Texas soccer new head coach Margueritte Bates says the Longhorns are not in full rebuild mode, but they are embracing a more structured, coordinated style as they try to move past last year’s disappointing 4-12-1 campaign.
The poor record marked the low point of former head coach Ange Kelly’s 14-year run in Austin, a tenure that included eight NCAA Tournament appearances. Kelly’s time ended after that season, despite the program’s 17-4-2 mark in 2024. Bates, who won the 2022 national championship in her first year at UCLA, was introduced Friday and described 2025 as an aberration for a young roster. “They just had a down year,” she said, noting Texas was the youngest team in the SEC and struggled to recover from early losses.
The Longhorns opened 2025 with a 3-2 loss to Northwestern State, then beat Long Beach State 2-1. A 1-1 draw with Arizona State and back-to-back setbacks to Houston and TCU by a combined 7-3 followed them into league play. In their second SEC season, Texas managed only two conference wins. With Bates now in charge, players are preparing to take the field under a different approach.
Texas soccer new head coach’s system
Bates, a former defender and midfielder at Santa Clara from 2008 to 2011, said anticipation and collective discipline will anchor Texas’ 2026 identity. “It’s not a playing style that can be implemented overnight,” she said.
Her model emphasizes synchronized movements among small groups, typically two or three players, to apply stress at specific points on the field. Film sessions focus on positioning, triggers and the pressure each player can create depending on location. The staff is installing structure first so that, over time, players can operate with more freedom within that framework.
“You can’t have freedom without structure,” Bates said, adding that for casual fans, the concept resembles the possession-centric system popularized in the third season of the Apple TV series Ted Lasso. She noted she has not seen the show, but agreed with the premise that discipline underpins fluid play.
‘It’s been fun’
Texas opens Wednesday night against Houston Christian, and live repetitions have been limited. A spring scrimmage against the NWSL’s Houston Dash offered a glimpse of progress, Bates said. “It felt like the first time in a little while that the team was thinking of the game in that way,” she noted, emphasizing players’ awareness of positioning and the value of removing chaos from the match’s tempo.
Bates pointed to leadership emerging across the roster. Fifth-year transfer Hannah Tate, arriving from Denver, and fifth-year Longhorn Toni Lopez bring experience and standards in training and matches. Sophomore Ava McDonald, who led Texas with 22 points last season, is expected to drive the attack and remain a focal point in the new system.
“We kind of joke because we have players that have been in the program for five or six years, but with us coming in as a new staff, it’s almost like all of us are inexperienced,” Bates said. Still, she expects the core leaders to adapt quickly. “I think everyone on the team right now has had an opportunity to lead because we are all so new to each other.”
Texas faces Houston Christian at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Mike A. Myers Stadium and Soccer Field as the Bates era officially begins. For another example of a women’s side adjusting after a coaching change, see how Man Utd women adjust after Skinner exit.