Utley

Tammy Utley

Tammy Utley is in her sixth year as head coach of the Lakeland softball program in 2023.

Utley is coming off her most successful season as the Muskies’ coach. Lakeland finished 18-15 overall, its first winning record since 2016, and posted a 13-10 mark to place fifth in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. The Muskies made their second straight trip to NACC postseason play and qualified for the NACC’s traditional six-team tournament for the first time since 2016.
 
Utley has posted a 60-92-1 record in her first five seasons. In 2021 she led Lakeland to a 12-23-1 overall record and a 9-11 mark in the NACC. The Muskies posted their best conference record in five years and qualified for the NACC North Division playoffs. The 2020 and 2021 seasons were both affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including 2020 when the team got off to a 5-5 start on its spring break trip to Florida. The NACC announced the spring sports season was canceled soon after the Muskies played their final game in Florida.

Lakeland improved its overall and conference win totals in 2019, when it finished 14-24 overall and 7-15 in the NACC. The Muskies finished ninth in the conference, one spot better than the previous year when they came in 11-25 overall and 6-16 in conference in Utley’s first season. Utley’s first Lakeland team was close to a much better finish, losing nine NACC games by two runs or less and also defeating league champion Marian and third-place finisher Aurora.
 
Utley was named head coach in June 2017 after assisting with the team the previous three years, serving as the team's hitting coach. She also was Lakeland's head women's tennis coach from 2015-18, leading the Muskies from a winless mark to a spot in the six-team NACC Tournament in two years later.
 
Utley is a former NCAA Division I athlete, playing collegiate softball at the University of Iowa, and has more than 20 years of coaching experience at the college and high school levels.
 
She played collegiately at Iowa from 1995-99, where for the Hawkeyes she was a team captain, team MVP, and was named third team all-Big Ten. She also was a Big Ten all-academic selection and an all-region scholar-athlete.
 
Utley is an Iowa native and began her coaching career as an assistant coach at Mid-Prairie High School 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.

Utley graduated from the University of Iowa in 1999 with a B.S. in Sports, Health and Leisure & Physical Studies. She resides in Sheboygan.

 
Tammy Utley Lakeland Coaching Record
Year Overall  Conf. NACC Finish
2018 11-25 6-16 tie-10th
2019 14-24 7-15 9th
2020 5-5 - season ended early due to COVID-19
2021 12-23-1 9-11 4th-North
2022 18-15 13-10 5th
Career 60-92-1 35-52