Assistant Coach Rich Russo
Coach Russo brings over 30 years of coaching knowledge to the Pirates staff. Prior to coming to Southwestern, Coach Russo coached for 30 years in the state of Nebraska both at the high school and NCAA Division III level. In his high school coaching days, Coach Russo compiled 4 District and 3 Regional Championships, which led to two 3rd place finishes and one 5th place finish at the State Tournament. At the collegiate level, Russo led Nebraska-Weslayan University to 5 Conference Championships and 3 Runner-Up finishes. In 1998, Russo guided the Prairie Wolves to a 23-10 ledger while his 1999 squad had the highest BA (batting average) for Division III at .371%. Russo led the 2000 team to Regionals and in 2001 he guided them to a 24-9 season. Russo was selected two times to Conference Coach of the Year honors and two Louisville Slugger awards. During Russo's tenure at NWU, his teams recorded over 100 top ten finishes in various offensive categories. Coach Russo has been married for over 33 years to wife Nancy, who is a bank manager for Compass Bank in Austin, TX. He also has two sons, Gator, 25 and Boomer, 22.