Softball
- Title:
- Head Coach, Softball
- Email:
- jallard@athletics.pitt.edu
- Phone:
- 412-648-8334
Jenny Allard enters her third season as the head coach of the Pitt softball team and her 31st season overall as a head coach in 2026.
Allard was announced as the fourth head coach in Pitt softball history on June 19, 2023. Allard, who was named to the NFCA Hall of Fame Class of 2022, owns a 725-582-4 overall record.
Last season, Pitt qualified for the ACC Softball Championship for the first time since 2018. The Panthers finished with a 20-32 overall record and a 7-17 mark in conference play. Pitt picked up two ranked wins in the span of a week, first defeating No. 16 Duke and winning the series against No. 11 Virginia Tech. The series win against the Hokies marked the Panthers’ first series win over a ranked opponent in program history. Allard also helped coach Kylie Griggs to earn NFCA East Third Team All-Region recognition.
In 2024, Pitt entered the final two weeks of the regular season ranked 10th overall in the ACC team standings and were one of five teams on the bubble to make the ACC Tournament. Allard reached 700 career wins as Pitt defeated Akron, 10-2, April 9 at the Lee R. Jackson Field. Coach Allard became one of 43 active division I head softball coaches to reach the 700-career win milestone.
Prior to Pitt, Allard spent 28 seasons at the helm of the Harvard softball program where she was the Ivy League's longest tenured and winningest softball coach. Allard finished her career at Harvard with a 688-520-4 overall record, including a 342-130-1 Ivy League mark.
During her tenure, Allard led Harvard to nine Ivy League titles, six 30-win seasons and all eight of its NCAA Championship appearances. She coached seven Ivy League Players of the Year, eight Ivy League Pitchers of the Year, seven Ivy League Rookies of the Year, and three All-Americans, as well as 78 first team, 75 second team and 51 honorable mention All-Ivy League selections.
In 2023, Allard led the Crimson to a 29-17-1 overall record and claimed the Ivy League Tournament title to clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament Fayetteville Regional. Riley Flynn earned Ivy League Pitcher of the Year honors, and 10 players were named to the All-Ivy League teams under her direction.
The Crimson consistently won at a high rate under the direction of Allard, posting winning records in every full season since 2015, while also finishing first or second in the Ivy League. She was twice named The Ragatz Family Harvard Women's Coach of Excellence (2018-19, 2019-20), an honor awarded to a coach of any Crimson women's team and takes into account one's overall contribution to the athletics department, team performance, student-athlete experience and development, leadership within their sport or at Harvard, and other criteria related to excellence in coaching at Harvard.
The California native started her coaching career at Iowa as an assistant coach under Gayle Blevins. In two seasons in Iowa City, Allard helped the Hawkeyes to a pair of 30-win seasons and an NCAA Championship invitation in 1993. After her second season at Iowa, Harvard tabbed Allard in the fall of 1994 to serve as its fourth head coach in program history.
Allard had a prolific collegiate career at Michigan, playing third base before stepping into the circle to fill a pitching vacancy during her junior season in 1989. She was a four-time All-Big Ten selection (first team – 1987, 1989, 1990; second team – 1988), a two-time First Team Mideast Region pick and an Academic All-Big Ten honoree as a senior.
During the 1989 campaign, Allard was one of the top players in the country, leading the Wolverines in batting average (.351), hits (65) and RBI (29). When she stepped into the pitching circle, Allard was just as dominant, posting a 19-9 record with a 0.75 ERA and 64 strikeouts. Following her performance, Allard was named the Big Ten Player of the Year and to the All-America first team, while being nominated for the Honda Broderick Award. She was also the recipient of the Big Ten's Medal of Honor, an award given to the highest-achieving female student-athlete. Allard finished her time in Ann Arbor ranked in the top four all-time in 15 hitting and pitching categories and graduated from the school in 1990. Two years later, she was named to the Big Ten All-Decade Team.
Allard has been a member of the NFCA for 30 years, serving as an Assistant Coach Representative on the Board during her time at Iowa and holding different positions while at Harvard (Education and Publications Committee Chair, Head Coaches Caucus member). She also served on the NCAA Division I Softball Committee from 2017-20, helping to decide the NCAA Tournament field.
Allard has also earned a master's degree from the Harvard School of Education in 1999 and a master's in psychology from the Harvard Extension School in 2003.
