Bio

Tiffani Selhorst was named Defiance College Athletic Director in April 2023 and entered the office in May. In her first three years, Selhorst has led one of the most significant transformations in the program's modern history, guiding the Yellow Jackets through their transition from NCAA Division III to the NAIA as a scholarship institution and overseeing the move from the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference to the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC).

Under Selhorst's leadership, Defiance has grown from 19 to 23 sport programs, adding women's bowling, powerlifting, men's volleyball, women's wrestling, and women's flag football, while returning men's wrestling to competition. She also established a Director of Athletic Bands position under Athletics to enhance game-day atmosphere and create new enrollment pathways. This growth has helped drive a substantial rise in enrollment, with the College increasing by 25 percent in two years and new incoming athletes growing by 57 percent.

Selhorst has anchored the department in a vision built on four pillars — Growth, Retention, Belongingness, and Connection — and grounded in the NAIA's five core values. That commitment earned Defiance recognition as a Five-Star NAIA Institution with a perfect score in the Champions of Character initiative, with multiple teams voted WHAC Champions of Character. Her student-athletes have matched that standard in the classroom, sustaining a department GPA of 3.0 or above every semester, with dozens earning 4.0s and baseball claiming back-to-back ABCA Team Excellence Awards.

Selhorst has also prioritized facilities and fundraising, with annual giving climbing to nearly $200,000. Completed projects include a new weight room, gym floor, training room upgrades, two new locker rooms, and a new softball scoreboard, alongside the launch of an athletics capital campaign focused on outdoor facilities.

A native of Ottawa, Ohio and Ottawa-Glandorf graduate, Selhorst comes to Defiance with over 25 years of coaching experience with the last 10 at the NAIA level with Indiana University East. She served as both the head women's basketball coach and assistant athletic director along with duties as the senior women's administrator during her time in Richmond. She was the first women's basketball coach at IU-East and was charged with building the program to compete at the NAIA level. The Red Wolves tasted instant success on the court and in the classroom under Selhorst's leadership. IU East women's basketball won the regular-season conference title, finished runner-up in the conference tournament and earned an NAIA National Tournament bid in just their second season in existence. Selhorst was named Conference Coach of the Year for that 2015-16 campaign. Over their first nine years through 2022-23, IU East won the regular-season conference title twice, one conference tournament title and four national tournament bids while posting a record of 156-110 and four 20-win seasons. The program also carried the highest Team GPA in any sport throughout the River State Conference.

Prior to her tenure at IU East, Selhorst was an assistant with a pair of NCAA Division I women's basketball programs. She served as a graduate assistant at Ohio University for two seasons (2006-08) before taking the role of assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator at Saint Francis University (Pa.). She spent four years in Loretto, Pa. (2008-11, 2012-13) and was part of two NCAA Tournament berths by the Red Flash.

Selhorst earned her bachelor's degree in business administration from Wright State University in 2004. Her focus area was marketing coupled with a minor in communications. She completed her master's degree at Ohio University in 2008 from her studies in recreation and sports science.