Hofstra University Athletics

Jay Miller was named head coach of the Hofstra Softball program in June 2018 and completed his third season with the Pride following the 2021 season when he also announced his retirement from coaching. 
 
Miller brought a plethora of softball knowledge and success to Hofstra with a legendary resumé that included five stints and 32 seasons as a Division I head softball coach. During his career, Miller has racked up over 1,000 career wins, two Women’s College World Series appearances, 13 NCAA tournament appearances and three conference Championships.

Miller concluded his legendary coaching career with 1,705 wins, ranking him 12th all-time among active Division I coaches at the time of his retirement. In addition, he concluded his career as the 33rd winningest Division I coach of all-time. 

In his first season at Hofstra, Miller produced six CAA All-Conference honorees, including 2019 Defensive Player of the Year, Kristin Hallam and Co-Rookie of the Year, Meghan Giordano. In addition, four collected NFCA All-Northeast Region honors, with Giordano earning first team distinction. In the classroom, a program-record 11 student-athletes earned All-America Scholar Athlete Distinction by the NFCA, while Hallam was named to the 2019 Google Cloud Academic All-District Team.

Following the shortened 2020 season, Miller mentored three All-Conference nominees, as Jaycee Ruberti was named to the All-CAA First Team, Devyn Losco was named to the All-CAA Rookie Team and Chelsea Manto earned a spot on the All-Rookie Team. All three went on to receive NFCA All-Northeast Region honors with Hallam picked up the honor for the second time in her career as well. 

Prior to Hofstra, Miller spent two seasons as the Associate Head Softball Coach at Rutgers University. Before that, Miller served for four years at the University of Louisville including two as the pitching coach, aiding the Cardinals to four NCAA regional appearances as well as an ACC Championship in 2014. During his first season with Louisville in 2013, the Cardinals registered a 47-13 overall mark, reaching as high as No. 7 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll and No. 8 in the USA Today/NFCA poll while spending four weeks among the nation’s top 10.

Prior to Louisville, Miller registered nine seasons at the helm of the Mississippi State softball program (2002-11), leading the Bulldogs to six regional appearances highlighted as the Regional Finalist in 2005. During his tenure at Mississippi State, Miller became the 13^th division I head softball coach to earn his 1,000^th career victory. In 2009, Miller earned a distinguished place in the softball coaching profession when he was inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Hall of Fame as part of the Association’s 18^th class.

The most decorated section of Miller’s resume comes during his time at the helm of the University of Missouri softball program from 1987-2002. In his 15 seasons with the Tigers, Miller compiled a record of 556-309 and guided the program to two Women’s College World Series appearances (1991 and 1994) and a total of five NCAA regionals. In 1997, Miller was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year after leading the Tigers to the Big 12 Conference title. Prior to Missouri’s entrance into the Big 12, Miller earned back-to-back Big Eight Coach of the Year honors in 1991 and 1992.

At the international level, Miller has served on the USA Softball National Team staff since 1997 and was tabbed head coach from 2009-10, earning USOC National Softball Coach of the Year honors in both seasons. He led the team to a World Championship gold medal in 2010, World Cup of Softball gold medals in 2009 and 2010, and gold medals in the Japan and Canada Cups. The national side posted a 44-5 record under his guidance. He also helmed the USA Softball Junior National Team from 2006-07, going a perfect 20-0 and taking home a World Championship in 2007.

A leading authority on the sport, Miller was a charter member of the NFCA and has spent time on the NCAA Softball Rules Committee, the NFCA All-American Committee, the USA Softball Olympic Selection Committee, the NFCA Board and the NFCA Softball Rules Committee, serving as chair on several. Miller has also authored more than 40 articles, including a chapter on offensive strategy for the Softball Coaching Bible. He is considered one of the top softball clinicians in the world, having worked as a lead instructor for the National Fastpitch Coaches College, and other clinics in the United States, Netherlands Antilles, Italy, Czech Republic, Holland, France and Malaysia.

Miller completed an international studies program at the University of Grenoble in France before earning a bachelor’s of science in psychology and sociology from Illinois State in 1978 and a master’s of science in education from Purdue in 1979.

Miller and his wife Lacy Lee Baker, an NFCA Hall of Famer herself, have one daughter, Nicole.