UAB Softball Hires New Head Coach Following Lengthy Investigation

UAB softball will enter a new era with Megan Curry at the helm.

UAB Softball has hired a new head coach. | UAB Softball

Following a months-long investigation that revealed former Alabama-Birmingham softball head coach Taylor Smartt was mentally and physically abusing players, the program has hired a new leader. 

Megan Curry will take over and begin a new era for the Blazers after spending two years with Samford, her alma mater. Justin McLeod at D1 Softball was the first to report. 

Filed to @D1Softball: Megan Curry is the new head coach at UAB. She spent the last two years at Samford, her alma mater, and was previously the head coach at Birmingham-Southern and Asbury.https://t.co/xQ28cpCKyX

— Justin McLeod (@justfactsmaam) July 27, 2026

Curry, who is one of the most decorated players in Samford softball history, returned in 2024 after a successful season as head coach at Birmingham-Southern College, where she was named Southern Athletic Association Coach of the Year. That year, the Panthers finished runner-up in the conference with a 24-17 overall record and a 13-5 record in conference play. 

In her first season leading Samford, the team eclipsed the 30-win mark with a 33-23 overall record and won five of its seven conference series. The team made a third-place finish in the Southern Confernce Tournament. 

Curry is now coming off a 28-31 overall record in 2026, which saw the Dogs face nine ranked opponents. Samford’s biggest highlight of the season was knocking off No.2 Alabama at home 3-2. Though the team finished one game away from clinching the SoCon Championship, Oliva Shaw walked away as the conference Player of the Year after batting .381 with 64 hits and 43 runs scored. 

🗣️ Head Coach Megan Curry following Samford's historic win over Alabama #AllForSAMford pic.twitter.com/4xhVJDfaH1

— Samford Softball (@SamfordSB) April 15, 2026

Curry initially began her coaching career as an assistant at Samford from 2016-18, before heading to Mercer as an assistant coach for the 2019 season. Her first head coaching role was at Asbury University, where she spent three seasons at the helm. 

As a player for Samford, Curry was a star in center field from 2013 to 2016. She led the team offensively in three out of her four seasons and was named the SoCon Player of the Year after leading the Bulldogs to the program’s first SoCon regular season title in 2016. She still holds the school career record for doubles with 48, while her .363 career batting average ranks second. 

Curry now takes over a severely broken program that needs healing. 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 has parted ways with softball coach Taylor Smartt after a nearly three-month-long third-party investigation.

Softball On SI has obtained copies of emails from AD Mark Ingram and the third-party attorney Breanna Young.https://t.co/tzqIrYzEk3

— Maren Angus (@Maren_Angus) July 9, 2026

Smartt did not coach the final five games of the 2026 regular season, nor did she coach in the American Athletic Conference postseason tournament. The Blazers finished the year with a 21-33 overall record and were 8-19 in conference play after falling to Tulsa at the American Conference Championships.