Staff Directory

Jo Koons

Title:
Head Coach
Email:

COACHING ACCOLADES

2 All-Conference Player Selections
14 Academic All-WAC Selections
9 CSC Academic All-District Selections
2025 Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) champion

Jo Koons was named ACU’s fifth head softball coach on June 27, 2024.

ACU (2025-Present)

Jo Koons enters her third season as ACU’s head softball coach in the 2026-27 academic year. Even though she took over the program late in the recruiting window, Koons led a program resurgence in her first season as the Wildcats made the WAC Softball Tournament for the first time since 2022.

Koons has guided two players to All-WAC accolades – pitcher Lina Russo (2025), and outfielder Ari Maxwell (2026). In the classroom, Koons has coached 14 Academic All-WAC selections and 9 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honorees.

In addition to her time at ACU, Koons spent the summer of 2025 as an assistant coach with the AUSL, a professional softball league, where she helped the Talons win the inaugural championship. Koons was promoted to associate head coach of the Utah Talons, who are now based in Salt Lake City, for summer 2026.

2026: ACU earned a signature win over spring break with a 9-4 drubbing at the Big 12’s Utah Utes, which were receiving votes in national polls at the time. The Wildcats scored the first six runs and kept a comfortable lead of at least 4 runs the entire game. It was the Wildcats’ first win over a Power 4 team since 2022.
ACU upgraded its offense in Koons’ second year with several players posting season totals which rank among the best in the program’s Division I era.

Ari Maxwell, an all-WAC honoree, finished with 12 home runs which was 5th in the WAC and T-4th in ACU history; Ciana Arguijo broke the Wildcats’ single-season steals record with 18 swipes out of 20 attempts (3^rd most in the WAC); and Elizabeth Schaefer smashed 13 doubles, finishing T-2nd most in ACU’s record book.

The Wildcats finished 7-41 against one of the most difficult nonconference schedules in the NCAA. ACU’s strength of schedule ranked 84th – and 30th among mid-majors – and included six games against teams with a top 20 RPI, and 19 games versus teams with an RPI of 100 or better.

The 2026 season saw the Wildcats again play in front of a packed Poly Wells Field when No. 2 Texas Tech came to Abilene on March 31. ACU ticketed a softball game for the first time and had an attendance of 885.

2025: The Wildcats were much improved in Koons’ first year. Their record in the Western Athletic Conference jumped from 8-18 in 2024 -- the year before Koons arrived -- to 11-13 in her first season. ACU was predicted to finish 8th in the Preseason WAC Coaches Poll but exceeded expectations by tying for 4thin the final standings.

In 2025, ACU returned to the WAC Softball Tournament for the first time since 2022. The Wildcats went 15-38 for the season – even with the 67^th toughest strength of schedule out of the NCAA’s 300+ Division I teams. ACU played 13 games against opponents with an RPI of 50 or better, including tournaments at Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, and Oregon.

ACU won four conference series in 2025, which matches the amount the Wildcats won in the previous two seasons combined. ACU earned a sweep of Southern Utah before rattling off three straight 2-1 series wins over Utah Valley, Tarleton State and California Baptist.

Koons coached starting pitcher Lina Russo to a spot on the All-WAC 2nd Team after leading the league in innings pitched and the third-most strikeouts thrown. Russo was also named WAC Pitcher of the Week on two occasions, and third baseman Miranda Lista was named WAC Player of the Week in early April.

Another highlight of Koons’ first season at ACU was the shattering of the Poly Wells Field attendance record. On April 2, a standing room-only crowd of 1,261 fans saw the Wildcats host No. 14 Texas Tech. The previous stadium record was 908.

ASSISTANT COACHING CAREER

Koons spent the two previous years as an assistant coach at UT Arlington, working primarily with the defense and as the recruiting coordinator. She helped lead the Mavericks to a fourth-place finish in the 2024 University Credit Union WAC Softball Tournament. Koons coached a pair of All-WAC performers and one all-region selection in 2024.

She started her coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Stanford for the 2016 season. In 2017, she was assistant at Colorado Christian, and then was the head coach at Lassen College, a community college in northern California, for the 2018 campaign.

Koons returned to her alma mater Utah State to work as an assistant in 2019. She then spent two years with Oregon, where she oversaw one of the best defensive units in the country. The Ducks ranked among the top 20 defenses in 2020 and 2021. Oregon finished the 2021 season with 40 wins and a .977 fielding percentage, good for 15th in the country.

Koons then was an assistant at Longwood University in Virginia, where she helped guide the Lancers to a Big South Conference championship game appearance. In one season at Longwood, she helped develop LU's Jaden Pone into the 2022 Big South Freshman of the Year. In 2022, Longwood posted a 34-24 overall record and a 21-6 league mark.

PERSONAL

As an athlete Koons was a four-year letterwinner and shortstop for the Utah State Aggies from 2012-2015. She hit .269, compiled a .340 on-base percentage for her career, and also finished with 10 triples which was the 5^th most in program history.

Koons graduated from Utah State in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in interdisciplinary studies and earned a Master of Arts in organizational leadership from Colorado Christian in 2018.
She is followed constantly by her two golden doodles – Rookie and Champion – who are adored by players and fans alike.

Koons’ College Coaching Career
2016 – Stanford, volunteer assistant
2017 – Colorado Christian, assistant
2018 – Lassen College (Calif.), head coach
2019 – Utah State, assistant
2020-21 – Oregon, assistant
2022 – Longwood, assistant
2023-24 – UT Arlington, assistant
2025-Present – ACU, head coach

Professional Coaching Career
2025 – Talons, assistant coach
2026 – Utah Talons, associate head coach