Tennessee softball assistant coaches Craig Snider and Stephanie Sanders will not return to the Lady Vols’ coaching staff next season, per source. The decision was a mutual one.
It ends a two-year stint in Knoxville for the husband-and-wife duo. Snider and Sanders were both hired in June 2024 by head coach Karen Weekly.
The departures come after Tennessee’s 2026 season ended with back-to-back losses to Texas in the WCWS semifinals. The Lady Vols managed just seven total hits in their 5-2 and 4-0 losses.
While Tennessee reached the sport’s final four, offensive consistency remained a challenge throughout much of the season.
Snider arrived with a reputation as one of softball’s top hitting coaches after successful stops at Florida State, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech. Tennessee finished the season batting .281 as a team. The lowest mark since 2022 when Tennessee finished with a .280 batting average.
However, a closer look at the Women’s College World Series field illustrated the gap Tennessee faced offensively against the nation’s elite lineups.
Among the four semifinalists, Tennessee had just one player batting .300 or better and no players hitting .400. By comparison, Texas had six .300 hitters and two batting above .400. UCLA had eight players hitting .300 or better and three above .400. And Texas Tech featured nine .300 hitters and four .400 hitters.
The disparity extended beyond batting average. Tennessee had four players reach double-digit home runs and one player with at least 40 RBIs. Texas Tech and UCLA each had eight players with 10 or more home runs.
Those numbers were reflected in Oklahoma City, where Tennessee struggled to generate offense against Texas’ pitching during its final two games of the season.
The coaching changes mark the first significant staff turnover since Weekly replaced Chris and Kate Malveaux following the 2024 season.
Neither Tennessee nor the departing coaches have publicly announced their next steps.
Weekly now faces the task of replacing both offensive assistants as the Lady Vols look to build on a season that ended one win shy of the championship series.
