Alan Luckie enters his 11th season as an assistant coach at South Alabama in 2017. He works with USA infielders and baserunners, and also assists with Jaguar hitters. Additionally, Luckie works closely with the USA Dugout Club.
Luckie’s infield defenses have put up impressive numbers through the years. The Jag defense has fielded at least .966 in each of his nine seasons, and the 2015 mark of .978 broke a single-season record at USA and ranked tied for 10th nationally. USA then broke the 2015 record the following season with a league-leading .979 fielding percentage last season, and once again ranked in the top 10 nationally. The 2010 mark of .972 tied a then single-season record at USA that was first posted by the 1992 Jags.
The Jaguars’ 2008 mark of .969 was fourth-best in school history at the time. The Jaguar defense also finished third in the nation by turning 68 double plays during the 2008 regular season.
In 2010, Luckie helped Jaguar second baseman Zach Grichor become the program’s first Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner. Grichor committed just two errors in 311 chances to earn the honor. In 2011, Luckie helped freshman Logan Kirkland make a midseason switch from second base to shortstop, which resulted in Kirkland being named second-team Freshman All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and Baseball America.
In 2012, two Jaguar hitters – Whitt Dorsey (1st team) and Jordan Patterson (2nd team) – earned all-Sun Belt Conference honors after batting .337 and .323, respectively. South Alabama led the SBC in batting average (.306), slugging percentage (.452), on-base percentage (.389), runs scored (205), RBI (184), total bases (474), and tied for most hits (321) in league contests in 2012.
He helped guide the Jaguars to their 14th Sun Belt Conference championship and 25th NCAA Regional appearance in 2013. Luckie helped 2013 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Jordan Patterson – who was a fourth-round draft pick by the Colorado Rockies in the 2013 MLB Draft – make the transition from outfield to first base. Patterson went on to earn All-American honorable mention as well as first-team all-Sun Belt Conference and second-team American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) all-South/Central Region honors. Robby Campbell was named first-team all-SBC at second base in that same season. Dustin Dalken was named first-team all-SBC as designated hitter after batting .330 with 11 doubles, a triple, a team-leading eight home runs, 43 RBI and 29 runs scored in 54 games.
In 2014, Cole Gleason earned second-team all-SBC honors after leading the team in 10 offensive categories. Gleason hit .381 with seven doubles, three homers, 29 RBI and 15 runs scored while posting a .976 OPS including a .454 on-base percentage in 28 Sun Belt contests.
In 2015, center fielder Cole Billingsley led the Sun Belt Conference with 30 stolen bases and received an American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings Division I Gold Glove Award. Billingsley also earned first-team all-SBC honors, and second-team all-South Central Region accolades from the ABCA/Rawlings.
Last season, Billingsley earned first-team all-SBC honors after leading the league in sacrifice flies (8), which ranked eighth nationally, and stolen bases (31), which ranked 13th nationally, for the second straight year, and was also named second-team all-region in addition to winning his second consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Award as a center fielder. He was drafted in the 19th round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Baltimore Orioles. Shortstop Drew LaBounty also earned first-team all-SBC honors after leading the league and finishing sixth nationally in walks (59), and ranking second in on-base percentage, sacrifice flies and total plate appearances. The Jaguars won the program’s 16th SBC title in ‘16, and made the program’s 26th NCAA Regional appearance in which they advanced to the Regional final against Florida State.
USA finished seventh in the nation in walks (330), eighth in stolen bases (107) and 16th in stolen bases per game (1.67). The Jags finished tops in the league in walks, stolen bases, sacrifice flies (32) and stolen bases per game (1.67) in 2016.
Luckie came to USA at the start of the 2007 season after spending five seasons working with Stu Fuller at Fairhope High School. The Pirates either captured or tied for the regional championship crown in each of those five seasons. Those teams compiled a combined record of 127-65.
A graduate of Fairhope High School in 1980, Luckie went on to play two seasons at Faulkner State Community College before moving on to Spring Hill College, where he played for coach Steve Kittrell in 1983 and was an all-conference performer there in 1984. He graduated from Spring Hill in 1984.
Using opportunities from life-long friend and former Miami Marlins Manager and General Manager, Dan Jennings, Luckie has garnered knowledge from numerous professional coaches including Jack McKeon, Jim Presley, “Bone” Hill, Bo Porter, Rich Donnelly and New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi.
A highly successful businessman involved heavily in the South Alabama community, Luckie brings a vast amount of experience both on and off the field to the Jaguar family.
He resides in Point Clear, Ala., with his wife Kerry. They have two married daughters, Jenna Luckie Rogers (Landon) and Kayla Luckie Buchanan (Chris) and one grandson, Pierce Rogers.
