CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Jenny Allard, the longest-tenured and winningest head coach in Ivy League softball history, has accepted the head coaching position at Pittsburgh, the Panthers announced today. The 2022 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Hall of Fame inductee finished her 28^th season at the helm of the Crimson this past spring.
 
Allard posted a record of 688-518-4, including a 342-130-1 mark vs. Ivy League competition, and created a winning culture in Cambridge. All nine of Harvard's Ivy titles, each of its six 30-win campaigns and its eight NCAA berths came under the watch of Allard, who led the Crimson for more than half of the program's existence.
 
The California native coached 78 first-team, 75 second-team and 51 honorable mention all-Ivy selections, as well as seven Ivy Players of the Year, eight Ivy Pitchers of the Year, seven Ivy Rookies of the Year and three All-Americans.
 
A 1990 graduate of Michigan, Allard began her coaching career as an assistant at Iowa where in two seasons, she helped the Hawkeyes to a pair of 30-win campaigns and an NCAA tournament berth in 1993.
 
Following the 1994 season, Allard was named the fourth head coach in Harvard softball history and made an immediate impact, leading the 1995 squad to a 10-win improvement over the year before. In her fourth year at the helm, Allard guided the Crimson to its first 30-win season, Ivy League title and NCAA appearance. Over the course of her first 10 years, she guided Harvard to three Ivy championships (1998, 2000, 2001), to a pair of NCAA tournaments (1998, 2000) and won more games (244) than the Crimson had in its first 14 seasons of existence (203).
 
Allard's next 10 seasons featured more success as Harvard compiled eight .500-or-better campaigns, won three more Ivy League titles and made a trio of NCAA appearances, including a run to the regional final in 2012.
 
In the last seven full seasons, meanwhile, Allard guided the Crimson to seven winning seasons, three Ivy titles and three NCAA tournament berths, including this past season when Harvard went 29-17-1, captured the conference title and was a part of the NCAA field. In fact, in three of the last four completed campaigns, the Crimson raised the Ivy trophy and advanced to the NCAA Championship.
 
Additionally, Allard was named The Ragatz Family Harvard Women's Coach of Excellence in 2018-19 and 2019-20. The honor is 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.
 
Allard started her collegiate career at Michigan, playing third base before stepping into the circle to fill a pitching vacancy during her junior season in 1989. Allard was a four-time All-Big Ten Conference selection (first team – 1987, 1989, 1990; second team – 1988), a two-time first-team Mideast Region selection 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 '89 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 Conference 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.
 
Off the field, Allard, who 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, has been influential in the softball community.
 
Allard has been a member of the NFCA for 32 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.
 
At Harvard, meanwhile, Allard was a valuable asset to the University since her arrival in 1994. During her time in Cambridge, Allard was a member of the Board of Freshman Advisors and served as a Freshman Academic Advisor for 25 years, a proctor for 12 and a non-residential advisor for 13. She also helped launch in 2020, Harvard's Grow. Play. Achieve. (GPA) program, which provides health, wellness and community building opportunities for all undergraduates.

For all of her efforts and accomplishments over her illustrious career, Allard was named in December 2021 to the NFCA Hall of Fame Class of 2022, at the association's national convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. Allard officially became the first Ivy League-associated player or coach to be inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame on Dec. 9, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas.
 
A national search for Allard's successor will begin immediately.