Tori Tyson

Tori Tyson has been named the head coach of women’s professional fastpitch team The Texas Smoke. The Texas Smoke will be the second-ever professional sports team in Austin and the fourth franchise in Women’s Professional Fastpitch (WPF).

Tyson is also the head coach at Howard University Softball, and is the first coach of a professional softball team to come from a historically Black college and university. Before Howard University, she was an assistant coach for pro softball team Chicago Bandits. 

Tyson is thrilled to be returning to the world of professional softball. As a single mother of a sport-loving daughter, she is excited to be a part of The Texas Smoke players’ continued growth in their careers and redefine what it means to be a female professional athlete.

Previously, she guided the Howard University Bisons program to its second Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championship after defeating long-time rival Morgan State. Before joining the Bison, she was named an assistant coach for the Chicago Bandits franchise of the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league. In this position, she produced two undefeated pitchers in the NPF league. Additionally, the team had the second-lowest staff ERA posted in franchise history.

Her added experience includes pitching coach for the University of Maryland, where she assisted in leading the Terps to their first Big 10 appearance since 2015. Before she joined the Terrapin staff, she led Cal State Fullerton to two straight NCAA Regional appearances and two Big West Conference Championships. She began her career at Bethune-Cookman University as assistant coach. 

During her time on the softball team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, she was a scholarship student-athlete and letter winner. She played three years of softball where she trained under pitching coach Lori Sippel.

Tyson appeared in the 2009 NCAA Regional for the Cornhuskers and made 47 starts in 2010. She pitched her first two seasons as a Cornhusker and went on to become a team captain in 2011.