Gay coaching legend Kirk Walker retires from the college game after 42 years
Kirk Walker leaves the ranks of college softball coaches behind with seven NCAA championships. Now he's looking ahead. The post Gay coaching legend Kirk Walker retires from the college game after 42 years appeared first on Outsports.
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Kirk Walker is calling it a career. The Hall of Fame softball coach had two stints at UCLA and one at Oregon State that brought him awards, accolades, and both conference and national championships.
“After 42 years I have felt it’s the right time for me to step away from the college game,” Walker told Outsports. “The time commitment requires so much, and I just feel like it’s time for me to move away from that level of commitment.”
No doubt, the amount of time and effort it takes to be an assistant coach or head coach of any major NCAA Division I program — particularly one looking to win conference and national championships — is extraordinary.
Walker has won plenty. He has been an assistant coach on seven NCAA National Championship teams for UCLA softball, including the team’s most recent title in 2019. As head coach for Oregon State he led the team to a Pac-12 Championship in 2005, and the following season he led the team to the Women’s College World Series, the first in school history.
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UCLA released a powerful video reflecting on Walker’s on-field contributions to the Bruins softball, as well the bright and shining love and personality he brings everywhere he goes.
“Truly cannot thank you enough, not only for what you’ve done for this UCLA program, but what you did for me personally,” UCLA softball associate head coach Lisa Fernandez said in the video. “Definitely broke the mold when they created you.”
Thank you, Kirk Walker, for all you have given to UCLA and the sport of softball 
Wishing you the best of luck in retirement!#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/AEHAkrH7io— UCLA Softball (@UCLASoftball) September 18, 2025
Walker stepped away from on-field coaching in 2024 and over the last year has taken on a more administrative role with the team.
Now he’s leaving college softball coaching — and his beloved UCLA Bruins — all together.
Yet Walker told Outsports he’ll still be involved with the game. He runs an annual softball tournament — the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic — every year in Cathedral City, Calif., minutes from Palm Springs. It’s the perfect setting for a sports tournament in February.
He’ll also continue to be involved in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League. In its inaugural season this summer, Walker was an associate coach for the Talons, which won the league title.
Plus, he’ll continue his LGBTQ sports advocacy work with the Sports Equality Foundation. Walker was instrumental in bringing advocates and organizations together for the BeTrue LGBTQ Sports Summit at Nike for many years, and now he’s pouring his heart and time into the SEF.
Outsports sends huge congratulations to Walker, who was instrumental in helping Outsports build its Outsports Pride event at UCLA in 2019, and whom we were proud to honor with our Male Hero of the Year award in 2020.
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The post Gay coaching legend Kirk Walker retires from the college game after 42 years appeared first on Outsports.
