Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirl Softball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- jeff.cottrill@okstate.edu
- Phone:
- (405) 744-7660
Jeff Cottrill is entering his sixth season with the Oklahoma State softball program and his fourth as an assistant coach. He spent his first two years in Stillwater as the program’s director of operations and the next two years as the pitching coach, before taking over the hitters in 2020.Â
In his first season in charge of the Cowgirl hitters, Cottrill developed a high-powered offense that was on pace to break numerous single-season school records, including runs per game, slugging percentage, RBI per game and total bases per game in the shortened 2020 season.Â
The Cowgirl offensive attack was led by Georgia transfer Alysen Febrey, who ended the year tied for fourth in the NCAA in home runs with 11, while boasting a team-leading .382 batting average and 32 RBI.
Under Cottrill’s leadership, Sydney Pennington led OSU with 30 hits and 26 runs scored, while hitting .375 on the year. In her sophomore season, Cottrill developed shortstop Kiley Naomi into a major threat at the plate, helping turn her into a true triple threat on the diamond. Naomi hit .355 with eight home runs and a team-leading 12 walks in 2020.Â
Cottrill’s first two seasons as a collegiate coach were successes all around, as he helped steer the Oklahoma State pitching staff to an ERA under 3.00 in both campaigns.
In 2019, he helped manage and called pitches for Samantha Show throughout the year.
Under Cottrill’s eye, Show helped Oklahoma State knock off 11 top-15 opponents, set the program record for wins against ranked opponents, posted the school’s most wins since 1994, made the program’s first WCWS appearance since 2011 and finished with its highest ranking since 1998.
Cottrill was also responsible for coaching several Cowgirl arms, including Samantha Clakley and Logan Simunek. Clakley finished with a top-10 ERA among Big 12 pitchers for the second-straight year and Simunek was vital in getting Oklahoma State back to the World Series for the eighth time in school history.
OSU primarily used a three-man staff during Cottrill’s first season and all of them saw marked improvement under his guidance. Samantha Clakley, the team’s leader in innings pitched, was named a second-team All-Big 12 performer. Emmie Robertson, the team’s ERA leader, earned Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors during the year and led the Cowgirls with 86 strikeouts. And lastly, Logan Simunek tossed the first no-hitter by a Cowgirl since 2014.
During head coach Kenny Gajewski’s inaugural campaign in 2016, Cottrill stepped in to manage the team’s pitching staff when former OSU pitching coach Charlotte Morgan had to take a leave of absence for health-related issues.
Cottrill worked closely with the entirety of the Oklahoma State pitching staff over the next month. In that time, he helped spark a run of pitching that guided the Cowgirls back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011.
Prior to his time at Oklahoma State, Cottrill worked closely with the Wichita Mustangs Softball Academy in Wichita, Kansas. He ran the team’s operations in both 2013 and 2014, while also coaching with the club for five years.
Cottrill earned his degree in business administration in 2008 from Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas.
