UTC softball head coach Frank Reed announced on Sunday that Lee Dobbins has been named an assistant coach. Reed has added experience and depth to his coaching staff during the offseason by hiring Dobbins, who was an assistant at Austin Peay over the past two seasons, and Amy Herrington, formerly the head coach at Appalachian State.

“Lee has head coaching experience at two other universities along with a lot of assistant coaching experience,” said Reed. “He knows just about everyone in the game of softball, so he is going to be helpful in recruiting because he knows who to contact.”

From 2009-10, Dobbins competed against Chattanooga as an assistant coach for Austin Peay, where he handled recruiting along with coaching the pitchers and catchers. Dobbins mentored freshman pitcher Morgan Brewer who recorded 12 of the Lady Govs’ 16 victories and posted a team-leading 94 strikeouts in 2010.

“I am happy to be back in my home of Chattanooga and have a chance to work on coach Reed’s staff again” said Dobbins. “I have known him for years and he has run a successful program that has won numerous conference championships and regional appearances.”

In his first year at Austin Peay, the team’s ERA dropped from 5.75 to 3.59, while the pitching staff also gave up 22 fewer extra-base hits and struck out two more opposing batters per game.

“Coming to Chattanooga is completely different than Austin Peay,” said Dobbins. “We were in the process of rebuilding the program and were taking baby steps. Sometimes we took three or four steps forward and other times we took a couple steps back. At UTC, we want to maintain our success and help coach Reed take the program to another level.”

He formerly was the head coach and helped start the softball program at Texas A&M International University (Laredo, Tex.) in 2008. Before coaching the Dustdevils, Dobbins was head coach at Lander University in 2006 for a season totaling a 27-28-1 record and finishing third in the Peach Belt Conference Championship.

Prior to taking the head coaching reigns at Lander, Dobbins gained experience as an assistant at Tusculum College from 2003-04 and UTC in 2005. He broke into the college ranks as student assistant at Chattanooga State Technical Community College in 1997 under current UTC head coach Frank Reed and Tennessee from 1999-00 with head coach Jim Beitia.

In addition to coaching, Dobbins also has recent experience as the executive director of the Ace Softball Inc. Fun-In-The-Sun Classic. The Bradenton, Fla. tournament draws college teams from all NCAA Divisions throughout the country during the spring.

Dobbins has international experience serving as the head coach of the 2006 Athletes International College Goodwill Team from Munich, Germany. Dobbins worked at the National Training Facility in Barcelona, Spain as a video consultant for the Spanish National Softball Team in 2002.

The Chattanooga native has spent time off the diamond as a sales associate and instructor for The Fastpitch School (TFS) and The Whip Hit Bat, Inc., where he has made numerous contacts throughout the softball community. He expanded his knowledge of the general operations of baseball and softball by working at Vetrans Field as a game management assistant for the Loredo Broncos Professional Baseball Club during the summer of 2008.

Dobbins is an active member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). He has also served as camp instructor and camp director at several high-level college camps throughout the Southeast over the past several years.

Dobbins attained a bachelor’s in communications from the University of Tennessee in 2002 and currently resides in Hixson.