(Coaching) Change is part of life

The winds of change are swirling in the high school coaching ranks.

Whether we like it or not, change is inevitable and a constant part of life. That includes the coaching world. Several high school softball head coaching jobs will change hands heading into the 2026 season.

Becky Seymour was able to go out on top after an incredible career at Moody, as the Blue Devils won the Class 5A state title. Jessica Hood will take over a program in great shape.

Brooks’ Kathryn Brown (you may know her as Kathryn Montgomery) has led the Lions for the last six years, and what a job she did there. Her tenure perfectly aligned with a group of girls that played at a high level for several years and developed into some of the finest people you’ll meet. Read what she wrote about her time at Brooks at the bottom of this article.

The following is a list of new coaching hires around the state. This is likely not a comprehensive list, so feel free to email 4CornersSoftballPod@gmail.com with other news and insight from across the state, in order to update this post as needed.

Brooks: Michael Boatwright
Rogers: Troy Pettus
Phil Campbell: Darby Allison
Cullman: Drew Bryson
Moody: Jessica Hood
Prattville: Chris Steiner-Leak
Pisgah: Hannah Metz
Prattville Christian: Chris Puckett
Gaston: Cody Short
Hanceville: Kim Lewis
Sardis: Emily Cook
McGill-Toolen: Tony Scarbrough
East Lawrence: McKenzi Crook
Satsuma: Lauren Stewart
Colbert County: Will Inman
Section: Leigha Kirby
North Jackson: Josie Thompson
Weaver: Becca Feazell
Albertville: Paul Woodruff
Enterprise: Buddy Boyle
Zion Chapel: Chris Hodge
Lawrence County: Josh Graham
Hatton: Cloey Lovelady Terry
Montevallo: Bailey Whitfield
Briarwood: Nicki Henley
Oak Mountain: Telma O’Neal
Robertsdale: Jack Byerley

Here’s what Brown penned about her time as an athlete and coach, as she steps away.

• I have bathed in the cooler water

But nothing compares to watching your players be bathed in forgiveness after making an eternity changing decision to follow Jesus.

• I’ve raised the trophy

But nothing compares to the intangible victories I’ve gotten to witness in my girls and their family’s lives.

• I’ve seen triumph after loss and grit in the face of adversity in the dugout and between the chalk lines.

But nothing compares to seeing my team circle the wagons around one of their own when their heart was wounded and their world was rocked.

• I’ve spent hours upon hours in required practice and events

But nothing compares to the voluntary moments where we all just wanted to be together because we became a family and feel love and support from one another.

• I’ve traveled the country headed to a ball field to play the game that I love

But nothing compares to being on the bus on the way home with the whole team on the same pumped up page.

• I’ve chased a ring my entire career for that one victory

But nothing compares to saying yes to the man of my dreams down on one knee offering me the ring while my girls and family surrounded me.

• I’ve earned the awards, the scholarship, the accolades and titles

But nothing compares to the moments, miles, and memories traveled with my parents and sister to be involved in something that became an engrained part of our lives.

• I’ve compartmentalized my life so I could teach, coach, be mama, wife, and family to the greatest efficiency level I could.

But nothing compares to when all of those compartments meld together and I look up to see my boys loving my players as their sisters and learning the greatest lessons from them.

• Ive gotten to live out my dream as an athlete

But nothing compares to watching my athletes live out their dreams whether it be on a field or not.

• I’ve gotten to coach and use a game to further my career, meet amazing people, and to develop into the person I have become

But nothing compares to every time I am able to look at all of these opportunities and realize over, and over again that it has been so much more than a game to me.

It’s been my platform to “point people to the cross” and to love as we have been called to love. It’s been my chance to help people see that their value doesn’t hinge on their athleticism, but that they can use their athleticism and calling, whatever it may be, for growth of the Kingdom.

Coaching has been my calling and I am so thankful I was provided the opportunity to do what I could in such a special role for so long. Now it is time to walk in His will in another direction and to love from different platforms. I’m overwhelmed by the experiences I have had and for all the people who have made a home in my heart by way of softball. So, as people like to say and with the most full and grateful heart: Coach M, out.

I can confidently say high school softball in Alabama will be a little lesser without Coach M. A terrific coach, human and friend she is.