The University of Tennessee Southern

Coach Brandie Paul is entering her 25th year at UT Southern, first serving for 22 seasons as head softball coach, and transitioning to Vice Chancellor/Athletic Director in 2020.

Upon her transition to Athletic Director, Paul was charged with leading the transition from Martin Methodist College to UT Southern, serving as the final athletic director for Martin Methodist College and the first for UT Southern. She is the only female to serve in the role in the institution’s 154 years.

Under her leadership, UT Southern has won three national championships, and has been named an NAIA Champions of Character Gold Star Institution for three consecutive years. Additionally, during Paul’s tenure as Athletic Director, the athletic department academic achievements have soared, including a record-breaking 3.21 department GPA in 2023-24. During her time, she has fostered collaboration with athletics and University faculty and staff to promote academic success, retention and graduation, while also developing the FLAMES athletic leadership program, updating facilities, and overseeing athletic re-branding efforts at UT Southern.

Since her 2001 arrival as softball coach until her final season in 2022, she accumulated 700-plus career victories with 14 consecutive postseason appearances and 13 straight seasons with a record above .500. She is the winningest coach in UT Southern history among all sports and is one of the top ten winningest coaches in NAIA softball history.

She has a storied background in coaching, leading three teams to the NAIA national tournament and guiding the program to multiple national-ranked seasons. Most importantly to Paul, her softball teams have regularly held one of the top two athletic team grade point averages each year. Under her direction, the program has had multiple NAIA All-Americans, Academic All-Americans, and numerous conference honors. Alongside coaching, she has spent numerous seasons as an NAIA national ranker, NAIA national tournament committee member and conference softball chair. In addition to her duties with the softball program, Paul spent seven seasons as an associate athletic director.

Paul is a member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), NAIA Athletic Directors Association, and the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. A top graduate of the University of Tennessee Executive Leadership Institute, Paul was also named the inaugural UT Southern Title IX Trailblazer Award recipient in 2022.

Paul graduated from Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1995 with a B.A. in accounting. Paul was a four-year starter for the Lady Hawks, who were ranked in the top ten in NAIA polls all four years, making National Tournament appearances in 1992 and 1994. She then earned a master’s degree in sports science with a specialization in coaching from the United States Sports Academy.

Coaching History