C.J. Leighton

C.J. Leighton was named assistant softball coach on June 17, 2024. Leighton joined Carolina after spending two seasons at Charlotte. He spent the 2024 season as the assistant pitching coach and the 2023 season as a volunteer assistant.

In his first season as a full-time coach, Leighton helped the 49ers to a 39-18 overall mark, a 21-6 record in the American Athletic Conference and the program’s first conference tournament championship, advancing to the NCAA Regionals for the second year in a row.

In his first season with the 49ers, Leighton helped Charlotte to 35 wins and the program’s first-ever outright regular season conference championship. The 49ers also earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Charlotte won two games at the Durham Regional and made an appearance in the regional final.

Leighton joined the 49ers from fellow SEC program Kentucky, where he spent four undergraduate years as a team manager and one year as a graduate assistant for the Wildcats. While at Kentucky, he assisted the coaching staff in both practice and game settings and helped organize other team activities. He was able to assist in recruiting efforts and conduct on-campus events for potential student-athletes. In addition, he helped organized camp operations.

In his time at Kentucky, the team made four NCAA Tournament appearances and three Super Regionals.

Leighton graduated from Kentucky in 2021 with a degree in finance. He earned his master’s degree in finance from Kentucky in 2022.