Aaron Clopton enters his first season as the pitching coach for the Marshall Thundering Herd softball team. He is also an Assistant Professor in the Exercise Science, Sport and Recreation Department (ESSR) at Marshall. He was awarded Associate Graduate Faculty Status in September 2006.

PRIOR TO MARSHALL
Prior to joining the Marshall coaching staff, Clopton spent three years as the administrative assistant for the University of Kansas Jayhawk Softball program, before being promoted to assistant coach in 2000. With a primary emphasis on pitching and catching, Clopton coordinated team travel and served as director of tournaments and the KU softball camps and clinics. During Clopton's tenure, the Jayhawks amassed 121 wins in four seasons with two Jayhawk pitchers earning All-Big XII honors, including the 2001 Big XII Freshman of the Year.

Following his three-year stint on the Jayhawks' coaching staff, Clopton was a graduate teaching assistant in the Health, Sport and Exercise Sciences Department at the University of Kansas. In January 2006, he was named an instructor within the department where he served until May 2006. During that time, he also was a lecturer in the Department of Kinesiology and Sport Studies at Wichita State University.

In July 2006, he was hired as the ESSR Department's newest assistant professor at Marshall.

PERSONAL
Clopton earned his bachelor's of science degree in sport management from the University of Kansas in 1999. He received his master's of science degree in sport sociology in 2002 and doctor's of philosophy in sports administration in 2005 from Kansas. He is a member of the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM), North American Society for Sport Sociology (NASSS), and the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).

Clopton and his wife Sarah have two daughters, Tatum and Kinsey. The family resides in Chesapeake, Ohio.