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5 Candidates UAB Softball Should Consider Hiring as Head Coach

UAB fired head coach Taylor Smartt after an investigation determined she engaged in inappropriate behavior.
Maren Angus-Coombs|
Texas Tech's Jasmyn Burns reacts to her game-tying hit against Ole Miss with assistant coach Hunter Veach during the Lubbock Regional of the NCAA Division I softball tournament, Saturday, May 16, 2026, at Tracy Sellers Field.
Texas Tech's Jasmyn Burns reacts to her game-tying hit against Ole Miss with assistant coach Hunter Veach during the Lubbock Regional of the NCAA Division I softball tournament, Saturday, May 16, 2026, at Tracy Sellers Field. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Alabama-Birmingham softball program is entering a new era after a months-long investigation into former head coach Taylor Smartt determined that she should be fired for cause.

UAB confirmed it was moving on from Smartt on Thursday and named Anna Shelnutt the interim head coach.

Smartt, who was in her second season at UAB, was investigated after student-athletes and parents came forward claiming racist remarks, physical and mental abuse, an inappropriate relationship between Smartt, Director of Operations, Julie Money, and a student-athlete, as well as NCAA violations and Title IX violations.

UAB placed Smartt on administrative leave on April 25.

Handling a program that has been through something traumatic should be handled delicately. Players will be hesitant to trust someone quickly.

WIth that being said, there are a handful of coaches out there, who should be considered for the job and will help lead the Blazers in a positive way.

Hunter Veach

Former Texas Tech assistant and Alabama native Hunter Veach should be the first call that athletic director Mark Ingram makes.

Veach has studied under some of the greatest minds in the game, including Clint Myers, Joe Guthrie, Trisha Ford and Gerry Glasco.

UAB isn't unfamiliar for Veach either. He spent two years as an assistant there when Guthrie was the head coach. He ran the defense and helped the Blazers to their highest winning percentage (.620) since 2015 and second-best conference winning percentage in program history (.750).

In 2022, the Blazers proved to be one of the best defensive teams in the country, turning the fifth-most double plays per game (0.55) in Division I while ranking second in Conference USA with 28 double plays.

Lance McMahon

The current pitching coach at Alabama has proven himself more than worthy of a phone call.

McMahon has worked his way up from being a volunteer assistant at the prep level to coaching travel ball before moving into the collegiate space as a student manager at Mizzou (2010-13). From there, he joined LSU as a graduate assistant ((2014-16) before being hired as an assistant by Illinois (2017-22). He also spent the summer of 2019 as an assistant with the Chicago Bandits.

Since coming to Alabama, McMahon has coached pitchers like Montana Fouts, Kayla Beaver and Jocelyn Briski. In 2026, the Alabama pitching staff posted top four marks in shutouts (26 - 2nd), batting average against (.174 - 3rd) and fewest runs allowed (104 - 4th).

Sam Marder

Sam Marder spent the last five seasons at Oregon as an associate head coach on Melyssa Lombardi's staff.

All five seasons in Eugene produced five of the program's all-time top 10 seasons for slugging percentage, three of the best in terms of home run production and batting average.

In 2026, Oregon led the nation with a school-record 37 sacrifice flies and ranked in the top five of the Big Ten in batting average (.324), RBIs (335), runs per game (6.64) and triples (17).

Before joining the Ducks, Marder was a successful hitting and defense coach at Oklahoma, Texas Tech, College of Charleston and Boise State.

Piper Ritter

Piper Ritter took over as the head coach at Minnesota after Jaime Trachsel left for Ole Miss in 2020. She was let go following a disappointing 2026 season.

Formerly the pitching coach for the Golden Gophers, Ritter led the program to the NCAA Tournament in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Ritter's best season as the head coach at Minnesota was 2021, when the Gophers finished 31-13, including 29-11 in the Big Ten.

Minnesota definitely took a step back across the last three seasons but maybe a fresh start at a mid-major program could be a good thing.

Ritter was an assistant coach for the Gophers from 2008 to 2020. She played for the Gophers from 2001 to 2004, earning All-Big Ten First Team honors in 2003, and All-Big Ten Third Team honors in 2001, 2002, and 2004.

Anna Shelnutt

Anna Shelnutt was named the interim head coach following the firing of Smartt.

While Shelnutt is considered a candidate for the head coaching job, she was complicent with Smartt's violations.

The former Florida State backstop has been the acting head coach at UAB since April 25 but her inexperience could prevent her from getting the gig on a permanent basis.e

Before UAB, Shelnutt was an assistant at Troy for two seasons and spent one year as he day-to-day operations of the facility and was a lead instructor at Champions Fastpitch Academy in Marietta, Ga

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Maren Angus-Coombs
MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. She has been covering college softball since 2016 for various outlets including Softball America, ESPNW and Hurrdat Sports. She is currently the managing editor of Softball On SI and also serves as an analyst for Nebraska softball games on Nebraska Public Media and B1G+.

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