Director of Athletics Doug Gillin announced Whitney Jones as the softball program’s new head coach May 22. A press conference was held Tuesday to introduce her to the public.

Jones started in college softball playing for the Washington Huskies, playing all four years she was there. While at the University of Washington, she received honors as a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic performer and an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention. 

After receiving her master’s at Tulsa, Jones returned to the Huskies for four years as a volunteer assistant coach. Her work coaching the outfield during this stint led to the production of five All-Pac-12 and four All-Region honors among the position group.

Coach Whit, as Gillin called her, then joined the University of Central Florida coaching staff. She was a member of the coaching group that was honored in 2022 as the Mideast Region’s Coaching Staff of the Year by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. They ended the season with a record of 49-14 which led to UCF softball’s first ever appearance in a Super Regional.

She spent her last two seasons before coming to App State at Ohio State University. This past season she was promoted to associate head coach, helping lead the Buckeyes to stellar offensive numbers.

Jones spoke about her past at successful programs during her introductory press conference. “It is a privilege to be here and it is our responsibility to serve and give back to our community,” she said.

Jones emphasized that every team she worked with focused on a team-first mentality and that culture will carry over here.

“I was so happy to get on, see all their faces,” Jones said in response to meeting the players virtually for the first time. “Some of them had their videos off; I had to tell them to get their videos on. Just seeing the faces of who I get to lead was just amazing.”

Jones intends to keep the sport her players love fun, as she said, “winning makes softball fun.”