Memphis, Tenn. - University of Memphis head softball coach Windy Thees announced Thursday the hiring of Nick French and Julie Meyer as assistant coaches for the Tiger Softball program.

"We are moving along well as a program here at the University of Memphis and having these two coaches come in with their experience at the highest level of our game is only going to benefit me as a head coach and our players as well," Thees said. "They are going to add a lot of energy and great knowledge to the program. I'm really excited to get the season kicked off and work with these two assistant coaches."

French joins the Tiger program after one year as a volunteer assistant coach with national runner-up Arizona. He assisted with the daily operations of the nationally-ranked Wildcat squad as well as assisting in the development of the outfielders. The Wildcats were consistently ranked in the top-five of the various polls and won four-straight elimination games during the postseason. French coached under eight-time national champion and two-time United State Olympic team coach Mike Candrea while at Arizona.

Prior to his stint at the University of Arizona, French was the interim head coach at Simmons (Mass.) College in 2008 before becoming an assistant coach at Piedmont (Pa.) College. He began coaching at the age of 14 under his father, Marty French, who ran the highly-successful Bay State Blaze Junior Olympic program. During that time, he took part in six national tournaments, sending many players on to college programs. He also served as pitching coach at his alma mater, Abington High School, for five years in addition to Emerson College.

At Piedmont, his team finished fourth in the conference and had four All-Conference players, as well as the conference rookie of the year. In addition to his coaching, French has played modified and fastpitch softball for eight seasons and was a member of the 2008 ASA Modified National Champion Granite State Bulldogs. He has played in six national tournaments with a host of teams.

French attended Emerson College where he played basketball for a season and assisted with the softball program. He graduated in 2005 with a degree in print and multimedia journalism. He has previously worked for the Boston Globe, and served as a sports editor for the Community Newspaper Company.

Nick is the son of Marty and Veronica French, and has a younger sister, Andrea.

Meyer joins the program after one season as a volunteer assistant coach and one season as a student assistant coach after a four-year playing career at the University of California. As a volunteer assistant for the Bears, Meyer helped develop the catchers and infielders with everyday drills. Under the tutelage of Cal pitching coach John Reeves, Meyer assisted in calling the games. Prior to becoming a volunteer assistant coach, Meyer served as a student-assistant coach for one season.

As a first baseman/catcher for the Bears in 2004-08, Meyer produced record numbers for the Cal softball program. She finished her playing career ranked fourth all-time in the program's history with 25 home runs. She provided the heroics in the 2008 Regional Championship game when she hit a walk-off ninth inning single to send the Bears to the Super Regional. In 2005, the Bears advanced to the College World Series and Meyer was the starter at first base in every game.

Meyer graduated with a bachelor of arts in sociology in 2010. She has worked at various California softball clinics and has volunteered with Special Olympics as an instructor. She was elected as the captain of the Bears in 2007-08 and served as the softball representative to the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. She was awarded the Donna Terry Scholarship for her outstanding team leadership in 2007.