Last Friday, as CDC was still shaking out the sand in his shoes following a trip to Destin, Florida for the SEC Spring Meetings, UT was also announcing that Texas women’s golf coach Ryan Murphy was resigning.
“I am happy with what we achieved in my 10 years as the Head Women’s Golf Coach,” Murphy said in a statement put out by the university. “I believe the program is in a great place.”
Four days later, Del Conte and the Texas athletic department were announcing Murphy’s replacement.
“We are thrilled to have Laura Ianello taking over our women’s golf program,” Del Conte said. “She is one of the nation’s elite golf coaches.”
Elite is an understatement.
Ianello comes to UT having already won a national championship as a coach at Arizona in 2018 – and as a player at Arizona in 2000.
In her time in Tucson, the Wildcats made the NCAA tournament nine times (out of 13 seasons), developed six All-American golfers, 24 All-Pac-12 golfers and also had 24 players earn Pac-12 All-Academic team honors.
“My goals are simple,” Ianello said. “Build positive relationships with the current team, work hard, recruit the best and win championships.”
The swift move to replace the women’s golf coach is a pretty typical case study in how Del Conte operates when he needs to hire a new coach. He identifies who he wants (and it’s usually someone who has better credentials than the coach they are replacing), move quickly to secure their services and announce the hire.
