Jay Pyron enters his second season as head coach with the Firestorm softball team, after joining the staff in the fall of 2013.
Prior to joining the Purple Aces’ staff, Pyron spent three seasons as the head coach at Murray State, building the program from scratch prior to the 2010 campaign. In each of his three seasons with the Racers, Pyron increased the program’s win total, as MSU finished 22-29 in 2010, 24-28 in 2011 and 34-21 during the 2012 season, qualified for the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament all three years and produced one of the most prolific offenses in the nation - twice leading the OVC in scoring and being among the nation’s leading statistical units.
During Pyron’s tenure, three Murray State players received National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region honors and 10 were selected to All-OVC teams, including the 2011 OVC Player of the Year and 2012 OVC Freshman of the Year. In 2012, Pyron’s Murray State team led the conference in
scoring, fielding percentage, stolen bases and runs batted in (RBI) per game, and finished second in the league in earned run average (ERA), slugging percentage, on-base percentage and double plays. In Pyron’s last season at Murray State, the program recorded its first win over a top 10 team with a win at #9 Missouri in Columbia.
Prior to constructing the program at Murray State, Pyron spent the 2008 season as an assistant coach at Campbell University, where his duties included serving as the recruiting coordinator, hitting and infield coach and travel coordinator. As a hitting coach, he helped the Fighting Camels to a record breaking offensive season and a 42-25 record, which ranked second on Campbell’s single-season wins list. Under Pyron’s guidance, Campbell posted a .287 batting average, broke 11 offensive team records and 15 individual offensive records on its way to winning the 2008 Atlantic Sun Conference championship and advancing to the NCAA Regional in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Camels went 1-2 in the regional, recording their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory by eliminating host North Carolina with a 7-6 victory.
Before he joined the staff at Campbell, Pyron served as an assistant coach at North Carolina State for three seasons, where he coached outfielders and hitters, oversaw the equipment and served as the recruiting coordinator. In his first season at NC State, Pyron helped create one of the most productive hitting and defensive seasons in Wolfpack history and in his second season, NC State claimed both the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season and tournament titles, posted 50 wins and earned a bit to the NCAA Tournament. The NFCA named NC State’s staff the 2006 Southeast Regional Staff of the Year and the Wolfpack followed up their 2006 campaign by earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in 2007. As a recruiter, Pyron put together an incoming class at NC State that was ranked No. 16 in the country by rivals.com in 2007.
Pyron began his collegiate coaching career at Barry University, where he coached hitters and outfielders and served as the recruiting coordinator for the nationally-ranked program. In 2003, he led an American team in the Indoor World Cup that was conducted in Schiedem, Netherlands.
The Keeling, Va., native also has experience coaching at the high school and club levels, as he coached at Dan River High School in Ringgold, Va., from 1999-2003, and was the hitting instructor and coach in the Diamond Fever softball organization.
Pyron graduated from Averett University in Danville, Va., in 2002, earning his bachelor’s degree in physical education with a minor in coaching.
