After eight seasons as the athletics director for the Texas Longhorns, there’s been enough time to assess how Chris Del Conte operates coaching searches, and it’s become clear that he doesn’t make decisions
to fire coaches without having high degree of certainty that he can land a top choice as their replacement.
So it might be easy to ignore the seamlessness of the transition from 14-year head soccer coach Ange Kelly, who was relieved of her duties on Monday, to the hire of UCLA head coach Margueritte Bates on Tuesday, one of the rising stars in women’s college soccer.
The Bruins announced the departure of Bates on Monday.
“What an incredible day for Texas Soccer and our entire athletics program,” Del Conte said in a statement released by the school. “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Margueritte Bates to our Longhorn family. When we began our search for the next leader of our program, Coach Bates’ name immediately rose to the top. Her résumé of success is incredible and her reputation in the soccer community is truly exceptional. Margueritte is a proven championship coach, an elite developer of student-athletes and a dynamic leader, with a clear vision for building a program that competes at the highest level year after year. From the moment we met with her, it was clear she was a perfect fit for Texas. I want to thank Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director for Sports Administration Sarah Baumgartner leading this search and helping us bring Coach Bates to The Forty Acres.”
Over four years with the Bruins, Bates became the first rookie head coach to win a national championship by leading UCLA to the title in 2022, finishing her time in Westwood with a 67-13-9 (.803) mark, fourth-best nationally over the stretch. In making the NCAA Tournament in all four years, Bates led UCLA to two conference titles in twice earning recognition as the Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
“I am truly humbled and incredibly energized to lead this tradition-rich program at The University of Texas,” said Bates. “This is a place synonymous with excellence, built on decades of pride, passion and championship standards. There is no question that Texas has everything required to not only compete among the nation’s best, but to define what excellence looks like. I’m grateful to Chris Del Conte, Sarah Baumgartner, and our University leadership for entrusting me with this opportunity. Hook ‘Em, Horns!”
At UCLA, Bates produced 22 professional players, including all 11 from the title-winning team in 2022.
A native of New Jersey, Bates was a four-year starter for Santa Clara as a midfielder and center back before becoming an assistant coach at Stanford, where she coached six USWNT national team players — Andi Sullivan, Catarina Macario, Tierna Davidson, Sophia Smith, Naomi Girma, Alana Cook, and Jane Campbell.
Four of those players — Sullivan, Macario, Smith, and Girma — were the No. 1 picks in the NWSL Draft.
During her time on The Farm, Bates helped recruit multiple top-five recruiting classes, including the No. 2 class in 2022. On the pitch, Bates contributed to Cardinal programs that won the national championships in 2017 and 2019 with five straight Pac-12 titles over those years.
