MOBILE, Ala. ? After leading the Jags to 18 NCAA Regionals in his 25 years at the helm, baseball head coach Steve Kittrell and the University of South Alabama Athletic Department have agreed to a contract extension that will keep him at USA through the 2011 season, as announced by Director of Athletics Joe Gottfried on Thursday.
Kittrell has compiled a 965-554-1 record in 25 seasons as the head coach at South Alabama, and has been named Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year six times during his tenure. With his 489th win in 1996, Kittrell became South Alabama’s all-time winningest coach.
“The contract extension of two years makes the statement we are confident in coach Kittrell and his ability to lead our program,” Gottfried said. “He has demonstrated over the years his strength in leading this program and should be given every opportunity to put us in a position to compete for the Conference Championship and the NCAA tournament, with the ultimate goal of competing in the College World Series.”
Kittrell, a 1971 South Alabama graduate and four-year letterman, enters his 26th season at USA with 998 career wins, all but 33 of which have come with the Jags. With two more victories, Kittrell will become the 50th NCAA coach, and the 37th Division I coach, to reach the 1,000-win milestone. Kittrell is also in the top-15 among active coaches in career wins.
“The most important thing is the team not getting focused on that,” Kittrell said. “We need to get in on the team concept and not worry about any individual goals. This year’s team needs to stay focused on getting back to the NCAA tournament and winning a Regional.”
USA finished the 2008 season 32-26 and missed making an NCAA Regional in back-to-back seasons for only the second time during Kittrell’s tenure. Kittrell’s teams have never gone three consecutive years without making the NCAA Tournament, and only 12 teams in the nation have gone to more NCAA Regionals in the last 25 years than the Jags.
“Last year was disappointing because we didn’t make the Regionals in back-to-back years, and up until that time we had a pretty good run in the NCAA Tournament,” Kittrell said. “Our conference is getting a lot stronger and we haven’t fared as well in the Sun Belt, and that’s been our main problem. Outside of conference we’ve done well, but our Sun Belt record for the last couple of years has been a little bit surprising and disappointing. We’ll have to improve on that, and that will be one of our goals this year ? to get back on top of the Sun Belt.”
After one year of collegiate coaching at Spring Hill College, Kittrell returned to his alma mater in the summer of 1983 to succeed his mentor, the legendary Eddie Stanky. In his first year leading the Jags, Kittrell guided USA to its second of two 50-win seasons in the program’s history. In 24 seasons since, the Jags have reached the 40-win mark 13 additional times.
“I’ve had a lot of good assistant coaches and a lot of good players,” Kittrell said. “It’s been a great ride, and I’m really looking forward to next season and the future at South Alabama. We’ve got a beautiful facility now, we just had a new scoreboard put in last year, and we’ve got new lights that were put in last month. Coach (Ronnie) Arrow is back with men’s basketball, and with coach (Joey) Jones and the football program starting, there are a lot of exciting things happening at South Alabama. I’m just happy to be a part of it, and to have been a part of it for such a long time.”
During Kittrell’s tenure at USA, the Jags have reached 18 NCAA Regionals and won 11 Sun Belt Conference championships. Under Kittrell, USA has come within one win of reaching the College World Series six times, with the last coming in 1998. In his 25 years leading the Jags, more than 75 players have gone on to sign professional contracts, and 15 have reached the big leagues. In 1993, Kittrell was inducted into the University of South Alabama Hall of Fame.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
