BLINN COACHES CHURCH AND JOHNSON RETIRING

Blinn College Head Softball Coach Rick Church and Head Golf Coach David Johnson will both be calling it a career.

Church’s retirement comes after leading the Buccaneers to 23 Region XIV Conference Tournament appearances in 27 seasons with the program.

Under Church’s leadership, Blinn Softball captured conference and regional championships in 2003, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2015.

They also made seven trips to the NJCAA National Championships, which includes finishing in second place in 2003. 

KWHI asked Coach Church why he chose now to retire.

Church holds the most all-time victories at Blinn College with 992. His overall college coaching record stands at 1,066-518.

He was also a 2021 inductee into the NJCAA Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. In 2025, Church received the NJCAA Coaches Legacy Award, which recognizes the winningest coaches in NJCAA history.

Church talked about what he will miss most about Blinn.

Coach Church’s last official day is August 31. A new coach has not yet been chosen. However, KWHI can confirm that Church’s Assistant Coach Jami Ingram, who has been with the program for 21 years, has thrown her name into the hat for the job.

Meanwhile, David Johnson, who has coached the Men’s and Women’s Golf Programs since their inception seven years ago, is also retiring.

Johnson launched the golf programs at Blinn in 2019.

This past season, he guided both teams to appearances in their respective NJCAA Division I National Championship Tournaments.

For the men’s program, it was their fifth appearance, and for the women’s program, it was their fourth appearance.

Johnson has over 40 years of coaching experience including stops at Navarro, Cisco, and Paris Junior Colleges, as well as Howard Payne, Cameron, and Hardin Simmons Universities.

Coach Johnson was inducted into the Men’s Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2022.