SAN ANTONIO – UTSA head soccer coach Derek Pittman announced on Tuesday, June 13, that the Roadrunners have hired Colleen Pitts as their new assistant coach. Pitts joins UTSA just in time for summer workouts and will coach the Roadrunners' goalkeepers.
A Dallas native, Pitts comes to UTSA after spending the past eight years as a coach and administrator at Austin's Lonestar Soccer Club, while also serving as volunteer goalkeepers coach at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. At Lonestar, she was the head coach of three teams, while developing the goalkeepers across each level of the club. Pitts also has extensively worked with Lonestar's Women's Premier Soccer League squad, serving five years as a player and coach, while solely coaching for two years.
At Southwestern, Pitts helped guide the career of Mary Cardone, an All-West Region goalkeeper who was the 2017 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Newcomer of the Year and a three-time SCAC All-Tournament honoree. Most recently, Pitts worked with two-time SCAC first-teamer Johnna Campbell, who has racked up a 23-9 record and 21 shutouts on three years in goal for the Pirates. The success of Pitts' keepers has helped Southwestern to three NCAA appearances, the 2019 SCAC tournament championship and the 2022 SCAC regular season title.
During her time at Lonestar, Pitts mentored goalkeepers who have moved on to collegiate opportunities at Auburn, Baylor, Louisiana, Colorado State, Angelo State, UT Dallas and Texas Lutheran.
"We are elated to add Colleen to our staff as the coach to lead the development of our talented goalkeepers," Pittman said. "It was very evident in the interview process that Colleen has exactly what we are looking for from a high-character, detail oriented, hard-working leader. She has worked all across the state of Texas and has a history of developing top goalkeepers to go on and play at a high level. Our players will greatly benefit from her leadership and the experiences that she brings to our staff. Colleen is very familiar with recruiting in Texas and is someone that is highly respected in this business. We are excited for her to move down to San Antonio and get rolling for this upcoming season in the AAC."
A former Big 12 student-athlete, Pitts spent the three years prior to Austin as an assistant coach and goalkeepers coach at West Texas A&M in Canyon (2012-15). She saw tremendous success mentoring the Lady Buffs goalkeepers, notably Yvette Bedoy who graduated as the WT all-time saves leader with 306. During Pitts' first season at WT, she helped guide the squad to a 13-7-1 record, Lone Star Conference Regular Season and Tournament Championships and an NCAA Tournament appearance. The following year, WT reached the LSC Tournament Finals.
"I am very grateful for this opportunity to work with Derek, Ben and the UTSA soccer program," Pitts said. "UTSA's continual push to make the program better with staff, players and facilities is something that drew me in. I'm excited to get to the 210 and hit the ground running with our dedicated players to keep the success moving forward into the new conference."
Prior to moving into collegiate coaching, Pitts built up a robust history working with local clubs, including the Amarillo Lightning and also helping the Palo Duro Soccer Association. She also worked as a camp coach for both Boston University and Texas Tech, also spending three years as goalkeepers coach for the West Texas Olympic Development Program.
A three-time high school All-State player at Ursuline Academy of Dallas, she helped her prep squad four consecutive TAPPS State Championships, while also playing club with Dallas Sting '88 and Dallas Texans '88 – earning a USYSA National Championship and individually garnering that tournament's Golden Glove award. Pitts went on to play goalkeeper at Texas Tech from 2006-10, recording a 1.20 goals-against average with 89 saves and nine shutouts in 32 games in goal. As a senior, Pitts registered a 1.20 GAA with an .804 save percentage, earning six wins. Pitts currently holds two rankings in the TTU career record book for GAA (sixth) and shutouts (t-seventh).
Pitts replaces Ashley Holland, who joined UTSA in spring 2022 and mentored the Roadrunners' goalies to a nine-shutout season, which tied for the most in Conference USA. Holland departed the program in March to join the staff at Omaha.
"When you have success and win a championship, other programs start to come after your people," Pittman said. "Although it was very difficult to see Ashley leave our staff, we are happy that she is getting the opportunity to continue coaching closer to home. Omaha is adding a special person and a quality coach to their staff. I am very thankful for how Ashley challenged me as a coach and grateful for how hard she worked every day for our staff and team. We wish her the best!"
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