Rachel Richardson was hired as assistant softball coach at Furman University in July 2008. Richardson, a former standout pitcher at Tiffin University in Ohio, joined the Furman staff after spending the last two years as a graduate assistant at her alma mater. She helped guide the Lady Dragons to 64 victories over two seasons, including the 2007 American Mideast Conference title, Region IX championship and a berth in the NAIA National Tournament in the school's final year of competition at the NAIA level before moving to NCAA Division II. "I am extremely excited to have Rachel join our staff," said Paladin head coach Dana Jenkins at the time of Richardson's hiring. "She was an outstanding collegiate player and is a promising young coach who brings a wealth of pitching knowledge to Furman." As a player, Richardson rewrote the Tiffin record book posting single season school records for wins (32), ERA (0.91) and innings pitched (260.1) while also establishing new career standards for wins (86), ERA (1.32) and innings pitched (760). She led Tiffin to back-to-back AMC North Division titles in 2004 and 2005 on her was to earning AMC Player-of-the-Year honors as a junior and senior. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native earned her bachelor of arts degree in sports management from Tiffin in 2005 and received a master's in business administration in 2008.