After serving as St. Francis' head coach from 1985-94, Dick Smith returned to that post once again in 2003.

Smith, the Lady Saints' all-time winningest coach with 534 victories (534-411, .565), was a USF assistant coach to Ali Franzen, who tallied a 143-84-1 mark during her stint directing the program, from 1999-2002.

During Smith's initial 10-year reign with the Lady Saints, St. Francis qualified for the District 20 playoffs each season and captured the tournament title seven times. USF also won seven Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference crowns and made three NAIA World Series appearances, including the 1988 and 1993 seasons when the Lady Saints placed ninth in the nation.

USF was a mainstay in the top-20 rankings during that decade, as well, appearing eight times, while also stringing together five consecutive 30-win seasons between 1989 and 1993.

In 1995, Smith journeyed east on Interstate 80, eventually stopping at Valparaiso University (IN), where he served as the Crusaders' head coach for two seasons in 1995 and 1996. His overall head coaching record in 19 years stands at 558-481 (.537)

A native of Huntington, Indiana, Smith was introduced to the sport of softball in California and Japan during a tour of duty in the United States Army. That came in 1953, making this year his 60th associated with the sport.

Smith received his bachelor's and law degrees from Indiana University before spending 21 years as a special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

He and his wife, Ruth, reside in Monee. They have two children, Ernie and the late Tracy Smith, and three grandsons.

Amanda Jensen joined the University of St. Francis softball coaching staff as the associate head coach for the Saints in the fall of 2011.  Jensen comes to USF after serving as assistant coach at Olivet Nazarene University from 2004-2011.  During that time, Tiger teams put together an impressive record of 316-129.  Jensen helped guide the Tigers to four Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season titles, four CCAC tournament championships and three NAIA World Series appearances.  The Tigers also claimed two National Christian College Athletic Association national championships in 2006 and 2008.  In June of 2010, Jensen and the entire ONU softball coaching staff were recipients of the NAIA Great Lakes Region Coaching Staff of the Year award.

Jensen is a native of Bourbonnais, Ill., and a 2003 graduate of Olivet Nazarene University.  She was a four-year letter winner for the Tiger softball program (2000-2003).  With Jensen, ONU softball squads put together a combined record of 187-69 and won three CCAC Tournament championships, as well as the 2003 NAIA Region VII Title.  Jensen led the 2003 team to a record-setting 61-13 record and a third-place finish at the NAIA World Series.  Jensen earned ONU's Most Valuable Player Award for her efforts.  In addition, she was named NCCAA North Central Region and NCCAA National Player of the Year.  She also was named the NAIA and National Fastpitch Coaches Association First-Team All-American shortstop in 2003 leading the NAIA in hits (99), runs scored (87) and assists (215), while committing just six errors in 348 chances.

At her time of graduation, Jensen held a number of ONU season and career records as well as a variety of NAIA national records including at-bats/season (247), runs/season (87), assists/season (215), at-bats/career (861), runs/career (247), and assists/career (715).  She finished her career at ONU starting every single game (257) and playing every single inning with 317 career hits while accumulating a .368 batting average and a .443 on-base percentage.  In 2008, Jensen became just the seventh athlete, and first softball player, in ONU athletic history to be inducted into ONU Athletic Hall-of-Fame in her first year of eligibility.

After graduation from ONU, Jensen was the 12^th overall pick in the 32-player Elite Draft of the National Pro Fastpitch League.  She also played two seasons with the nation's premier amateur team, the Stratford Brakettes.  In 2004, Jensen helped the Brakettes to a 50-4 record and the 2004 ASA Women's Major National Championship.  She batted .327 and led the Brakettes with 39 runs scored and a .435 on-base percentage.  The following summer, she helped the team to a 51-17 record and a runner-up finish at the ASA Women's Major National Championship.  Following the season, Jensen was named an ASA First Team All-American.  In 2006, Jensen signed a two-year contract with the Michigan Ice professional fastpitch softball team.  While there she accumulated a .357 batting average in two seasons while leading the 2007 squad in batting average (.364), on-base percentage (.452) and fielding percentage (.995), committing just one error in 191 chances defensively.

Jensen was a four-time NFCA All-American Scholar Athlete as well as a two-time NAIA and NCCAA All-American Scholar Athlete.  She graduated with a .397 GPA and Summa Cum Laude honors while pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education.  In 2006, Jensen obtained her Master of Arts in Education and two years later, in 2008, completed her Master of Organizational Leadership both with a 4.0 GPA.

Along with associate head coaching responsibilities, Jensen also serves in the USF athletic department as an administrative assistant.  At Olivet she filled a variety of roles, including being an adjunct professor in the Exercise and Sports Science Department as well as the women's sports information director for the athletic department.

Prior to making the move to USF in 2003, Ed Wendler spent his entire 10-year coaching career with the New Lenox Lightning softball team, which he co-founded.

While coaching the Lightning, Wendler's team's qualified for either the ASA or NSA nationals nine times and placed among the top 30 teams in the country on three occasions. New Lenox's best performance came in the summer of 2000 when it finished 10th at the NSA national tournament.

The Lightning also captured tournaments at Thornton High School as well as in Morris.

He and his wife, Linda, live in Coal City. They have two children, including Autumn Picci, a former USF pitcher and assistant coach, and two grandchildren.