Chelsea Farmer

Chelsea Farmer (maiden name Jones) enters her fifth season as an assistant coach after ranking as one of the most decorated pitchers in University of Tennessee at Martin’s softball history.

Farmer serves in the role as pitching coach for the Skyhawks. During her tenure she has mentored two All-OVC performers in Katie Dreiling and Alexis Groet while the later also garnered NFCA All-Region honors.

UT Martin posted a 3.29 ERA in 317.1 innings of work in 2023 while allowing the third least runs in the OVC. Dreiling posted a 12-7 record and 2.90 ERA in 96.2 innings of work while being especially effective against OVC foes where she won nine of the team’s 13 contests and posted a 1.67 ERA in 16 appearances.

During the 2022 season, UT Martin’s pitching staff ranked second amongst OVC leaders in ERA (2.84), wins (34), saves (six), hits allowed (307), runs allowed (168), earned runs allowed (138), doubles allowed (45) and opponent batting average (.237).

In her second season overall and first full campaign in 2021, Farmer mentored junior pitcher Alexis Groet to NFCA All-Region, All-OVC first team and OVC All-Newcomer honors after posting the second-lowest single-season ERA (1.36) in program history. Groet also garnered a pair of OVC Pitcher of the Week honors under Farmer's tutelage.

Before UT Martin, Farmer spent seven years in various coaching positions throughout the state of Tennessee. Her previous coaching stops include head coaching experience at Union City Middle School while serving as an assistant coach at Union City High School from 2017-19. She spent the 2016 season as a volunteer assistant at Middle Tennessee while serving as head coach at Dresden High School from 2013-15. Additionally, she has been a pitching and camp instructor since 2009.

Prior to joining the coaching profession, Farmer enjoyed a decorated playing career at UT Martin from 2009-12 in which she helped lead the Skyhawks to two NCAA Tournament berths, two Ohio Valley Conference Tournament titles and a pair of OVC regular season championships. During her senior year she was named OVC Pitcher of the Year in 2012 while earning All-OVC first team honors after posting a 28-10 record with a 2.45 ERA in 262.1 innings of work. In that season she set program records for wins (28), appearances (47), starts (39), strikeouts (199), complete games (33) and innings pitched (262.1).

For her career, Farmer posted a 56-31 overall record with a 2.46 ERA in 555.1 innings of work. Having appeared in 119 games while recording 91 starts, she tossed 60 complete games and 11 shutouts while tallying 476 strikeouts. She left the program as the all-time leader in wins, starts, strikeouts and innings pitched.

In addition to her softball experience, Farmer is heavily involved with a local non-profit, Bright Light Volunteers, where she volunteers her time to take students across the globe on service learning projects.

Farmer graduated with a bachelor of science degree in secondary education with a focus on English from UT Martin in 2012. She completed her Master’s degree in education from Cumberland University in 2015.

She is married to former UT Martin softball graduate assistant Daniel Farmer with the couple residing in South Fulton, Tenn. They have one daughter, Oakley.