Head coach Kyle Magnusson has led the Thunderbirds to three consecutive postseason appearances since taking over the Southern Utah University softball program in 2010. SUU qualified for the Summit League Tournament in each of his first two years and competed for the inaugural Big Sky Championship in 2013.
The Thunderbirds more than doubled their win total from the previous season in Coach Magnusson’s first year at the helm. He then continued the program’s upward trend by recruiting athletes like Easton All-American selection Mikkel Griffin who was named the Summit League Player of the Year in 2012 after batting .404 with 65 hits, 12 home runs and a .714 slugging percentage. During Magnusson’s three seasons at Southern Utah, 16 SUU softball players have received postseason awards including freshmen Kylee Wolf and Kelli Hales who were both Big Sky All-Conference selections in 2013 as well as pitcher Ariel Hart was also named the league’s Newcomer of the Year.
Magnusson came to Cedar City after stops at the University of Utah, Salt Lake Community College and Hunter High School (West Valley). Most notably, Magnusson has been a member of the U.S. National fast-pitch team, playing in international tournaments from 2000-2009.
In his two seasons at the University of Utah, Magnusson served as an assistant coach and co-head coach, leading the Utes to a Mountain West tournament championship in 2006. Utah went on to advance to the finals at the NCAA Regionals, but fell to Texas in the championship game.
At Salt Lake Community College, Magnusson laid the groundwork of the Bruins’ first appearance at the NJCAA World Series in 2003.
Magnusson began his coaching career with Hunter High School, turning around a program and leading the Wolverines to three consecutive second-place region finishes. HHS also recorded its best finish at the state tournament under Magnusson, finishing fifth in 2003.
Magnusson recently retired from the Men’s U.S. National team where he helped his teams to a gold-medal finish in 2002 in Guatemala, a silver-medal finish at the Pan-Am Games in 2003 and a bronze-medal finish in South Africa in 2000. He has continued to make an impact on the international softball scene as he was named one of only 21 coaches in the nation to the 2011-12 USA Softball National Coaches pool, including head coaches from BYU, Arizona State, Alabama, Oregon, San Diego State and Southern Mississippi.
Magnusson graduated from Olivet Nazarene in 1993 with a degree in business administration.
