Opposite Ends of the Field

When many called for baseball head coach Steve Kittrell's firing a year ago, I asked for reconsideration. "He's a legend, a gentleman, and the right man for the job," I wrote in The Vanguard's June issue. Kittrell's squad was hot off a 15-15 Sun Belt season in which many key players were either injured or just too young to make a difference. One mediocre season later and I'm forced to shamefully admit that I was wrong. Having spent the entire 2009 season much closer to this team than any other, it occurred to me that the current coaching staff simply does not have what it takes to get the job done anymore. South Alabama was once a storing house for pro talent, but that is in the distant past. The balance of power has shifted in the Sun Belt Conference. Jag teams from yesteryear were national contenders feared not only locally, but as far as Omaha and the College World Series. Nowadays, the bar is set much lower. The Jags are seemingly content to barely squeeze into the SBC Tournament as an appetizer for a highly seeded contender. Once upon a time, aspirations toward Omaha were expectations. Now they are just tradition. Before the start of the season, Kittrell made a bold claim. "I'm disappointed in myself. If I can't get the job done in the next few years, I'll know when it's time to step down. I won't be the coach that stays for too long, and I'll turn it over to a younger guy that can turn it around if I can't." Where does USA and Kittrell draw the line? Since their last Regional appearance in 2006, the Jags are 41-47 in conference play, including 3-6 in the SBC tournament. In 2007, South Alabama hosted the tournament and was quickly disposed of by eventual winner Louisiana-Lafayette. In the following season, the Cajuns again eliminated South Alabama in a contest that many saw as the passing of the conference torch. In just a handful of seasons, South Alabama has gone from Sun Belt standard-bearer to the league's bottom-feeder. The recent tribulations should not take away from what Kittrell has done in over 27 years at South Alabama. February saw the coach come away with his 1,000th career victory -- a milestone eclipsed by only 37 other D-1 coaches. In addition, Kittrell has led South Alabama to 18 NCAA Regionals. Only three other schools have been there more over the same period.The records alone show Kittrell as the greatest coach in South Alabama history, including the father of the program, Eddie Stanky. But just as Stanky handed over the reins to Kittrell in 1984, Kittrell must step away himself. With NCAA football standing on the horizon, this is the start of a new era at South Alabama. It is also the perfect time for Kittrell to stand down. If done at the start of the football and basketball seasons, the negative reasons for Kittrell's resignation will be immediately forgotten and the coach can walk away a hero and a legend equal only to Stanky. Try to imagine the send-off the coach could get on football's opening night as the University recognizes his accomplishments before a capacity crowd at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. It would make an already historic night border on the poetic. All good things must come to a close and Kittrell's run has been short of incredible. Unfortunately, as long as Kittrell stays on the bench going through the motions, the more he risks tarnishing his legacy. And after 27 years of being the absolute best, why should he stay and be remembered as anything less?