Kate Drohan Position: Head Coach Experience: Seventh Season Career Record: 238-103-1 (.697)

"I believe strongly in the philosophy of Northwestern University and the vision of our softball program. Northwestern softball offers an environment which challenges you to excel as a student, as an athlete, as a teammate and as an individual. At Northwestern, you are surrounded by people who understand what it means to be truly committed. There are no limits to how far the student-athlete can go. The unique experience of Northwestern University is second to none."

Kate Drohan enters her seventh year at Northwestern's helm after building the program into one of the nation's best and leading the Wildcats to back-to-back Women's College World Series semifinal appearances. Drohan took over the 'Cats after serving as an assistant under legendary head coach Sharon Drysdale for four seasons.

After six seasons, Drohan's career record of 238-103-1 gives her a .697 winning percentage -- ranking her 14th in winning percentage among active Division I head coaches with a minimum of five years at the DI level. In the past two seasons, NU has compiled a combined record of 102-28 while becoming the first private school in NCAA history to advance to the WCWS semifinals in consecutive years.

Drohan already has cemented her status as one of the best coaches in Big Ten history, joining legends Drysdale, Carol Hutchins (Michigan) and Gayle Blevins (Indiana/Iowa) as the only coaches to ever take Big Ten schools to the WCWS. Drohan and Hutchins are the only two to make the final pairing.

Drohan took over a squad that finished 20-25 in 2001, and led it to a 24-18-1 record in her first season in 2002. Building on its above .500 mark, Northwestern qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2003, and has not missed the postseason since.

Postseason success has become a hallmark of Drohan's teams. Northwestern is 22-12 in the NCAA Tournament since 2003, including a 5-4 mark at the Women's College World Series. Since the advent of Super Regional play in 2005, the Wildcats have won their Regional and advanced to the final 16 in the nation in all three years.

Big Ten dominance also has become one of Drohan's trademarks. Since finishing tied for fifth in the conference in her first season, the Wildcats have improved to top-2 finishes in each of the last three seasons, including capturing the Big Ten title in 2006. Drohan's career conference record is 79-34 with a 46-8 mark in the last three years.

In 2006, Northwestern's Big Ten title was its first since 1987, and the Wildcats qualified for the Women's College World Series for the first time in 20 years. In Oklahoma City, the Wildcats made an exciting and perfect 3-0 run through bracket play to the championship series. NU's finish at the WCWS and in the polls -- No. 2 -- both marked program bests. The 'Cats also reached the 50-win plateau for the first time in school history.

A program-record five Wildcats earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2006, and NU swept the conference's postseason awards. Garland Cooper earned her second-straight Player of the Year honor, Eileen Canney was tabbed as Pitcher of the Year, Tammy Williams earned Freshman of the Year accolades and Drohan was named Coach of the Year for the second time.

Drohan and her staff earned NFCA/Speedline National Coaching Staff of the Year honors following the 2006 season.

Drohan and the 'Cats then repeated their run to the WCWS semifinals in 2007, again breaking the school record with 52 victories. Northwestern played the nation's No. 4-rated schedule, and earned a program-best No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

In the last three years (2005-07), five different Wildcats have earned a total of nine All-America honors -- including a pair of freshmen. Also, NU has earned the last three Big Ten Player of the Year (Cooper), the last two Big Ten Pitcher of the Year (Canney) and three of the last four Big Ten Freshman of the Year awards.

Since joining the Northwestern staff in 1998, Drohan has coached 19 National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Mideast Region selections, five NFCA All-America Scholar Athletes, five CoSIDA Academic All-District selections and 25 All-Big Ten honorees. Four Wildcats have been selected in the National Professional Fastpitch (NPF) senior draft in the last four years.

Drohan coached NU to its third-straight NCAA appearance in 2005, advancing to Super Regional play after winning the Ninth Regional hosted in South Bend. Four Wildcats landed first-team All-Big Ten honors, at the time tied for the most in NU history.

The Wildcats won 42 games in 2005, one shy of the then-school record, and rose to a ranking of 15th in both national polls -- the highest rankings for NU at the time.

After the record-setting season, Drohan and her staff were named the NFCA's Mideast Region Co-Coaching Staff of the Year.

One season after taking over the program in 2002 following a 20-25 campaign in '01, Drohan led the Wildcats to a 36-19 record and Northwestern's sixth-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2000. The 36 wins in 2003 were the program's most since 1995. NU won 12 of its final 17 regular season games and advanced to the Big Ten championship game as the sixth seed in the conference tournament.

Drohan guided the 'Cats to an at-large bid in the 2003 NCAA Tournament and a No. 2 seed in the Regional hosted in Austin, Texas. Northwestern won its first game of the tournament against Tennessee Tech, but bowed out of the tourney following its initial victory. NU finished the season with the 14th-ranked RPI in the country.

The 2004 season saw even more impressive play from Northwestern. For the second-consecutive season, Drohan led the 'Cats into the NCAA Tournament with a 34-20 record and a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten.

Northwestern entered the 2004 NCAA Regional as a No. 3 seed in the toughest Region in the entire tournament. The 'Cats defeated UC Santa Barbara and South Carolina before falling to No. 2 seed Oklahoma and 10th-ranked Louisiana-Lafayette. At the time, NU's 2-2 record was its best in the NCAA Tourney since 2000.

Drohan has proven to be one of the top recruiters in the country, bringing the best and the brightest to Evanston. Among those recruits have been 2004 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and 2006-07 Pitcher of the Year Eileen Canney, 2005-07 Big Ten Player of the Year Garland Cooper, 2006 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Tammy Williams and 2007 Freshman of the Year Nicole Pauly.

During Drohan's time as an assistant coach in Evanston, the Wildcats put together three 30-plus win seasons, highlighted by an NCAA Regional appearance in 2000. In 2003, NU senior Carri Leto was one of 45 players and the only Big Ten student-athlete to earn a tryout with the U.S. National Team. Since then, Cooper, Canney and Williams all have earned invites to the U.S. National Team selection camp.

After the 2000 season, Drohan was promoted to associate head coach and took on further responsibilities within the program. In early 2001, Drysdale informed the administration that she would step down as head coach at the end of the spring. Shortly after that announcement, Athletic Director Rick Taylor announced that Drohan would become NU's head softball coach.

Drohan came to Evanston from Boston College, where she had served as an assistant coach for the Eagles for two seasons. There she served as assistant softball coach and assistant athletic director for facilities from 1995-97. In addition to her duties with the softball team, Drohan worked game operations and administration with the Eagles. She also directed the YES Clinic at the 1996 NCAA Field Hockey Championships hosted by Boston College. Drohan also has been a guest lecturer at the Hofstra University Softball Camp and the Providence College Baseball Camp.

Drohan earned her bachelor's degree in biology from Providence in May of 1995. As a member of the Providence softball team, she was named to the All-Big East team in 1992, 1994 and 1995.