A legend in the sport of softball, Lisa Fernandez begins her tenure as general manager for the Talons during the inaugural 2025 Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) season. Fernandez is in her 27th season on the coaching staff at UCLA, which is also her alma mater. She is also in her third year as the Mark Kalmansohn Associate Head Coach where her primary focus is working with the team’s hitters and infielders while managing the program’s recruiting department. While on the Bruins’ bench, the team has compiled a 1,212-259-2 record with five NCAA titles and 12 Women’s College World Series appearances. UCLA has also claimed seven regular season conference championships and also one league tournament title. As a member of the Bruins’ staff, she has been honored as NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year three times (2004, 2010, 2019) and NFCA Regional Coaching Staff of the Year eight times (2000, 2010, 2014-16, 2019, 2021, 2024). Before assuming the associate head coaching role with the Bruins, Fernandez led a pitching staff that has collected 21 total NFCA All-America selections and ranked in the top 10 nationally in earned run average during each of Fernandez’s last five seasons in the role. She saw AUSL star Rachel Garcia garner a pair of Honda Cups, including three Honda Sport Awards for softball, and a pair of USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year accolades. Fernandez also guided fellow AUSL hurler Megan Faraimo as the program’s first back-to-back Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year. A three-time Olympian, Fernandez was the only player to appear in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Gold medal games for Team USA, pitching in all three contests. In the 2004 Athens Olympics, Fernandez established an Olympic record with a .545 batting average while leading the team to its third straight Gold medal. Fernandez set another Olympic record with 25 strikeouts in a single game and ended the 2000 Sydney Olympics with an 0.47 ERA as Team USA claimed its second straight Gold medal. In her first Olympiad, Fernandez posted a 1-1 record and an 0.33 ERA as the USA won a Gold medal in front of a home crowd at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Fernandez fashioned a 7-1 record in the circle during 11 career Olympic appearances with one save across 74.2 innings of work. She held a 0.37 earned run average and struck out 93 batters while surrendering just seven walks. As a hitter, Fernandez also excelled at the plate, posting a .302 batting average (23-for-76) with three home runs, 15 runs batted in and 10 runs scored. She was also an alternate for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In addition to her Olympic accolades, Fernandez propelled Team USA to Gold medals at four straight World Championships between 1990 and 2002. She also claimed a trio of Gold medals at the 1991, 1999 and 2003 Pan American Games. Lauded as one of the greatest players in the sport’s history, Fernandez was a standout for UCLA from 1990-93 where she was a four-time Honda Sports Award winner as the nation’s best player. She was also the first softball athlete to claim the Honda Broderick Cup in 1993 as the country’s most outstanding collegiate female student-athlete. A four-time First-Team All-America recipient, the pitcher/infielder led the Bruins to a 222-21 record and the 1990 and 1992 NCAA titles. The team also finished as the national runner-up in 1991 and 1993. Fernandez, a two-way star for the Bruins, completed her collegiate career with a 93-7 record in the circle with one save over 107 appearances. She authored a 0.22 career earned run average with 95 complete games and 784 strikeouts over 694.2 innings. As a hitter, Fernandez authored a .381 career batting average (287-for-752) and 128 runs batted in across 240 career games. She scored 142 runs and drew 85 walks compared to just 16 strikeouts. Fernandez led the nation as a senior with a .510 batting average and a 0.25 ERA on her way to the 1993 Honda-Broderick Cup. She was the recipient of the NCAA Top Six Award in 1994 as one of the top six senior student-athletes across all divisions. In her junior season, Fernandez tallied a miniscule 0.14 ERA and posted one of just three undefeated pitching seasons in NCAA softball history after finishing with a 29-0 record. Fernandez was inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003 before earning enshrinement as a 2013 inductee in the USA Softball Hall of Fame. In addition, Fernandez is a two-time selection to the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, earning the honor as an individual and as a member of the 2004 Olympic Softball Team.

An experienced coach with an eye for hitting, Howard Dobson will serve as the head coach of the Talons during the inaugural Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) season. Dobson spent 13 seasons as an assistant softball coach at LSU from 2012-24, helping the Tigers earn 12 NCAA Tournament entries, including four Women’s College World Series appearances. While working with the Tigers’ hitters, Dobson tutored 13 All-America honorees, 12 First-Team All-Southeastern Conference selections and 14 Second-Team All-SEC picks. He also helped produce over a dozen record-breaking seasons by hitters and maintained LSU as one of the top programs in the sport. In Dobson’s last season with LSU in 2024, the Tigers compiled a 44-17 record and advanced to the NCAA Super Regional for the 10th time in program history, including the first time since 2021. The Tigers ranked third in the SEC with a .290 team batting average and placed five players on the NFCA All-Region teams in addition to three All-SEC selections. Under Dobson’s guidance, LSU advanced to the Women’s College World Series in three consecutive seasons from 2015-17. The Tigers posted back-to-back 50-win campaigns in 2015 and 2016 before achieving a 48-22 mark in 2017. Dobson arrived in Baton Rouge after a stint as the head coach at Southern Miss from 2008-11. He led the Golden Eagles to 93 wins over four seasons and saw Southern Miss earn seven All-Conference certificates. Megan Hill, who finished her career holding eight school records, also became the first Southern Miss player to earn NFCA All-Midwest Region plaudits since 2000. Dobson was involved with USA Softball between 2012-21, including the 2020 WBSC World Championship where Team USA won the Gold medal on a 7-6 walk-off victory. The win secured a spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where Dobson helped Team USA claim the Silver medal. In addition, Dobson coached teams at the World Cup of Softball, Canadian Open, Pan American Games in addition to repeating as champions at the 2016 World Championship. A native of Orange, Texas, Dobson spent five seasons as an assistant softball at Oklahoma, where he guided seven players to All-America status and 15 NFCA All-Midwest Region selections. The Sooners reached the Women’s College World Series with Dobson on the bench in 2003 and 2004 while earning a berth in the NCAA Super Regional during each of his five years with the team. Prior to his time in Norman, Dobson helped begin the softball program at Houston after a two-year stint at Southeastern Louisiana. Dobson, who spent two years on the Cougars’ staff, holds the honor of being the first assistant coach in program history. Dobson began his extensive coaching career as a volunteer assistant at McNeese State before coaching at various locations, including Pelican State, Barbe High School and LaGrange High School. A collegiate baseball player, Dobson played at Panola College (NJCAA) for two years and earned All-Conference honors before ending his career at McNeese State for the 1994-95 seasons. While with the Cowboys, Dobson held a .306 batting average across 46 games. Dobson earned a bachelor’s degree in health and human performance and English from McNeese State in 1997.