Rich Calvert was named the fourth head coach in LIU's Division I history on May 15, 2025. Calvert enters his first season at LIU in 2026 after a successful 21-year run at Drake University (2003-2023).
Calvert completed his tenue at Drake as the winningest coach in program history, amassing 568 wins, which currently ranks fifth all-time in Missouri Valley Conference softball history.
Under Calvert's guidance, the Bulldogs won Missouri Valley regular season titles in 2015, 2018, and 2019, and conference tournament titles in 2008, 2018, and 2019. Multiple former players earned individual honors under Calvert’s tutelage including Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Mandi Roemmich (2018), and two-time Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year and current MVC career strikeouts record holder Nicole Newman (2018-2019), among several other all-conference selections.
Calvert and his staff at Drake also earned four Missouri Valley Conference Coaching Staff of the Year awards (2011, 2015, 2018, & 2019).
A native of Taylorville, Illinois, Calvert graduated from Illinois State University with a B.S. in Physical Education (1988) and a M.S. in Sports Administration (1990).
Calvert started his career at Illinois State where he served as an undergraduate assistant coach (1986-1988), graduate assistant coach (1989), and later a full-time assistant coach (1990-1992). During his time with the Redbirds, Calvert helped lead ISU to two Gateway Conference titles (1988 & 1991) and one NCAA Tournament appearance (1988).
Calvert then moved on to assistant coaching roles at Ohio State University (1993-1996) and the University of Iowa (1997-2002) before landing the head coaching job at Drake. During his time at Iowa, Calvert helped the Hawkeyes to five NCAA Tournaments and two Women's College World Series appearances, while winning Big Ten Conference titles in 1997 and 2000.
Calvert and his wife Diane have five children, Allie, Maci, Nate, Rachel, and Breck.
