Head Coach Steve Kittrell

The South Alabama program is blessed with one of college baseball winningest coaches. For the last 17 years, former Jaguar Steve Kittrell has consistently led South Alabama to conference championships and NCAA Regional appearances. In fact, under his tenure, the Jags have advanced to postseason play 13 times. In six of those years, USA has come within one game of earning a trip to the College World Series.

As Kittrell steps into his 18th season as Jaguar skipper, a berth to the College World Series and a national championship remain the top goals.

“Certainly, that’s one of our goals,” he said. “Every year we set that as one of our goals. It’s something that we haven’t done and it’s frustrating. It’s been very exciting for us to go to the regionals as often as we do and experiencing things a lot of teams don’t get to do.”

Kittrell’s trek began in 1968 as he signed to play for the Jaguars. The next four years were the best of his life. From 1968-71, Kittrell amassed a batting average of .368, a record that still stands today among four-year letterwinners at USA.

After earning a degree in Health, Physical Education and Recreation from South Alabama in 1971, Kittrell went on to sign a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox organization. He spent one season in the Florida State Rookie League before returning to his alma mater where he served a one-year stint as graduate assistant coach. What he learned in that one year will never be forgotten.

Following his completion of a master’s degree in Physical Education in 1973, Kittrell began his head coaching career at Niceville High School in Niceville, Fla. In two seasons, he won 70 percent of his contests while compiling a 35-15 mark.

He returned to the Port City for the 1976 prep season as coach of the UMS Bulldogs. In five seasons, Kittrell built a legitimate state power by posting a 95-34 record, including the school’s first-ever state championship in any sport in 1978.

From there, Kittrell continued his move up the coaching ladder by becoming the head man at Enterprise State (Ala.) Junior College. He posted back-to-back winning ledgers of 25-17 and 27-13 in 1979-80.

In 1981, he returned to UMS where he coached another two seasons before taking over the Spring Hill College program in 1983. He led the Badgers to the NAIA District 30 championship and a berth in the national tournament. He garnered three coaching honors during his one-year hiatus at Spring Hill including District 30 Coach of the Year, Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Co-Coach of the Year and NAIA Area Two Tournament Coach of the Year.

In taking over for his idol, Stanky, in 1984, Kittrell didn’t waste any time showing his hometown folks his coaching abilities. He led the Jags to their second-best record (50-19) in school history and a runner-up finish at the South I Regional in Tallahassee, Fla.

During the early days of the Sun Belt when the league played a divisional format, Kittrell coached the Jags to eight divisional crowns. With the recent change in format, the Jags haven’t missed a beat. Under Kittrell in the 1990s, the Jags dominated the decade by winning four league titles, the most by any program, and advanced to nine NCAA Tournaments.

The former Davidson High center field standout has gone on to lead the Jags to six Sun Belt championships and six tournament crowns. Along the way, he has been awarded four conference coaching honors and two regional coaching accolades.

In 1996, Kittrell surpassed his former mentor, the late Eddie Stanky, in becoming the winningest coach in Jaguar history. Just last season, Kittrell reached another milestone -- 700 career wins.

One of the top 50 winningest coaches of all-time in college baseball, Kittrell’s records are as follows -- in 17 seasons at USA, 669 wins, 374 losses and one tie for a .641 winning percentage; in 18 years at four-year universities, 702 victories, 393 defeats and one tie for .641 percentage.

Another amazing fact for Kittrell is that in 17 seasons of directing the Jaguar program, he has compiled 15 winning seasons. His only losing seasons were in 1985 as the team went 22-32 and last season’s 27-33 mark, a team that reached the NCAAs.

In 1993, Kittrell was inducted into the University of South Alabama Athletic Hall of Fame.

He and his wife Carol, the Director of Alumni Affairs at USA, have two children, Stacy and Scott, and one grand child Hayden (6).