The University of Akron Athletics
Softball Adds Dr. Megan Brown as Assistant Coach
July 17 | Softball
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AKRON, Ohio – University of Akron softball head coach Julie Jones announced on Friday the hiring of Dr. Megan Brown as an assistant coach with the Zips.
Brown's hiring is pending approval by the University's Board of Trustees.
Brown, who will oversee the Zips' pitchers, joins the Akron staff after spending last season at the University of Connecticut. She brings an impressive resume of international and professional experience to the UA program.
"Megan has a wealth of knowledge and experience from her own outstanding playing career – both collegiately and professionally – in addition to her professional and international coaching background," Jones said. "It will be exciting to see how she will help our pitchers and our program take the next steps toward winning a MAC Championship. Everyone I spoke with during the interviewing process had outstanding things to say about Megan as a person, instructor and coach."
"I am so very excited and thankful for the opportunity to work with the University of Akron and its softball team," Brown said. "Coach Jones and Coach (assistant coach Julie) Pratt have established a program of excellence. I feel truly blessed to have the chance to be a part of this program."
Prior to her time at UConn, Brown spent two seasons at the University of North Carolina Pembroke as an assistant coach and pitching instructor. In her two-year stint with the Braves, the team improved from a 16-31 record in 2012 to a 23-32 finish in 2013.
Brown also found time to work extensively with the Great Britain Women's Softball National Team, overseeing pitcher training and preparation for international competition.
Before joining the collegiate coaching ranks, Brown completed an impressive career as a professional coach and player, both in the U.S. and abroad. She has spent time in countries such as Canada, San Marino, Italy, Netherlands, Great Britain, Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
Brown opened her professional career with the Rockford Thunder of the National Pro Fastpitch League in Illinois before signing overseas with the Italian A1 League's Titano Hornets, based in Dogana, San Marino. For her efforts with the Hornets, Brown was named Best Pitcher for the European Cup in 2010. Brown then traveled further north to the Oosterhout Twins organization in the Netherlands for the 2012 season.
A 2007 graduate of Florida Southern College, Brown was a four-year letterwinner for the Moccasins softball team (2004-07). She was a three-time All-American and earned two Academic All-America honors. She was a three-time Sunshine State Conference Pitcher of the Year and, in June 2013, was the seventh Florida Southern softball player inducted into the Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame.
Brown earned her bachelor's degree in physical education from Florida Southern in 2007 and her master's degree in education, also from Florida Southern, in 2009. She completed her Ph.D. in kinesiology from Auburn University in 2013.
