Garris will be entering his second season with Maryland this season after joining the staff for the 2021-22 season previously serving as head coach for six years at Southern University after being named interim coach in 2014.
"There is absolutely no doubt that Coach Montgomery is going to lead Maryland Softball to a level that is yet to be seen," Garris said. "The opportunity to join his staff and work toward that end at a top tier academic institution in one of the nation's best conferences is one that was very easy to say yes to. He has assembled an incredible staff and I am honored beyond measure that he would ask me to be a part of it. An elite institution in a premier conference with one of rhe nation's top coaches is something that I am very excited about."
Prior to Maryland, John Garris, affectionately known to most as "Coach G" or simply "G" coached for eight seasons overall at Southern University. During his sixth year at the helm of Jaguar Softball, he was named interim coach in 2014. Garris came to Southern University in 2013 as an assistant coach overseeing team defense.
Garris’s 2021 and 2017 SU squad went the farthest a Southern team has gone in eight years at the SWAC Tournament, finishing third. Every one of his teams have made the SWAC tournament since he has been on the Bluff. Garris was named the 2015 SWAC Coach of the Year after leading the Lady Jaguars to the school’s first winning season in eight years. That team ranked eighth in the nation in double plays and led the SWAC in virtually every defensive category.
