Michelle DePolo - Head Coach - Staff Directory - St. John's University Athletics

Staff Directory

Michelle DePolo

Title:
Head Coach
Email:

Michelle DePolo enters her third season as the 11^th head coach of the St. John's softball program. She was hired Aug. 1, 2023, and possesses 14 seasons of Division I head coaching experience.

DePolo has produced a 416-326-2 (.560) record as a Division I head coach, reaching the postseason on 11 occasions, including bids to the BIG EAST Tournament in 2024 and 2025 and nine consecutive appearances in the Patriot League Tournament with Army West Point from 2010 to 2018.

In 2024, DePolo led the Red Storm to a 31-win season, marking the third-highest total in program history and just one shy of the program record. DePolo helped lead the Johnnies to two triumphs in the 2024 BIG EAST Tournament and helped coach three 2024 All-BIG EAST selections.

The following season, DePolo set a program record in 2025 with 39 wins en route to the Red Storm's fourth BIG EAST Regular Season Title. Under DePolo's guidance, Jess Bianco set the St. John's single-season hit record, while she, Loreley Francia, London Jarrad and Ana Serafinko were all awarded with NFCA All-Northeast Region selections.

Prior to her arrival in Queens, DePolo spent one season as an assistant coach with Florida Gulf Coast University, guiding the Eagles’ pitching staff to significant improvements in the circle in 2023. FGCU saw a 14-win increase with 32 victories last season while the pitchers lowered their earned run average by 1.14 points to a 3.16 ERA. DePolo and the Eagles made history in 2023 against ASUN powerhouse Liberty, who entered its March 25 doubleheader with a 39-1 record in its last 40 contests against conference competitors. FGCU took down the Flames with 1-0 and 5-0 victories, holding the host school to five hits in each contest and marking the first time Liberty suffered back-to-back scoreless setbacks against an ASUN opponent in program history.

Prior to her stint in Fort Myers, DePolo spent three seasons as the head coach at Tennessee Tech, going 61-61 during her tenure. In her final campaign, she led the Golden Eagles to a program-record 32 wins and its first Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Tournament victory in seven seasons with a 3-1 victory over Eastern Illinois in 2022.

Before Tennessee Tech, DePolo also made history with Army West Point, being named the first female head coach of the softball program in 2009 after spending two seasons in an assistant role. She propelled the program to new heights during her inaugural campaign, leading Army to its first regular season title since 1992, tying the school record for single-season victories (33) and conference wins (15) in 2010, and earning Patriot League Coach of the Year. Her squad also ranked inside the top 25 nationally with 78 doubles that season.

During her nine campaigns with Army, DePolo became the program’s second-winningest coach with a 280-216 overall record, garnering nine straight Patriot League Tournament appearances and a conference tournament championship in 2013 by taking down Lehigh with back-to-back shutouts in the championship doubleheader. DePolo led the Black Knights to 30-plus victories in five seasons, including four 35-win campaigns, the only head coach in school history to reach that single-season threshold. DePolo earned a pair of Patriot League Coach of the Year awards (2010, ’16) and also guided five players to major Patriot League award winners. She also saw 22 student-athletes combine for 37 all-conference selections during her tenure, including 21 first-team honors.

DePolo’s rise to Division I head coach started in 2003 with the United States Military Academy Prep School in Monmouth, N.J., a one-year stint as head coach before taking on assistant coach responsibilities at Georgian Court University (2005), Smith College (2006) and Amherst College (2007).

DePolo graduated from Georgian Court with her bachelor’s degree in English in 2003 before securing her master’s in exercise and sports studies at Smith College in 2007. The four-year letterwinner and three-time Region X Champion at Georgian Court was also inducted into the University’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012.