Vic Schaefer

Victor Ernest Schaefer (born March 2, 1961) is an American college basketball coach who is the head women's basketball coach of the University of Texas at Austin (Texas) Longhorns. He previously served as the head coach for Mississippi State, from 2012 to 2020, and for Sam Houston State, from 1990 to 1997.

Vic Schaefer

Schaefer in 2020
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Texas
Conference	SEC
Record	113–32 (.779)
Biographical details
Born	(1961-03-02) March 2, 1961 Austin, Texas, U.S.
Alma mater	Texas A&M
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1987–1989	Sam Houston State (assist.)
1990–1997	Sam Houston State
1997–2000	Arkansas (assist.)
2000–2003	Arkansas (assoc. HC)
2003–2012	Texas A&M (assoc.)
2012–2020	Mississippi State
2020–present	Texas
Head coaching record
Overall	414–204 (.670)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
2× NCAA Regional—Final Four (2017, 2018) 2x Big 12 Tournament (2022, 2024) SEC Tournament (2019) Big 12 Regular Season (2023) SEC 2X Regular Season (2018, 2019) NCAA Division I Tournament (2011, as assoc. HC) WNIT (1999, as assistant)
Awards
Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year (2018) USBWA National Coach of the Year (2018) WBCA National Coach of the Year (2018) Big 12 Coach of the Year (2023) 3x SEC Coach of the Year (2015, 2018, 2019)

Mississippi State

Schaefer was named the Bulldogs’ head coach on March 13, 2012, replacing Sharon Fanning-Otis who retired at the end of the 2012 season. In his tenure at MSU Schaefer has led the Bulldogs to five NCAA tournaments, Four Sweet Sixteen appearances, 3 Elite 8 appearances, 2 Final Fours, and 2 National Runner-up finishes. He also guided MSU to 2 SEC Championship and 1 SEC Tournament Championship, the only conference titles for MSU in any women's team sport. The 2016–17 team made college basketball history by defeating No. 1 Connecticut 66–64 in overtime in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. That victory snapped the Huskies’ record 111-game win streak and sent the Bulldogs to the national championship game in their first Final Four appearance. The UConn win garnered MSU the 2017 ESPY for Best Upset and Morgan William a Best Play nomination for her winning bucket.

With a 74–68 win at Marquette on November 25, 2019, Schaefer earned his 200th victory as the head coach at Mississippi State. It was just his 256th game at State, making him the second-fastest coach ever to achieve the milestone with an SEC program ahead of hall-of-fame coaches Joe Ciampi (258 games), Pat Summitt (259), Van Chancellor (263), Jim Foster (280) and Sue Gunter (280). Only Georgia's Andy Landers (251) reached the mark at a faster pace.

Texas

Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic prematurely ended the 2019–20 season, Schaefer left Mississippi State to fill the head coaching vacancy at Texas. The timing of the move was unfortunate, as it came shortly after he and his wife had completed a new house on an 80-acre (32 ha) farm near the Bulldogs' home of Starkville. Nonetheless, in June 2020, Schaefer told M.A. Voepel of ESPN,

Texas is where I'm from. I will be 65 miles from where I spent weekends at my grandmother's house, and where my mother and father are buried, in La Grange, Texas. I'll be 2 hours and 40 minutes from my older sister, who was also my kindergarten teacher.

Voepel added more detail to Schaefer's ties to the state, noting:

Schaefer was born in Austin at a hospital across the street from where the Longhorns' Frank Erwin Center would later be built. He grew up in Houston, graduated from Texas A&M, and spent most of his coaching career in the Lone Star State.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Sam Houston State Bearkats (Southland Conference) (1990–1997)
1990–91	Sam Houston State	11–16	5–9	6th
1991–92	Sam Houston State	9–18	5–13	7th
1992–93	Sam Houston State	6–20	3–15	9th
1993–94	Sam Houston State	10–17	4–14	8th
1994–95	Sam Houston State	13–14	10–8	4th
1995–96	Sam Houston State	18–10	14–5	3rd
1996–97	Sam Houston State	13–15	8–8	4th
Sam Houston State:		80–110 (.421)	49–72 (.405)
Mississippi State (Lady) Bulldogs (Southeastern Conference) (2012–2020)
2012–13	Mississippi State	13–17	5–11	T–11th
2013–14	Mississippi State	22–14	5–11	13th	WNIT Quarterfinals
2014–15	Mississippi State	27–7	11–5	3rd	NCAA Second Round
2015–16	Mississippi State	28–8	11–5	T–2nd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2016–17	Mississippi State	34–5	13-3	2nd	NCAA Runner-Up
2017–18	Mississippi State	37–2	16–0	1st	NCAA Runner-Up
2018–19	Mississippi State	33–3	15–1	1st	NCAA Elite Eight
2019–20	Mississippi State	27–6	13–3	2nd	NCAA Tournament Canceled†
Mississippi State:		221–62 (.781)	89–39 (.695)
Texas Longhorns (Big 12 Conference) (2020–2024)
2020–21	Texas	21–10	11–7	5th	NCAA Elite Eight
2021–22	Texas	29–7	13–5	3rd	NCAA Elite Eight
2022–23	Texas	26–10	14–4	T–1st	NCAA Second Round
2023–24	Texas	33–5	14–4	2nd	NCAA Elite Eight
Texas Longhorns (Southeastern Conference) (2024–present)
2024–25	Texas	4–0	0–0
Texas:		113–32 (.779)	52–20 (.722)
Total:		414–204 (.670)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

†NCAA canceled all postseason activities for all college sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic.