Coach Linked to Maryland Softball Assistant Job Accused of Mental, Physical Abuse at Previous Schools
Fourteen players across two NCAA softball programs have accused their former head coach, Jessica O’Donnell, of alleged physical and mental abuse, describing a pattern of intimidation, control and degrading comments, including allegations that players were pressured to compete through physical injuries despite formal diagnoses from medical personnel throughout her tenure at Saint Francis (Pa.) and Kent State.
O’Donnell stepped down as Kent State head coach in June after three seasons; a press release cited her child’s upcoming surgery and a transition to an administrative role within the athletic department. On Friday, Oct. 2, Softball On SI learned that O’Donnell was a candidate for the fourth assistant job at Maryland, according to multiple sources with direct ties to the program.
Coach O’Donnell Steps Down as Head Softball Coach, Transitions to Administrative Rolehttps://t.co/0fsA5lNon3
— Kent State Softball (@KentStSoftball) June 5, 2026
Six student-athletes who played for O’Donnell at Kent State and three from Saint Francis described similar experiences in exclusive interviews with Softball on SI. Their accounts span from 2018 to 2026.
Because of the sensitive nature of this topic and fear of retaliation, players were given the option to remain anonymous.
Kent State did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Saint Francis told Softball On SI it doesn’t comment on former employees.
Kent State
Abbey Pochie, who pitched for the Golden Flashes from 2024-26, began feeling pain that she could not ignore or conceal. The discomfort in her leg began in early 2025, and at first, she assumed it was shin splints.
However, the pain continued. An MRI showed a grade 4 stress fracture in her tibia. She wore a boot and used crutches off the field, yet continued to pitch.
“I was given crutches, and yet I was still playing on it,” Pochie said. “I had to wear the boot at all times, except when I was going to go warm up to go into the game, or when I was actively in the game, and then I would have to put the boot back on when I was officially done pitching for the day. But my coaching staff said that crutches were not allowed off of the bus or anywhere near (the) field.”
Pochie repeatedly reported pain, and an athletic trainer even raised concerns with the coaches, but felt that the coaching staff ignored her concerns.
“I’ve been told so many times that my injury was in my head and that I’m using it as an excuse,” Pochie said.
While coaches dismissed Pochie’s physical pain, her mental health was on the decline as well.
“I have never even considered seeing a therapist when I had some bad experiences with high school ball,” Pochie added. “I had to quit two months before my senior year (of college) ended because of my mental health, because of playing under Jess (O’Donnell). I could not take it anymore. I was in fear of what would happen if I continued playing.”
Another former Kent State pitcher, who requested anonymity and provided a written statement, said she hurt her back during an extra throwing session in 2023. She alleges that the coaches ignored her physical pain and instead, she was sent to see a counselor.
“I told the (coaching) staff that I couldn't even put on my own socks,” she described. “They made me pitch up to 80 pitches a day, each day. I then asked my trainer if it was a good idea to go to a chiropractor because my back wasn't getting better and there had been no appointment to see a university doctor.”
Weeks later, the pitcher developed sharp pain and swelling near her collarbone. She brought this up with the athletic trainer and was advised not to throw the next day. The pitcher wrote that O’Donnell and an assistant coach subsequently told her the team needed her to push through the pain.
The injury continued to shape her season, and eventually, her arm went numb during a game against Western Michigan. A trainer ultimately pulled her from the game, and a doctor instructed her to rest before beginning gradual throwing.
She wrote that the coaching staff allegedly pressed her to defy the doctor’s orders.
“Every time I threw a ball at 50 percent to 100 percent, I would feel a sharp stabbing pain behind my right collarbone. With it being so close to my neck, it was terrifying and painful. Lifting my arm over my head, swinging my arm in a circle, made it stretch and pull.”
Another Kent State player, who described being liked by O’Donnell, observed the treatment of her injured teammates and chose to conceal severe back pain because she feared the response of her coaches. She was later diagnosed with a fractured L3 vertebra.
“I was terrified to tell her, and I hid it for so long because I was scared to tell her,” the player said. “It got to the point where I couldn’t even stand up straight, or I couldn’t even breathe.”
O’Donnell’s coaching methods began having a larger impact on young members of the team.
Two Kent State players described a team meeting in 2026 where O’Donnell was present, and multiple freshmen expressed that they understood why athletes take their own lives. According to both players, the statements were dismissed by their coach.
The team was also forced to comply with a written set of rules and a strike system. All six Kent State players who were interviewed for this story described the rules and said that if any were broken, it led to suspensions and other punishments.
For example, three players independently described the team being disciplined after a group of players drank alcohol within 48 hours of a practice, which violated a rule. The scope of the punishment was laid out in an email provided to Softball On SI and included:
- A one-game suspension in the spring
- A five-day suspension from practice
- Five hours of community service
- One week of laundry duty laundry
- One week of cleaning all bats and balls
- One week of no locker room privileges
- A verbal apology to the team explaining “why you dropped the standard.”
- A 6 a.m. team clean
In addition to keeping track of the team rules, the players also had to watch what they said around coaches and team leaders chosen by O’Donnell.
Jessica Dodd, who played at Kent State from 2022-23, was cut from the team before the 2024 season and was presented with a binder containing everything she had ever said and detailing her perceived missteps since O’Donnell arrived on campus.
“It was things that were coming out of my mouth, she would automatically mark it and write it down,” Dodd said.
As O’Donnell’s first Kent State season continued, Dodd and others said a group of team leaders came to occupy a different place within the program. They described how the leaders met separately with O’Donnell and allegedly shared personal information about their teammates’ lives outside softball.
Those meetings created a rift within the team and a lack of trust among the players.
“Before that we were all best friends,” said Dodd. “We hung out every second of every single day, and then you bring in these team leaders, and you don’t want to hang out with them because you are worried that they’re going to snitch.”
Individual player meetings were another way that O’Donnell asserted her power over the players. Multiple players corroborated that phones or any other recording devices were strictly prohibited in O’Donnell’s office.
Pochie alleged that in a meeting before the 2025 winter break, O’Donnell took the time she had not to advise Pochie, but to bash her instead.
“She told me in that meeting before winter break that I needed to be prepared to fail the whole season and get my shit rocked,” Pochie said.
“I woke up every morning, and all I could see was doom,” another player said. “I just don’t want her to be able to do this to any other team, any other program ever again.”
O’Donnell was allegedly under investigation in the fall of 2025, according to the players who spoke at length with administrators and compliance.
Softball On SI has made several public records requests and phone calls for copies of this investigation and its existence, dating back to July. None of these requests have been answered by Kent State.
O'Donnell's Statement
O’Donnell agreed to speak with Softball On SI and provided a statement without being asked any questions.
“I have always been, and always will be, a supportive, encouraging, and caring coach. Do I have high standards? Absolutely. Most successful coaches do. I expect a lot from my athletes because I believe in what they are capable of, and that belief has been a big part of the success I’ve had as a coach.
“But I have never, and will never, put winning above the physical or emotional well-being of an athlete.
“My players mean the world to me outside of my own family. Anyone who says otherwise simply doesn’t know me or the kind of coach I strive to be.
“I’m the coach who will spend days at the hospital with a student-athlete after a car accident. I’m the coach who will drive a student-athlete to a Doctor appointment. I’m the coach who will drive to campus at midnight because a student-athlete is struggling with their mental health and needs someone there.
“Those things may not show up on a scoreboard, in a win-loss record, or in a stat book, but they are a huge part of who I am as a coach.
“I care deeply. I expect a lot. I push my athletes because I believe in them, but I will always care about the person before the athlete. I have a lot of pride in preparing our young women for life after softball. Caring as much as I do does not make me a bad coach. It’s a big part of what makes me the coach and person I am.”
Saint Francis
Three former Saint Francis student-athletes echoed similar sentiments about O’Donnell.
Elliott Sanders, who was a freshman in the fall of 2021, said her first semester at Saint Francis was different. When she arrived on campus, upperclassmen warned her about O’Donnell’s coaching style, but during early-season practices, Sanders just brushed O’Donnell off as a coach who was hard on her players. She even said that she believed she thrived under strict coaching.
Sanders played regularly that fall, even starting in a few games, and felt that O’Donnell was pleased with her performance. But shortly after winter break, Sanders was in a major car accident. She sustained a broken femur, broken and bruised ribs, a collapsed lung and a brain bleed.
Sanders spent around two weeks in the ICU before moving back home to recover and stayed away from campus for the spring semester, missing her freshman season entirely.
Once Sanders returned to campus for the fall of her sophomore year, she felt like O’Donnell treated her differently because she hadn’t fully recovered yet.
“Because I wasn’t 100 percent, it was like I wasn’t anything,” Sanders said.
When Sanders was medically cleared to return, O’Donnell ignored her rather than easing her back into competition, making Sanders feel discouraged about her future on the team. Her mom suggested it was time to have a meeting with O’Donnell, and because phones were not permitted in the coach’s office, Sanders brought in a sheet of notes that was provided to Softball on SI.
Sanders apologized for things she had been yelled at for in the past, asked what she could do to be better and told O’Donnell, “Softball aside, I feel like you look through me as if I don’t matter. I feel invisible on this team.”
“I was screamed at at this meeting,” Sanders said. “I was told that I was ungrateful, that I was selfish, that I was a cancer.”
Phones, Apple Watches and any other recording device were strictly prohibited in O’Donnell’s office, according to the former Red Flash athletes, and they felt that it was intentional because the field is detached from the rest of campus. Sanders felt like the location gave O’Donnell plenty of freedom to behave how she wanted.
“A lot of it happened at practice, up on the hill, away from anyone, and in her closed office with no phones and no recording devices,” Sanders said. “I think she purposefully tried to hide it.”
O’Donnell reportedly had the same recording device policy at Kent State, according to the former student-athletes.
The other two former players were freshmen in 2018 and recalled when every teammate had to acknowledge a practice schedule that was sent via email the night before. Early in the season, multiple freshmen did not respond by the morning deadline and were punished by running for an hour and a half in 90-degree heat.
“Every week was something new we got yelled at for,” one of them said. “I don’t think there was a week we didn’t have a punishment run.”
In addition to punishments for breaking team rules, the student-athletes were subjected to further consequences if they didn’t meet the requirements of O’Donnell’s daily checklist.
The checklist, according to the former SFU players, assessed qualities such as effort, attitude and whether a player was being a good teammate or not. The coach would share the results with the team, and if they accumulated enough negative marks, they had to complete a punishment workout.
“It wasn’t our skill,” the other anonymous SFU player said. “It was, were we being a good enough teammate?”
Both 2018 players also described a divide between athletes chosen by O’Donnell as “team leaders” and the rest of the team. The ones not chosen quickly became wary of speaking around the leaders because comments made away from practice would often make their way back to the coaching staff.
“She picked (the team leaders) based off of who she knew would tell her the information,” one of the players said.
All three players recalled a fall camping trip when O’Donnell asked the student-athletes to share deeply personal stories. They said that she used those stories against them during scoldings at practice.
“(She made us share) our deepest insecurities and she said it in a way that made it seem like we were going to be a lot closer afterwards, but I feel like it was just used against us,” Sanders said.
In O’Donnell’s second season at Saint Francis, one of the athletes interviewed said she broke her foot after slipping on an icy track. An X-ray confirmed the break, but O’Donnell still required an assistant coach to attend her follow-up medical appointments. The player said she felt distrusted having to discuss personal medical history in front of the coach.
“You were non-existent to the team if you were injured,” the student-athlete said. “She didn’t care about your recovery; she only cared when you were cleared to practice.”
All three former SFU athletes transferred.
“It was an overall absolutely horrible, degrading experience,” Sanders said. “It killed my love of the game, and I blame her for that.”
TikTok Trend Sparks Public Scrutiny of O’Donnell
As players became more removed from the program, they began to share their experiences on social media. Tessa Thompson publicly posted a TikTok about her experience at Saint Francis under O’Donnell. The post garnered over 800,000 views and 75,000 likes.
The video reached players who previously played for O’Donnell, and many commented, sharing their stories.
“Girl, I played for her.. The stories i could write,” Meadow Hynek commented.
“The way I know you’re talking about coach Jess,” Sydney Shammo replied.
“Freshman year sure was something else,” Madelyn “Madee” Wilson commented.
Pochie also used her TikTok page to talk about her Kent State softball experience publicly. Her “Why I quit my D1 softball program” two-part series racked up a combined 90,000 views. It also reached a number of previous players.
“Girl!!! I played for her while she was at SFU her first year as head coach, and I’m so sorry it never got better. The things she did to me & other girls is horrifying,” Hynek replied.
“Petition for her to pay for our therapy that she caused,” Dodd wrote.
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Paige Durrenberger is a sports writer and Economics student at the University of Texas at Austin. She has covered golf, softball, and the Texas Stars for The Daily Texan and is also a contributing writer for 5Wins. Raised in Dallas, Texas, when Durrenberger isn’t covering sports, she’s either out running with her dog Bailey or cheering on whichever Dallas team is in season.
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