Trisha Ford's No. 7 Aggies are 'confident' ahead of 2025 season

Entering her third season in Aggieland, head softball coach Trisha Ford and No. 7 Texas A&M will kick off its 2025 campaign tomorrow afternoon at Davis Diamond. Ahead of the Aggie Classic, Ford joined TexAgs Live to discuss her roster and what she wants to see this weekend.

Key notes from Trisha Ford interview

• The new studio is phenomenal. Walking in here, I felt like I was a kid in a candy store. 
   
• I'm excited. I think each year, we've gotten better and continued to grow. I think we're really starting to put together our type of program. Our type of kids. I'm excited for them to play against someone else. We've been scrimmaging a lot, so there are days our pitchers get beat up, and I tell them, "Hey, this is good." This is the type of offense we're going to have. It's been good. They're in a really good place. It's one of the few years I'm excited to get going. Usually, I want to practice more, and now I feel like we're ready to play. 
   
• If we want to take that next step forward, you have to beat those good teams. We have more on the road. We have a great slate pre-conference slate at Davis Diamond. And then, in the SEC, we have big dogs coming. It'll be fun. 
   
• I think the newcomers have transitioned nicely. Obviously, we needed to go out and get a couple of arms. I sat down with Emiley Kennedy after the end of the season. I'm like, "This is kinda my goal. This is our target. What are your thoughts?”  She was all about it. That was good. You have to have somebody like her at her caliber to be unselfish. She wants to win at a high level, so she doesn't really care who's doing it or how it looks. She wants to win. 
   
• Grace Sparks has come in for us and has just been tremendous. She's going to give us a very different look. Sidne Peters is another one that's gonna be very special and somebody that I think will continue to grow and get better and really continue our growth as a program.
   
• Mac Barbara, I'm tired of facing her, to be honest with you. So I'm happy she's on our team now. You have Ojo Johnson, and she's just a special human. I don't know how else to explain it. She's somebody that you really enjoy being around. She's kinda your center for your program that every program needs, so we were really fortunate to land those ones that we went after.
   
• I'm excited because the pitchers really understand what we've been working on in the bullpen is like, "OK, if I'm coming in after Grace Sparks, then my game needs to look like this. If I come in after Sidne Peters, my game needs to look like this. If I come in after Emiley Kennedy...” We have the ability to really give teams a fit because we have so many different looks.
   
• We're working on the "OK, I don't have my A-game. This is what I need to look like" in that situation, so we've had a deeper dive into what that looks like as a pitcher instead of just executing a pitch but how can we make our craft even more craftier.
   
• It's huge for us. I told Koko Wooley I'm going to enjoy every day this year of watching her play because she is such a special athlete. I think you take for granted what she does on the field. I told her one of my goals was to really take it all in and appreciate what she does for us. We have a freshman named KK Dement who also plays middle infield, and she gets to have a whole year under Koko and see what that looks like.
   
• Kennedy Powell has really taken huge strides as a leader. Obviously, as a player and got herself in the best shape. It's them understanding those steps and continuing to grow.
   
• Allie Enright and Kramer Eschete continue to get better and better. And for me, as a coach, that's what you want. You want them to strive and work hard and not be satisfied with what we did last year and get over that hump.
   
• I'm just really thankful. I feel like I've surrounded myself with really good people. We have a great staff. I have some great pitching help. I think my biggest strength is surrounding myself with other people. I enjoy challenging conversations. I think for us, especially for coach Jeff Harger and I. We've been with each other for so long. We know what works. We know what that process looks like. Bringing in players that fit our mold. At the end of the day, we've had to adjust with how we coach. Every coach, if you're gonna survive today, has had to adjust. You have to adjust to a point. Because at the end of the day, I am who I am.
   
• As you go throughout your career and you go longer and longer, you kind of understand that more, and you're more comfortable with that. You might not go after this five-star athlete because you know it's just not gonna mesh, but you know this kid over here who's a 3.5 star is gonna really develop and really flourish in your program. I think we're more comfortable in that space. 
   
• I don't know that I've not stopped thinking about the Texas series. I've said this. Failure should fuel you. When you don't accomplish something, that is what drives you, and so they may or may not have heard “four outs” maybe a million times. 
   
• Coach Harger the other day called me. He's like, "I watched the games again. I'm like, "Why?" That's kind of how we're wired. That's how we're driven. He's like, “There are so many good learning tools.” When I feel when we're headed down a space, I'm like, "Hey, four outs. Is that your best?" and that's all you need. 
   
• Winning is an expectation, and losing, you have to learn from it. You have to get players that are motivated like that, and I think they're out there. I think we've assembled a really good group. 
   
• We're going to have a lot of opportunities in the Aggie Classic. We have some power that we gotta figure out how we're going to utilize it from the offensive standpoint. We're much more athletic. I think every year we've been here, we've got more and more athletic.
   
• In the circle, we have seven pitchers. Who's going to start? Kennedy is going to practice a little bit of starting, somebody coming in then she coming back in and closing. Some of those mechanics we're gonna move forward.   
   
• I'm just excited to feel the energy and be around the 12th Man and for them to get a little rowdy. Back at Davis. It's 70 degrees outside. What is there to complain about? 
   
• Everything's not set in stone. That's the beauty of it. That's the beauty of preconference. There are a lot of things that you can do that hopefully you've figured out, so once conference play hits and postseason hits, you're kind of in a rhythm. 
   
• I tell them all the time about the preseason hype, that it means absolutely nothing. You have to earn that. They're very aware of that. We don't talk about it to be honest with you. It's just not my style. You earn everything, and it doesn't really matter until the end of the year what it looks like.
   
• I will tell you they're a confident group. We kind of laugh as a coaching staff cause we're like, "Man, they really think that they're good." There's good to that, and there are some things I feel like I always have to bring them back to an even playing field.
   
• I love that confidence. I want them to get in the box and think that they're gonna hit. I want them to get in the circle and know that they're better. 
   
• When you lose Trinity Cannon, who had a monster year. Julia Cottrill, Jazmine Hill, Rylen Wiggins, that's a lot. What we did was we got a little more athletic. Mya Perez has had a great offseason. She finished super regionals really well. We got Mac Barbara. We got Ojo. Kylei Griffin has also stepped up so we're gonna look a little different, but I think there's going to be more players throughout the lineup that are gonna be able to give you fits.
   
• We're going to be able to put people in motion. Hopefully, bunt a little bit. Put pressure on defense. It'll look a little different, but I'm hoping our run production stays the same. No pressure, Coach Harger.