Coaching Staff

Todd Buckingham enters his first season as head coach of the SVSU softball team after being hired in June of 2012.  

Buckingham spent the past six seasons at IU Southeast after being named the first head coach in school history in 2006. He amassed a 186-111 record while leading the school to six straight Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles and three NAIA Postseason appearances, including an Elite 8 appearance in 2012. He was named KIAC Coach of the Year twice and NAIA Regional Coach of the Year in 2008.  During his 11 seasons in collegiate softball, Buckingham compiled a 263-252 overall record in his stops at IU Southeast and Bluefield State (WV).

During his six seasons at IU Southeast, Buckingham coached 30 of his former players to all-conference awards and three to NAIA Academic All-American accolades.

Before taking over at IU Southeast, Buckingham coached at Bluefield State College, an NCAA Division II program in Bluefield, West Virginia for five seasons. While there, he set the career record for softball coaching victories and led the program to its first winning season in school history. He was named the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Softball Coach of the Year in 2005.

Buckingham also served as one of two coaches for USA Athletes International, Inc. ( USAAI ). He took a team of U.S. softball players to Spain in the summer of 2008 and traveled to Australia in 2009 and 2010.

A native of Corydon, Ind., Buckingham received a bachelor’s degree in biology education from Olivet Nazarene University in 1998. He returned to Indiana after he graduated to teach Science at South Central Junior/Senior High School in Elizabeth, Ind. in 1998 and then taught Math and Science at St. Joseph School in Corydon, Ind. from 1999 to 2001. 

Enters her 1st season with the Cardinal staff. Prior to SVSU, she worked as an assistant at Lehigh University as the primary offensive coach. During her 2 years at Lehigh, the team made two NCAA Regional appearances and amassed two Patriot League Championship titles. She spent a year at the University of Illinois at Chicago after graduating as a four year starter at Cleveland State University. She was awarded All-Horizon League Honors 4 times, set school records in career hits, career doubles, career RBI’s, and career runs scored. Coppus was second in career batting average and made an NCAA Regional appearance in 2009. As a senior, she was awarded CSU’s Woman of the Year for athletic, academic, and community service achievements.

Assistant Coach Jodi Mayan

Enters her 1st season on the SVSU staff. Prior to SVSU, she coached at Frankenmuth High School and Hemlock High School. Mayan was an All State shortstop at Bay City All Saints High School. Her collegiate career started at Michigan State University and after two years accepted a scholarship to SVSU where she started 3rd base and played for the remainder of her collegiate career. Mayan was a defensive specialist leading to a golden glove status. Batting second in line-up, the left handed hitter utilized speed and bunt hitting to lead in hits and runs scored. Mayan made two back to back World Series appearances.

Assistant Coach Jamie Walpole

Enters her 1st season as pitching coach for SVSU. She has been in the softball world for almost 20 years and a private pitching coach for 11 years. She has been trained by some of the biggest names in softball, including Dot Richardson. She was an award winning 3rd baseman and pitcher in high school which led her to a full-ride scholarship to a Division II school in Colorado.