NACC softball coaches named NFCA Coaching Staff of the Year

When the final out was made and Northeast Alabama Community College softball players raced to the middle of the diamond to celebrate winning a national championship, NACC coaches Joe Guthrie, Courtnay Foster and Jimmy Kolaitis acknowledged the moment together.

A goal they set a decade ago during a different time and place had just been reached. When the experienced coaching trio coached together at UAB, they dreamed of winning a national championship together. Years later, after softball brought them back together at NACC, they reached that goal together.

"We set a goal to win championships together when we were all at UAB. However, the landscape changed dramatically. We had and still have some unfinished business with those goals," said Guthrie, who after stints as UAB's head coach and as an assistant at Texas A&M was hired as the first head softball coach in NACC history during the summer of 2023. "I'm thankful we all found Northeast."

Thanks to their tutelage, the NACC softball program found historic success during its second season.

After a 17-26-1 program-debuting 2025 season, the 2026 Mustangs went 56-4 and won the Alabama Community College Conference regular-season and tournament titles prior to going 5-0 en route to winning the national championship at the 2026 National Junior College Athletic Association's Division I Softball World Series.

"The history we have together, I think, is a big reason we were able to accomplish big dreams," said Foster, a former head coach at Bucknell, of the NACC coaching staff. "Nothing can replace experience, and to have shared experience is even more valuable."

"To win a championship is always amazing," said Kolaitis, a former UAB head coach who was an assistant at Arizona State prior to coming to NACC. "But to win one with this group is truly special. As all of our careers took us to different places, we always had the mindset to win one together.  When we left UAB without winning one, I think it bothered all of us. When this opportunity came up [at NACC], we felt like this is the opportunity that we missed out on. In today's landscape of college athletics, to do this together, with a great group of young ladies, and to do it with the support of the college, the community and President Dr. David Campbell, makes it so special."

Guthrie, Foster and Kolaitis were recently named the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's NJCAA Division I Coaching Staff of the Year after guiding Northeast to its historic season. The award followed the staff earning the NFCA's South Region Coaching Staff of the Year honor back in May.

Kolaitis said the trio is more than a coaching staff.

"We are family first," said Kolaitis, who also serves as NACC's athletic director. "We have known each other for so long, and our relationship goes further than just coaching. The respect that we have for each other and the understanding of our personalities help us relate. We are also so different, and I think because of that we all bring something different to the table."

Guthrie believes the staff's cohesiveness and trust in one another impacts the players in a positive manner.

"I think it's a good synergy between the three of us," he said. "We respect everyone's ability to do their job. Trust comes from that as well. That aspect spills over into the players."

All three coaches credited the players for their award.

"What makes this group so special is the type of people that they are," Kolaitis said. "They came in with total buy-in. They trusted us and believed in us. They have a good value system, which allowed this team to create a championship culture. As much as we were hoping to teach them on and off the field, I am not sure they realized they taught us a lot as well."

Added Foster, "the incredibly special players on this team will stay with me forever. My feeling about this group is that they are highly competitive and committed to development, both of which I consider necessary for success. I think our values just really lined up, and they deserve all the credit for their work, attention to detail and commitment to playing as a unit. It really was all 24 [players] all the time and that is the most rewarding part as a coach."

Guthrie described the championship moment as "sweet," adding the staff and program are hungry for more.

"It's back to working on the process," Guthrie said, "to go after it again."