Tammy Utley joined Buena Vista University as its head softball coach beginning with the 2025 season.
In her first year at the helm, the program was recognized with the Community Service Award during the BVU Athletics end of year Beaver Awards banquet. Utley also coached five players who were selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.
Utley came to BVU with over 27 years of coaching experience. Prior to her arrival, she spent seven seasons as head coach at Lakeland University in Plymouth, Wis. In her final season in 2024, she guided the Muskies to a school-record 35 wins (35-10 overall, 19-5 Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference) and one win shy of an NCAA Regional Tournament appearance. Prior to that year, the Muskies had not won more than 20 games in a season since 2016. Before being named head coach in June 2017, Utley spent three seasons within the program as assistant coach.
A Fort Dodge, Iowa, native, Utley got her coaching career started as an assistant coach at the high school level at Mid-Prairie High School (1997-2002) in Wellman, Iowa. She then served as an assistant coach at the University of Northern Iowa from 2002-07, and then stepped into a head coaching role, first at Cedar Falls (Iowa) High School from 2008-10 and then at Waterloo West High School from 2011-12. She was inducted into the Fort Dodge High School Softball Hall of Fame in 2012.
Utley played college softball at the University of Iowa, and as a senior in 1999, was named team captain, voted the team’s Most Valuable Player and earned Third Team All-Big Ten honors. Utley also ranked in the top-three of program history in career home runs, was also a member of two College World Series appearances (1996 and 1997), was a Big Ten Academic All-American in 1997.
