NACC coaching staff named NJCAA South Regional Softball Coaching Staff of the Year

The Northeast Alabama Community College softball coaching staff has been honored for its efforts during the program's historic second season.

Three National Junior College Athletic Association Division I and Division II softball programs have been voted ATEC/National Fastpitch Coaches Association NJCAA Regional Coaching Staffs of the Year, the NFCA announced Wednesday.

NACC's coaching staff of head coach Joe Guthrie and assistants Courtnay Foster and Jimmy Kolaitis were named the 2026 South Regional Coaching Staff of the Year. Kolaitis is also NACC's athletic director and Foster also serves the college as an academic advisor.

Under the trio's leadership, the NACC softball team finished the 2026 regular season with a 48-4 record and a No. 3-ranking in the final NJCAA Division I Softball Rankings. The Mustangs also won the Alabama Community College Conference regular-season title with a 29-3 conference record and is the No. 1 seed for the 2026 ACCC Tournament, which begins Thursday at Veterans Park in Alabaster.

"Our staff does everything the right way," said NACC president Dr. David Campbell. "They stress hard work, discipline, organization and teamwork and they treat the players with fairness and respect."

To be eligible for the coaching staff awards, the program's head coach must be an NFCA member. Winners were voted by member head coaches in each of their respective regions. The 2026 NJCAA Division I, II and III National Coaching Staffs of the Year will be announced June 8.

Guthrie, Foster and Kolaitis all held head-coaching and assistant-coaching positions at various NCAA Division I schools prior to arriving at NACC. 

"All our coaches have had experience with big university DI programs," Dr. Campbell said. "Their hearts are with programs like ours, where they can work more directly with students. Our staff stresses academics as well as athletics. Numerous players crossed the stage at our recent graduation. Many of these student-athletes received academic honors."

The coaching trio helped NACC launch its softball program after Dr. Campbell announced Sept. 1, 2022 that the college was forming a softball program. Guthrie was hired as head coach the following summer, and NACC broke ground on what would become Nathaniel Ledbetter Stadium, a state-of-the art softball facility, in the fall of 2023. NACC played its inaugural softball season in 2025. 

"It is remarkable that the staff has accomplished this in such a short time," Dr. Campbell said. "But they went all out, as the college did, to establish an immediately competitive team."