Joe Yegge enters his second season as head coach of the MSUB softball program in the 2025-26 academic year.
Yegge is an accomplished coach with a successful track record at each level of collegiate softball he's coached at, with 29 years of coaching experience, including 19 seasons as a head coach. Yegge has totaled a career head coaching record of 799-390 (.672).
In his first season at MSUB, Yegge helped the Yellowjacket softball program take an immediate step forward, guiding the team to their first GNAC Championships appearance since 2015, along with the team's highest conference finish since that season. MSUB increased their win total in conference play by nine games from the previous season, while winning seven more games overall. The team ranked at the top of the GNAC in many major hitting catagories, along with an improved performance in the pitching department. Yegge's Yellowjackets were honored with seven players recieivng All-GNAC Honors, including a pair of First Team selections in Bryn Lucht and Marleigh Nieto, and a Second Team nod for Wynter Hurst, who also received the GNAC Newcomer of the Year award. The 'Jackets also had 11 players earn Academic All-GNAC honors, and 14 players earn Easton/NFCA All-America Scholor awards.
Before joining MSUB, Yegge coached for three seasons at Missouri Western State University, accumulating a 98-62 overall record with the Griffons, and a 44-34 (.564) mark in conference play. Yegge's teams finished with a winning record in each of his seasons in charge, along with qualifying for the MIAA Tournament in all three seasons at the helm.
Prior to his time at Missouri Western State, Yegge was the associate head coach at DePaul University for three seasons, with the team going 68-39 during his tenure, and 24-6 in the Big East Conference. Yegge and the Blue Demons’ coaching staff were recognized as the Big East Coaching Staff of the Year in 2021, where the team went 25-11 overall, and won the regular season title with a 13-1 mark. The 2020 season was impacted due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, but in the 2019 season, Yegge and DePaul went 35-16 overall, finishing second place in the Big East during the regular season before winning the conference tournament championship and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.
Preceding that, Yegge spent 11 seasons at Kirkwood Community College, building the program into a junior college powerhouse. In his time in charge of the program, the Eagles accumulated a 537-112 (.827) record, along with winning eight ICCAC conference championships, and making six appearances in the NJCCA Division II World Series. In his last ten seasons, Kirkwood won at least 41 games or more, including at least 52 wins in six campaigns. Yegge and his staff were recognized as the NFCA Midwest Regional Staff of the Year five times at Kirkwood. 53 of his players went on to play at four-year programs. He developed 46 NFCA All-Americans, 33 NJCAA All-Americans, and three National Players of the Year under his guidance.
Yegge also served concurrently as the head softball coach at Cedar Rapids Prairie High School for five seasons while at Kirkwood, leading the Hawks to a conference championship and two state tournament appearances in five seasons before stepping down.
Before joining Kirkwood, Yegge spent five seasons as the hitting coach at Indiana State. He got his start in coaching at North Iowa Area Community College, serving as an assistant coach for two seasons before ascending to head coach, holding that position from 1999-2002.
A native of State Center, Iowa, Yegge earned his undergraduate degree from Buena Vista University, before going on to complete his graduate degree at Indiana State.
Yegge and his wife, Amy, have two sons, Wyatt, and Canon.
