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Eastern Illinois softball head coach Kristi Paulson has completed her inaugural coaching staff just a week after taking over the as the 14th head coach in program history.
 
Paulsen's first staff will consist of Dan Paulson, Toby Ring, Stacey Birdsong and Macey McElravy.
 
Paulson will join the staff and serve as the co-head coach with his wife Kristi, something the couple has done successfully over the past five seasons at Parkland College.  His time at Parkland helped the program win 200 games over the last four seasons making three NJCAA World Series appearances.  The couple led Parkland College to four straight MWAC Conference Championships, three NJCAA Region 24 Championships while being named the MWAC Coach of the Year four times.
 
Ring returns as an assistant coach for the Panthers after working as an assistant coach on the previous EIU staff for the last two years.  In that time, EIU won both the OVC Tournament title to make the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2023 and the OVC regular season title in 2024. 
 
Birdsong will join the staff and serve as an assistant coach.  He comes to EIU following a five-year run as an assistant coach with the Paulson's at Parkland College.  He was named the NFCA Assistant Coach of the Year for NJCAA Division II in 2021.
 
McElravy will return as a graduate assistant for her second year with the program and serve as the director of operations.  She was a player on the 2023 OVC Tournament Championship team and a GA on last season's OVC regular season championship team.