Softball: Virginia adds Tylka, Allred to coaching staff

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Jeff Tylka and Jamie Allred have joined the Virginia softball coaching staff, it was announced by head coach Joanna Hardin on Tuesday.

Tylka joins the Cavaliers as associate head coach after spending the last three seasons at Penn State and will be in charge of the hitters, while Allred will coach the pitching staff after spending the last five seasons at North Texas.

In his time at Penn State, Tylka helped the Nittany Lions post some of the best results in nearly a decade. This past season, he coached a trio of players to All-Big 10 honors – including first team All-Big 10 and NFCA All-Region selection Emily Maddock who hit at a .439 clip for the season. It was the second-highest single season batting average in program history. Penn State’s offense also ranked in the top five in program history in RBI (197), home runs (38) and doubles (73).

Prior to his time at Penn State, Tylka was with Elite Baseball/Softball Training in Chicago, Illinois, where he was the director of fastpitch and a hitting instructor. He oversaw numerous hitting classes and training seminars while he also tested and wrote movement programs for all softball players.

He worked with softball Olympians, MLB players, Division I athletes and youth players to help develop their swings and help them use the best swing for their movement capabilities. Tylka worked with top instructors Justin Stone, Travis Kerber and Rachel Folden. Stone is currently the Director of Hitting for the Chicago Cubs and Folden is the minor league hitting coordinator for the Cubs.

Prior to working at Elite, Tylka was the head softball coach at Loyola University in Chicago (LUC) from 2015-19. Tylka holds the third-highest win mark among LUC head coaches with 111 wins under his belt. He instituted multiple offensive concepts and changes in his five seasons at the helm that led the Ramblers to the top batting average in program history during the 2019 season (.303). Prior to his time as head coach, he spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Ramblers and he helped coach 11 players to All-Conference honors.

Allred joins the Virginia staff after spending the last five seasons as the pitching coach at North Texas. In her time with the Mean Green, she has developed 10 All-Conference pitchers, including Hope Trautwein who was the 2021 C-USA Pitcher of the Year and earned All-Region honors and Janie Worthington who was named 2021 Freshman of the Year.

She helped coach North Texas to three conference championships and an NCAA Regional in the 2022 season when the Mean Green advanced to the regional final at seventh-seeded Oklahoma State. Over her five years, the North Texas pitching staff recorded 1,483 strikeouts and racked up 163 wins. Last season, the Mean Green advanced to the title game of the C-USA Tournament. Two of her pitching staffs finished in the top 25 nationally in ERA (2021, 2023).

Prior to her time at North Texas, Allred served one season as an assistant coach at Austin Peay where she coached Morgan Rackel to All-Region honors as part of a staff that ranked 32nd nationally in ERA (2.25) and ranked 13th nationally in strikeout to walk ratio (3.67).

Allred was a four-year letterwinner at McNeese State where she was named the 2014 Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year and earned All-Conference and All-Region honors with the Cowgirls. She was a three-time All-Conference selection and helped lead McNeese State to an NCAA Regional appearance as a senior in 2016 under the guidance of Hardin who was head coach of the Cowgirls at the time.

Allred left as the program’s all-time leader with 68 career wins and 16 shutouts along with single-season marks of 27 wins and 10 shutouts, both in 2014. During her final season with the Cowgirls in 2016, Allred led the team to a program record 43 victories.

HEAD COACH JOANNA HARDIN ON HIRING JAMIE ALLRED

“I am thrilled to add Jamie to our coaching staff.  It’s such a blessing to coach with a former player, especially one as talented as Jamie. Her mind for the game and pitching is one of a kind as is her passion to grow and develop young women. Her body of work speaks for itself. She and I have a long history together and I am so excited we get to make more history together at UVA.”

HEAD COACH JOANNA HARDIN ON HIRING JEFF TYLKA

“Jeff is excellent; he is proven, professional and an even better man than coach. His athletes love working with him, and he is a teacher at heart, which is exactly what we wanted in this position. I believe his expertise, experience and values will make an immediate impact on the offense and develop the talent we have in the program.  We are so excited that Jeff’s family will be added into the program. The Tylka’s are a home run for UVA!”

JEFF TYLKA ON JOINING THE VIRGINIA PROGRAM

“Thanks to coach Joanna Hardin and athletics director Carla Williams for this opportunity to join the coaching staff here at the University of Virginia. We’re hitting the ground running and I’m looking forward to working with an amazing group of student-athletes that are part of our program. I’m excited to get on the field and start working with them to help each of them become the best version of themselves they can be in all aspects – as students, athletes and individuals.”

JAMIE ALLRED ON JOINING THE VIRGINIA PROGRAM

“I’m so appreciative to Coach Hardin and athletics directory Carla Williams for the opportunity to join the Virginia program. Coach Jo has been a longtime friend and mentor of mine, and I am thrilled to be joining her at UVA. I can’t wait to get to work with the pitching staff as we prepare for the season and the next step for our program.”