Cal State San Marcos Names Kelly Howard Warren New Head Coach
May 11, 2007

Cal State San Marcos is very pleased to announce the hiring of Kelly Howard Warren as the new head coach of its softball program. Warren takes over for Jennifer Milo, who moved into a full-time administrative role this May after serving as the head coach of the inaugural Cougar softball team last season.

A former two-time All-American at UCLA, Warren has achieved great success both on the field and in the dugout. As the Bruins' starting second baseman and leadoff hitter from 1993 to 1996, she was named to the all PAC-10 team four times, and earned all-Region honors three times. She led UCLA to the Women's Softball College World Series each of her four seasons, and graduated holding the school's career records for hits, run, and doubles. Warren was selected as a member of the PAC-10 all-decade team. She was no slouch in the classroom, either, earning Academic All-American honors while playing for the Bruins.

Following her playing career, Warren immediately entered coaching, serving as an undergraduate assistant coach at UCLA in the 1996-1997 season. That team would reach the championship game of the College World Series.

After earning her B.A. in Geography and a stint in the Women's Professional Softball League, Warren moved on to St. Norbert College in Green Bay, where she took on the role of Assistant Coach. There, she was responsible for both on-field instruction and the monitoring of academic progress, as well as the team's conditioning.

That would prepare Warren for a move back to the west coast, where she settled in as the Associate Head Softball Coach at San Diego State. From 2000 to 2006, Warren would play a key role in bringing the Aztec program to national prominence. Her wide variety of tasks included serving as the Recruiting Coordinator, Tournament Director, Aztec Softball Camp Director, infield coach and hitting instructor. She also supervised the team's academic progress and managed all travel, fundraising, alumni relations, and philanthropic events. In Warren's six years at SDSU, the program won its first three conference championships and earned its first three regional championship births, reaching the regional finals twice.

In August 2006, Warren began work as an instructor for SweetSpot Softball, a San Diego-based company that offers private lessons and clinics for youth leagues, high school, and travel ball teams. She earned "Four-Star Master Coach" standing from the National Fastpitch Coaches College in December 2006, and will earn her M.S. in Kinesiology (emphasis in coaching) from Texas Women's University this August.

“We are absolutely thrilled that Kelly Warren is joining our athletics family,” said Cal State San Marcos Athletics Director Stephen Nichols. “Kelly is one of the most decorated players in the history of one of college softball’s most storied programs, and she has been equally impressive in her coaching career since then. And as an Academic All-American herself, she understands the true meaning of ‘student-athlete’ and the priority we afford academics at CSUSM. I can’t imagine a better person to continue on with the great things accomplished by Jennifer Milo this past year.”

Kelly Howard Warren brings a winning mentality and big-time experience to CSUSM. Her experience in helping build the San Diego State program should translate well to the task she'll have with the Cougars.

Though the squad was 10-31 in its first year of competition, the mostly-freshman team featured just one upperclassman, and faced a schedule packed with many of the top teams in the NAIA. With assistants Jamie Burton and Tanya Ledesma maintaining their roles and former coach Milo still in the department, expect a smooth transition to Warren, and expect the team to continue to build on the excellent foundation it laid last season!