Beasley Retires After 22-Year Coaching Career

Before coaching, Marsha Beasley started by competing in smallbore and air rifle while in college at while in college. Beasley graduated from East Tennessee State and earned a master's in sports management at West Virginia. She set 65 national records and won eight national championships during her shooting career. She later became a member of the U.S. National Team and was a two-time international gold medalist.

Beasley went on to coach the Mountaineers as the head rifle coach for 16 seasons from 1990 to 2006 before heading to Oxford. Attending West Virginia continued in her family with her daughter Tavie and son Daniel graduating from WVU in 2021 with nursing and civil engineering degrees. Her other son Aaron also attended WVU for one year before transferring to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he competed in rifle and graduated.

As a coach, Beasley compiled a 207-58 record and numerous awards with two programs. It didn't take long for her to become a championship-winning coach as she took the Mountaineers on a title run her first year in Morgantown. The team would win four straight national championships from 1990-1993 without losing a match (39-0). She would repeat the feat from 1995-1998, totaling eight national championships. In her first 14 seasons as head coach, she tallied 14 winning seasons and a 146-8, including nine undefeated campaigns.

West Virginia did not sponsor rifle in 2003-2004, but the program was reinstated in 2005. Beasley was tasked with rebuilding the program with a limited budget and no scholarships. In her final two seasons at West Virginia, she set the stage for the program to return to national prominence before taking a job at Ole Miss.

While at WVU, Beasley guided 28 student-athletes to 119 All-America honors and coached eight individual NCAA champions and four Olympians. She coached the Mountaineers to three GARC conference tournament titles and five regular-season titles, including four individual GARC champions.

Individually, Beasley earned several coaching awards: 1997 National Coach of the Year for shooting by the United States Olympic Committee, 1993 National Rifle Association Coach of the Year, 1996 West Virginia State Sportswriters Coach of the Year, and 1998 West Virginia College Coach of the Year by the West Virginia Girls and Women in Sports Association.

Despite a new school and different players, Beasley turned Ole Miss into a championship contender. The two-time Coach of the Year with Ole Miss had the Rebels in the NCAA Championships in just four seasons. She led the program to three straight, including a third-place finish at the 2021 NCAA Championships.

Beasley wraps up a 22-year coaching career and hands the reigns to her assistant Rachel Martin.

Farewell Message from Marsha Beasley

With mixed emotions, I decided this summer is the right time for me to step down from my position as head coach of the Ole Miss Rifle Team. It wasn't an easy decision. As I wind down a 22-year coaching career, the most meaningful part has been seeing student-athlete development and knowing I was part of that development process. The total experience Ole Miss Rifle student-athletes have is amazing. That experience and what they take from it provide a unique foundation for their future endeavors, which is what sport should be about.

I want to thank the loyal fans who regularly attend our matches. You mean so much to the team and coaches. The same goes for our loyal donors. I appreciate each of you.

I also want to thank the staff members I worked with. There are dozens of people who have played a role in Ole Miss Rifle's success and have helped me in many ways. These folks include our academic counselor, strength and conditioning coaches, athletic trainers, nutritionists, mental health professionals, student engagement, yoga teachers, and performance consultants -- everyone who worked directly with team members. I also need to thank the countless staff members who don't typically work directly with student-athletes – those folks in areas like administration, sports communications, marketing, productions, compliance, IT, equipment, facilities, etc.

Most importantly, I want to thank the assistant coaches who took a chance on me in coming to Ole Miss. The team would not have had the same success without their help. I am excited that current assistant coach, Rachel Martin, will be my successor. I have mixed feelings about leaving, in large part, as I feel a commitment to the student-athletes and recruits who chose Ole Miss, but I know the returning student-athletes love Coach Martin and the transition should be fairly smooth. I am confident that Ole Miss Rifle will continue to improve under Coach Martin's leadership. I wish her and all team members the best.

I am very proud of the accomplishments of the teams and individuals I coached. We had a number of significant firsts for Ole Miss Rifle."

The University of Mississippi Athletics

Related Videos