LAFAYETTE, La. - T.J. Hubbard, former head coach at North Texas, who won 161 games in six seasons will be joining the Ragin' Cajuns softball coaching staff as an assistant coach, as announced by head coach Michael Lotief.
The hiring is pending approval by the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors.
"I'm grateful and thankful for [Lotief] giving me the opportunity," Hubbard said. "The rich history that [Louisiana] has had in the Sun Belt conference and in post season is exciting to be apart of."
"T.J. and I have a long relationship." Lotief said of the hiring. "We had a respect for each other, not only in terms of coaching and competing against each other, but philosophically. We saw a lot of the aspects of the game the same way."
Hubbard spent the last 10 years with North Texas, starting as an assistant coach in 2003 for the schools first team, before taking over as head coach for six years from 2007-13.
While at the helm of the Mean Green softball program, Hubbard became the all-time leader in wins, and posted the two best-winning seasons in school history. He finished with a 161-161-1 record.
Hubbard will fit well with Lotief's coaching style.
"The fact that he has been a head coach is invaluable," Lotief said of Hubbard fitting in. "The structure when Coach Stefni and I were here worked because we both understood all aspects of the program. It wasn't one person having authority over one area, we collaborated and that's what I like about this situation. It is going to make me better, it's going to help us make better decisions and it's going to continue to raise the level of what we need to do to be successful."
An offensive-minded coach, North Texas hit 42-or-more home runs in six of his 10 years with the program, totaling 271 in that time. In 2009 and 2010, the Mean Green led the Sun Belt in home runs, two of just three years in which Louisiana did not hold that distinction.
"I think that my head coaching experience, and part of my history in the management of things will help relieve Coach Mike for other stuff he has to do." Hubbard said of what he will bring to the team. "I think being in the Sun Belt for the last ten years in North Texas will be valuable at times."
Prior to his time at North Texas, Hubbard was an assistant coach at Seminole State College in Bartlesville, Okla.
A 2002 graduate of Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, Okla., he received a bachelor's degree in exercise science and sports management. At OWU he was a three-year letterwinner for the baseball team as a second baseman.
The Cajuns are coming off of their second consecutive trip to the NCAA Super Regionals, after posting a 47-15 record in 2013.