Fresh Faces: A Late Coaching Change Helped Guide P Sam Landry to Oklahoma
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Leading into the 2025 softball season, Sooners on SI is profiling Patty Gasso’s five transfer additions who are set to help OU in the program’s first trek through the Southeastern Conference.
NORMAN — Sam Landry was a late transfer portal pickup for Oklahoma.
The former Louisiana pitcher had every intention of returning to the program for her final season, but then change hit.
Ragin’ Cajuns’ head coach Gerry Glasco opted for a change of scenery — he took the opening at Texas Tech — which reopened the portal window for Louisiana’s roster and made Landry rethink her future.
“I felt like that was a really big sign to me that it was God pushing me to get out there and explore where I could be,” Landry said last November.
Oklahoma still had a roster spot open late in the process as one of the schools chasing NiJaree Canady, and the Sooners wanted another veteran pitcher to bolster their staff.
That made Landry a perfect fit.
She pitched 194 innings last year, ringing up 165 strikeouts and Landry posted a 2.08 ERA. She earned All-Sun Belt First Team honors and was named to the NFCA All-Central Region First Team.
Landry connected on a personal level with Patty Gasso and the OU coaching staff due to their shared values of both faith and family.
The fit was great on the field, too, as Landry was drawn to associate head coach and pitching coach Jennifer Rocha’s coaching style and how she utilizes every arm at her disposal.
“When it comes to the transfer pitchers I think that just gave it kind of a new opportunity. It's like I have the opportunity to play,” Landry said. “I’m going to work for that opportunity because nothing is given in this sport, especially at this school, so it just pushed me to want it more.”
Landry will pair with fellow veteran transfer pitcher Isabella Smith, adding to OU’s rotation that already had Kierston Deal, Paytn Monticelli and true freshman Audrey Lowry.
The prospect of throwing less innings isn’t something that worries Landry, though.
“I think the deeper your staff is, the farther you can go, the more you can rely on them,” she said. “Because when it comes to a game, no team can say, 'Oh, she's going to start this game.' Like you don't know who's going to start because we have a whole roster of pitchers. So I think in the long run it's going to be really good.”
Read More OU Softball: Meet the Sooners' 2025 Freshmen
Battling against Oklahoma’s lineup every day this past fall was great preparation for the kind of offenses the Sooners will face every weekend in SEC play.
Facing off against a group as talented as that can be an adjustment for any new pitcher coming in, regardless of if they’re a brand new freshman or a veteran who has endured plenty of battles throughout their career, but Rocha’s guidance ensures the competition is a healthy learning environment.
“She speaks with so much confidence that as a pitcher it gives me so much more confidence going out there,” Landry said of Rocha. “So I think working with her is amazing mentally and then just physically and learning the game and learning new aspects of it.”
Landry is also excited to take the lessons she’s learning from Gasso and Rocha to help her coaching off the field, as she’s heavily involved in helping her sisters’ teams along.
Read More OU Softball: Meet the Sooners' 2025 Transfers
“I have twin little sisters,” she said. “They are 13 and they are in the game and so when it comes to them and teams that they've been on, I've loved to be a part of that and help coach where I can. You know, coaching your own sisters is kind of the hardest thing because they say you don't know what you're talking about.
“But coaching their friends has been amazing. But no I love it. I've also given pitching lessons for quite a few years now so it's just really fun. And just being able to be somebody that's a part of that and helping the game grow and then giving back the knowledge that you've learned over the years.”
All of that will fade to the background once OU’s season gets underway next week, however, as the new-look Sooners prepare to open their first year in the SEC.
“I think that it's going to be a different look at what the Sooner team normally is,” Landry said, “but I think it's going to be really good and that we're going to find a way to try and continue this legacy that Oklahoma has had.
“… We're a brand new team and just playing how we play.”