Head Coach Andrew Rich enters his fifth season at the helm of the Idaho State Softball program. In his time with the Bengals, Rich has revitalized the program, leading the Bengals to a regular season title in 2023. He has coached to 35 all-conference players, 2 all-region players.
In 2025, Rich guided Idaho State to its second regular season Big Sky Conference title under his leadership, posting a dominant 13-2 conference record. The Bengals’ championship campaign was accompanied by one of the most decorated postseason hauls in program history, as Rich was named the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year for the second time in his tenure.
Idaho State produced 11 all-conference honorees following the 2025 season, led by Ava Brown, who was named Big Sky Player of the Year and earned First Team All-Big Sky honors. Kasey Aguinaga was recognized as the Big Sky Pitcher of the Year, Co-Big Sky Newcomer of the Year, and a First Team All-Big Sky selection. Jenna Kearns, Gracie Smith, Alyssa Yee, and Lizzy Tommasini also earned First Team All-Big Sky honors.
Belle Navarrete and Camryn McDonald were named to the Second Team All-Big Sky, while Kennedy Dudley and Brooke Peterson received Big Sky Honorable Mention recognition. The extensive list of postseason accolades reflected the continued growth and competitive consistency of the program under Rich’s direction.
In 2023, Rich led the Bengals to 12 all-conference honors, the second-highest in program history. Rich was also named the 2023 Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year
In 2022,Director of Athletics Pauline Thiros tabbed Andrew Rich to lead the Bengal program. Rich came to Idaho State University (ISU) after having spent the previous three seasons at Boise State University (BSU) as associate head coach.
“In what was an extremely impressive pool of candidates, Coach Rich brought a level of enthusiasm, positivity, and attention to detail which could not quite be matched,” said Director of Athletics Pauline Thiros. “The team and staff responded extremely well to him, and it is clear he has the recruiting acumen, technical knowledge, and passion to be an excellent leader for Idaho State Softball.”
In three seasons with the Bengals, Andrew Rich has led a turnaround of the program, going 70-82, 25-19 BSC in the previous two years and winning the 2023 Big Sky Conference regular season title.
In his first season with BSU, Rich helped the team to the 2019 NCAA tournament where the Broncos went 2-2 and reached the regional final against their host, the Florida Gators. On their way to the final, the Broncos defeated Stanford twice, which included the program’s first NCAA Championship victory in history.
The team finished the campaign at 36-16 overall and was an at-large selection to the national tournament. Three Broncos, Bradie Fillmore, Kora Wade and Rebekah Cervantes, were named to the NFCA’s Pacific Region team.
In 2019, Rich’s defensive coaching efforts led to BSU records in fielding percentage (.963) and the fewest errors committed (54). The team’s fielding percentage rose by 14 percent in a year, while Boise State committed 22 fewer errors on the season.
Other accomplishments that Rich earned while at Boise State included ranking 20th in the country in fielding percentage in 2021. That .976 percent was a new Boise State record.
Rich oversaw back-to-back top-30 recruiting classes at BSU in 2020 and 2021 including seven top-100 players.
Prior to Boise State, Rich spent two seasons as an assistant coach at NCAA Division II Sonoma State. While there for the 2017 and 2018 campaigns the program went a combined 65-42 overall and reached the NCAA tournament once. Sonoma State also landed three players on the All-CCAA team in 2018.
Rich moved to Sonoma State after serving as an undergraduate assistant coach and assistant director of operations at Mountain West member Fresno State during the 2016 season. The Bulldogs’ staff would go on to be named the NFCA Pacific Region Coaching Staff of the Year after winning 42 games and defending their conference title.
Prior to Sonoma State, Rich earned his degree in Kinesiology from Fresno State University while also working as an assistant coach at the High School level and as an Undergrad Assistant/Assistant Director of Operations for Fresno State Softball.
Rich is married to his wife Staci and has one son, Easton
