Winona State Warriors

Follow Coach Jones on Twitter: @CoachGregJones1

Greg Jones enters his 24th season at the helm of the Winona State softball program owning a 929-316-4 overall mark, all earned with the Warriors. Jones has a .745 winning percentage and is the longest-serving member of the WSU coaching staff across all programs.  Under his direction, Coach Jones has molded Winona State into one of the most consistently competitive teams in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and ranks among the elite in NCAA Division II softball.

Following the 2023 campaign in which Winona State qualified for the NSIC postseason and saw Jones surpass the 900 win mark, the longtime head coach is now among the top eight active NCAA Division II head coaches.  His 929 victories heading into this season are also in the top-15 within the NCAA Division II ranks.  WSU was 38-16 overall during the 2023 season, earned a 38-16 NSIC mark and had seven WSU standouts earn NSIC All-Conference honors. Winona State had five Warriors earn spots on the 11-member NSIC Gold Glove team following the 2023 season. 

In 2022, Winona State went 41-17 overall and 23-5 in NSIC play. The program qualified for it's 15th NCAA postseason appearance, the most of any Winona State team sport program. WSU finished as the runner-up in the NSIC Tournament, Abbie Hlas earned All-American honors and Liz Pautz earned Academic All-American honors, following outstanding careers.  Pautz was the national leader in total strikeouts and strikeouts per seven innings.

On the field of play, Winona State has stood out defensively.  The Warriors were the best defensive team in NCAA in terms of defensive fielding percentage in both the 2021 and 2017 campaigns, finishing tied with Hawaii Hilo in 2021 at .982 and holding the top spot alone in 2017, also with a .982 mark.

Playing in the NSIC - one of the top softball conferences in the country - Jones and his team finished the 2021 season with a 37-12 overall record and 22-8 conference mark. The Warriors battled their way to the final day of the 2021 NSIC Tournament, earning a 4-2 record that included three come-from-behind wins in the postseason and eventually falling 4-3 to Augustana University, at the time the #1 team in the country.

The 2020 season, cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, saw the Warriors go 13-6 in their opening two weeks of games.  Despite the impact of the pandemic on the season, Winona State earned a .684.2% winning percentage in the shortened campaign.

In 2019, Jones guided Winona State to a perfect 30-0 NSIC record (conference record for wins) which extended into a staggering program record of 31 consecutive victories.

Coach Jones recorded his 800th career win during the 2019 NCAA Regional as the Warriors set a new program record for wins in a season (53). Just two short years prior, he notched his 700th career victory during the Warriors' then record-setting 52-win season in 2017. In 2018, WSU set a program record with an .865 winning percentage (45-7). The Warriors qualified for the NCAA Division II Regional in all three seasons from 2017-19, hosting the tournament in 2018 & 2019.

In total, Jones has led Winona State to all 14 of its NCAA Regional appearances in program history. His 850 wins heading into the 2022 season are the most in WSU history ranked 18th among active DII coaches.

Jones has been named the NSIC’s Coach of the Year four times and has led the Warriors to at least 30 wins in all 19 years as WSU's head coach, including 12 seasons of at least 40 victories and three 50-win campaigns. 

It didn’t take Jones long to set a standard of excellent on the diamond at Winona State. The Warriors set a program record for victories in his second year as head coach (which has since been eclipsed three additional times by his squad) and won the first NSIC Championship in school history in his third year. His team plays by the motto of "Passion & Pride" on and off the field.

Jones has built a consistent winner, claiming five NSIC Regular Season Championships (2003, 2005, 2007, 2018, 2019) and six NSIC Tournament titles (2003, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2018). The Warriors have also become a perennial postseason contender, advancing to the NCAA Tournament 14 times. Winona State has hosted the Regional Tournament four times. The team has played in the NCAA Super Regional Tournament twice, in 2009 and 2013, winning the regional title in 2009.

The 2009 team reached the NCAA Division II World Series for the first time in program history, winning the school’s first regional title and finishing fifth in the final national rankings. Jones and his assistants were named National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Regional Coaching Staff of the Year for their efforts.

The 2009 season was historic on many levels for Winona State. The Warriors won 50 games for the first time in program history, going 50-13 overall and 20-6 in the NSIC, breaking 14 school records in the process. The team defended its NSIC Tournament crown and advanced to its third consecutive NCAA Tournament. WSU hosted the NCAA Regional Tournament for the first time in school history, going unbeaten on its way to its first regional championship. The Warriors then hosted the NCAA Super Region Tournament, beating Mesa State twice to reach the NCAA Division II World Series. The team won its first-ever World Series game, a 2-1 victory over LeMoyne College, before bowing out of the tournament.

Individual honors have also rolled in for players under Jones’ guidance. A total of 14 Warriors have earned All-American honors from at least one publication (many receiving multiple All-American nods) under Jones’ tutelage while 46 different players have been All-Region selections. He has also tutored six NSIC Players of the Year, four NSIC Pitchers of the Year and five NSIC Newcomers of the Year, as well as a pair of Regional Player and Pitcher of the Year winners.

Warriors have also had success in the classroom with 59 different players earning NSIC All-Academic accolades with 18 earning Regional All-Academic honors and three players earning Academic All-American honors. Two WSU players have been awarded NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships.
Success has followed Jones wherever he has coached. Prior to Winona State, he successfully guided the Wisconsin Diamonds 18-Under softball team to three Wisconsin State Championships, one Midwest Championship, and three National Tournament appearances in five years.

Jones earned a Bachelor of Science degree in English from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 1993. He went on to get his Teaching License and Certification from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 1996.

Jones lives in Winona with his wife Cyndy and their children, Carson and Piper.

Coaching Record