Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Add Former Outfielder Shellie Landry To Staff

Louisiana Softball head coach Gerry Glasco announced on Monday that former Ragin’ Cajuns All-American softball player Shellie Landry has returned to her alma mater to serve as hitting coach beginning in the 2023-24 academic year.

Landry, an outfielder for Louisiana from 2013-16 who earned All-American, All-Region and All-Sun Belt honors, will serve as the team’s hitting coach as she begins her coaching chapter with her hometown Ragin’ Cajuns.

“We are elated to have coach Shellie (Landry) return home to our staff,” Glasco said. “She is extremely hard working, loyal, extremely intelligent, and highly motivated. It’s with great joy that we welcome her back into the Ragin’ Cajuns program because I know her contributions are going to allow us to achieve greater success.

“Shellie will be given the opportunity to serve as our hitting coach and work directly with our hitters,” Glasco added. “This will allow me to invest more time into focusing on the entire program, and provide our hitters with additional one-on-one instruction time.”

Landry spent the previous four seasons, 2020-23, on staff at I-10 neighbor McNeese, the final season serving as associate head coach and the program’s recruiting coordinator. She was in charge of the outfielders and assisted with hitting during her tenure at McNeese. In each of the final two seasons, the Cowgirls made their deepest runs in the NCAA Tournament in program history advancing to the regional championship round in the 2022 Evanston Regional and 2023 Seattle Regional.

“I feel immense gratitude, joy, pride and emotion as I come back to Lafayette – my home,” Landry said. “It was a lifelong dream to play for the Ragin’ Cajuns and then became a dream of mine to work here as well. This dream is finally a reality, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity. “It has been an amazing coaching journey thus far, and one that I will cherish forever,” Landry stated. “But there is nothing like the Ragin’ Cajuns Softball fan base and community. I am excited and honored to continue the program’s success – this time on the coaching side.”

The 2023 McNeese squad won a school record 47 games, set single-season school records in triples (17), stolen base percentage (.855), fewest errors (42) and fielding percentage (.978), and stole the second-most bases (147) and turned the second-most double plays (37) in program history. Also in 2023, Landry was part of a coaching staff named the NFCA South Region Coaching Staff of the Year. In 2021 the Cowgirls’ defense led the nation with 48 double plays turned while the offense led the SLC with 78 doubles. Prior to the 2020 season being canceled by the COVID-19 shutdown, the Cowgirls ranked second in the SLC with 15 home runs and had a .289 batting average with 183 hits, 37 doubles and 114 RBI over 26 games. While in Lake Charles, Landry aided in the development of 22 all-conference selections and helped guide the Cowgirls to back-to-back Southland Conference regular season titles (2022-23) and three consecutive tournament championships (2021-23).

The nearby Broussard, Louisiana native began her coaching career in the 2018-19 season as a volunteer coach at UAB working alongside hitting aficionado Jimmy Kolaitis before being hired by McNeese in July 2019. As a collegiate athlete, Landry dazzled the Ragin’ Cajuns faithful from 2013-16 producing 50 hits, 50 RBI and double-digit home runs in three of her four seasons. She earned NFCA All-American honors in 2015 following all-around, career-best performances in average (.372), runs (49), hits (64), doubles (16), home runs (20) and total bases (142). Landry was also a two-time NFCA All-Region selection, four-time All-Sun Belt performer and three-time All-Louisiana pick.

In the classroom, Landry has just as much success as on the field where she was named the UL Student-Athlete of the Year Silver Medalist in 2016 along with being named to the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner’s List and Sun Belt Conference Academic Honor Roll. Landry graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in May 2016 receiving her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology/exercise science and continued on to earn a master’s degree in sports management in May 2018.