Jodi Jackson has built quite a resume’ in her first three seasons as head coach of Southern Utah University’s softball program. In the three years she has claimed two regular-season Mid-Continent Conference championships as well as a pair of conference tournament titles. With those two tournament titles her teams earned SUU’s first-ever bids to the NCAA Softball Tournament. Under Jackson’s watch the team has also rewritten virtually the entire Thunderbird record book, particularly the hitting sections, where every major record has been set in the past three years.
Last year Coach Jackson, a 2000 graduate of Colorado State University-Pueblo (then University of Southern Colorado), guided the team to its second straight NCAA tournament appearance. The 2007 squad played to a 14-23 non-conference mark after facing a brutal early season schedule, but went on to finish 12-6 and in second place in regular-season Mid-Con play. The team turned it up during the post-season, however, sweeping through the Mid-Con tourney in the minimum of three games, then picking up the school’s only NCAA tournament win in any sport when it downed Cal Poly 9-4 in the NCAA Regional. Her 2007 Thunderbirds set team records for hits, home runs, slugging, walks and players hit by pitches and finished second in the school’s record books in runs scored, runs batted in and total bases, with top-10 finishes in doubles, walks and on-base percentage. Under Jackson’s guidance, senior catcher/shortstop Marci Pratt earned her second straight Mid-Con MVP honor and five more T-Birds earned all-conference recognition.
Jackson also had a triumphant second season at Southern Utah, leading her team to its fourth straight Mid-Continent Conference regular-season championship, tournament championship, and for the first time in school history to the NCAA Regional. With a 34-32 overall record and a 21-3 mark in Mid-Con play the ?Birds broke school records in home runs, RBI, runs scored, hits, at bats, total bases, walks and innings pitched. The ?Birds also recorded numbers in the top three for triples, doubles, stolen bases, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, strike outs, assists and fielding percentage. Under Jackson, Pratt earned her first Mid-Con MVP award, while four other Thunderbirds earned all-conference honors.
In Ms. Jackson first season at Southern Utah, she led the squad to its third straight Mid-Continent Conference regular-season championship, a 23-25-1 overall record and a 18-6 mark in Mid-Con play. Along the way the 2005 Thunderbirds belted a then-school-record 49 home runs and ranked among the nation’s leaders in homers (11th), double plays (fifth with 0.49 per game), slugging (18th at .469) and doubles (22nd with an average of 1.41 per game). Jackson also helped make history by coaching shortstop Tiffany Burt to Mid-Con Player and Newcomer of the Year honors in the same season, the first time an individual has swept the awards.
Jackson spent the previous two seasons as head softball coach at Denton High School in Denton, Texas. Prior to her time at DHS, Jackson served three seasons as an assistant at CSU-Pueblo. She has also worked at softball camps nationwide since her graduation in 2000, including four years at Texas Woman’s University’s camps and two years each at University of Oklahoma’s and CSU-Pueblo’s camps.
In her two seasons at DHS Ms. Jackson led the Broncos to back-to-back winning seasons, including a 14-8 record and a fourth-place finish in the district standings in 2004.
As an assistant at CSU-Pueblo, Ms. Jackson helped coach the squad to its best-ever season in 2001. That year the Thunderwolves finished 52-14, were ranked seventh in NCAA Division II and claimed Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and region championships. In 2000 she helped guide the team to a third-place finish in the RMAC. Prior to joining the CSU-Pueblo staff, Ms. Jackson was a four-year letterwinner for the Thunderwolves, serving as a team captain her junior and senior seasons.
An active member of the NFCA since 2000, Jackson holds a master’s degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in coaching softball from Texas Woman’s University.
Jackson, who resides in Cedar City, is married to Brian Jackson.
