Osterman takes her pitching knowledge to DePaul

By Wade Askew

It is the rarest of coaching hires, the kind that makes an impact on a program before the coach steps foot on campus. Usually such a hire comes in the form of a big-name head coach, perhaps $4 million names like "Saban."

Before taking over as DePaul's pitching coach last month, Cat Osterman was a four-time All-American at Texas. AP

But in the world of college softball, where the cash doesn't flow quite as freely and games are only televised three weeks of the year, it may be a little more difficult to make such a splash. It may take the hiring of one of the top players in the world.

DePaul did just that in hiring former University of Texas and current U.S. Olympic star Cat Osterman. The pitcher who was selected first overall by the Rockford (Ill.) Thunder in the 2006 National Pro Fastpitch draft is now DePaul's pitching coach.

Though she had met just two players on the DePaul roster as of Aug. 15, her second day in her new office, Osterman has already created a stir in the softball recruiting world. DePaul head coach Eugene Lenti has seen a spike in interest from the top pitching prospects in the nation, coming in the form of favorable responses to recruiting questionnaires.

While Lenti acknowledged that the Blue Demons' four World Series appearances since 1999 "might be helping," he had no doubt many of the pitching prospects are interested in the program because of the opportunity to work with a four-time All-American who is the only collegian to be named USA Softball Player of the Year three times.

Given the excitement Osterman has generated within the high school ranks, her impact on current DePaul athletes has predictably been even more profound -- the pitching staff's reaction was initially one of disbelief.

"First they were like, 'are you kidding me? Are you serious?'" Lenti said of his players. "They're all elated, really. They're just looking forward to working with one of the greatest pitchers in the world. How often do you get that opportunity?"

Osterman had initially planned on joining the Blue Demon staff as a volunteer assistant. She was drawn to DePaul because of her connection to the Chicago area -- her mother is a Chicago native, her grandmother still lives in the city's northwest suburbs and her uncle works for DePaul -- but the Houston-native was also ready for a change in scenery.

"The biggest thing was I just needed a change of pace. I was at Texas my whole life," Osterman said.

When former pitching coach Lindsay Chouinard left DePaul to accept the head coaching job at Northern Illinois University on July 10, the move came at an ideal time for Osterman and the program. From Lenti's perspective, the entire situation was "a little bit of serendipity."

Even Osterman's old coach at Texas, Connie Clark, under whom Osterman served as a student assistant in 2007, sees this as an ideal situation for her former star.

"It's really great for Cat to get out and kind of spread her wings and see other programs, how they're run internally, and really get a feel for the other side of the situation from being an athlete to transitioning into being a coach," Clark said. "She will be able to go in and work with a very good pitching staff already at DePaul who is young and who had some success last year -- I think the timing is right."

For her part, Osterman is excited to fulfill a life-long dream of coaching. It is a desire rooted in family -- her uncle, aunt and grandfather were all coaches -- and one Clark could see from the time Osterman stepped on the Texas campus.

Osterman embraces the many differences between Texas and DePaul, ranging from location -- DePaul is in a major city where Texas "is pretty much its own little city," in Osterman's words -- to athletic profile. Despite the Blue Demons' vast softball success in the past nine seasons, Osterman said the program is still under-the-radar in relation to those of athletic giants with major football programs, such as her alma mater.

Still, the biggest change Osterman faces will be one all college students encounter after graduation: "Actually working and not having school and stuff anymore," Osterman said.

It is a transition the pitcher, her new boss and her future pupils are eager see. Naturally, Lenti hopes Osterman's pitching approach will rub off on his players.

"If our pitchers at DePaul learn one thing, it's just to learn how to handle themselves the way Cat handled herself whether things were going great or whether things weren't going so great," Lenti said. "She handled adversity just as well as she handled prosperity. That's all a pitcher really has to be -- her mental toughness, I think, was always her greatest strength."

Given her substantial experience at each level of softball, from college to international, DePaul's pitchers will certainly pay close attention to their new mentor.

Osterman sees this experience as perhaps her greatest strength as a young coach, and one that she hopes will help transform careers.

"The biggest thing [in coaching] is just impacting someone's career and being able to see ... a kid get it and see them succeed after believing in what you've tried to help them do," Osterman said. "I just want to see them grow and mature and know that I had a part in it."