Dakota Wesleyan University will need to replace two head coaches heading into the 2020-2021 school year.
Following a nine-year run leading the softball program, DWU announced Ed Kieff’s retirement on Friday. Also, Tigers men’s soccer coach Jose Lopez accepted a position as the men’s and women’s coach at Neosho County Community College in Chanute, Kansas.
Kieff leaves the program as its all-time winningest coach, with a 147-232 record and 77-89 in Great Plains Athletic Conference play. The Tigers won a program-record 33 games in 2016, when the team finished third in the GPAC.
Kieff finishes at DWU as the program’s longest-tenured coach, as well; prior to his arrival, no DWU coach was in the position for more than four years since the program was founded in 1976. This past season, DWU started 8-13 and defeated No. 10 Valley City State University twice prior to the season being shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lopez spent three seasons as the Tigers’ coach, compiling a 12-35-3 record and going 4-25-2 in GPAC play. The Tigers finished 4-10-2 in 2019. Lopez previously was an assistant at Neosho County Community College in 2016 prior to landing at DWU.
