Mizzou softball coach Larissa Anderson awarded contract extension through 2026
Larissa Anderson has earned a contract extension to coach Missouri softball through the 2026 season, athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois announced Tuesday.
Anderson has posted a 96-49 record in three seasons as head coach of the Tigers, guiding the program to the NCAA Tournament in 2019 before hosting a Super Regional in 2021, when the team recorded 42 victories.
Her original contract with MU ran through the 2023 season and had a base salary of $185,000. Her three-year extension sees her annual pay rise to $250,000, a team spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.
Missouri returns its entire starting lineup for 2022 after its recording-breaking season.
"This is a well-deserved extension for Larissa," Reed-Francois said in a statement. "Excellence is our standard, and she has built our softball program into one of the best in the nation. Under her direction, the team has shown improvement every season, been successful in the classroom, recruited at a high level and had a thrilling postseason run in 2021.
"We are looking forward to a bright future as she and her staff continue to build on last season's success."
Previously: Mizzou notebook: Sara Marino, Michaela Transue promoted on Tiger softball coaching staff
Anderson's new contract, which goes into effect July 2022, has a 5% annual increase in pay. Should the Tigers qualify for Super Regionals, a 6% increase in pay would be triggered.
Qualification for the Women's College World Series would give Anderson an 8% jump in pay. The biggest percentage increase in base salary would be 20% in the event the Tigers win a national championship.
Anderson, Reed-Francois and UM System President Mun Choi all signed the contract extension on Oct. 27.
Missouri set a program record last season with 91 home runs and led the nation in with a 1.37 ERA in the NCAA Tournament thanks to dominant performances from Jordan Weber and Laurin Krings. The Tigers set a program record with a .979 fielding percentage, good for ninth in the country.
The Tigers set attendance records throughout the 2021 postseason, selling out the final game of the Super Regional with a record crowd of 2,686 at Mizzou Softball Stadium.
Missouri last made the College World Series in 2011.
More: Mizzou softball senior catcher Hatti Moore returning for extra year of eligibility in 2022
"I want to thank Desiree Reed-Francois for the opportunity she has continued to give me," Anderson said. "It is a privilege to work with a dynamic and accomplished leader who puts the best interests of our student-athletes at the heart of her decision-making, and I am extremely grateful and humbled to be the head coach at Mizzou.
"Working with such amazing student-athletes the past three seasons has been special and I am looking forward to what the future holds for our program," she continued. "Columbia has truly become home for my husband, Patrick, and me, while Mizzou Nation has become our family.
Missouri is scheduled to open the 2022 season at the Northern Lights Invitational from Feb. 11-13 in Leesburg, Florida.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri softball coach Larissa Anderson receives contract extension
