, but for now, Bargfeldt hopes to help continue building on the success OSU enjoyed in 2019; ending them in Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series, the one postseason stop within the state of Oklahoma Bargfeldt has yet to coach at. Though, he have a better shot of getting there as part of Oklahoma State staff.
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