University of Alabama - Birmingham

UAB Blazers Athletics
Bartow Arena, 617 13th St S Birmingham, AL 35294

Division 1 Alabama Southeast

Public Very Large National competitor

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Coaches

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Taylor Smartt

The Troy, Alabama native enters her first year as UAB’s Head Softball Coach. She was previously at Florida Atlantic University as the associate head coach and assistant coach while she was in Boca Raton. During her time at FAU she helped the Owls to a 76-36 record and an NCAA regional appearance in 2024. Smartt was in charge of the defense, boasting a .974 fielding percentage in 2023.

Prior to FAU, Smartt spent eight seasons as a member of the staff at her alma mater Troy University.

While Smartt was at Troy, she spent one year as the team's co-interim head coach in 2022. She spent seven years as an assistant coach with the Trojans before starting her coaching career in 2015 as a volunteer assistant coach. Smartt has led both FAU and Troy to NCAA regional appearances, when she helped Troy appear in the 2021 Tuscaloosa Regional. During that historic 2021 season, Smartt helped guide the Trojans to a 37-17 record while ranking 4th in the nation in doubles (98).

Smartt was a four year student athlete at Troy before beginning her coaching career. She started 191 games over that four year span, and was named to the NFCA All-Region team her freshmen season when she hit .277 with eight doubles, a triple, a home run and 17 RBIs.

The Troy, Alabama native, graduated with a degree in sport and fitness management in 2014.

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Madeline Porter

Porter comes to UAB after coaching at Helena High School for three seasons. She also spent one year at Troy University as the team's volunteer assistant coach.

Porter began her playing career at Ball State University before transferring to Troy for her last three seasons. She racked up a .272 batting average with 27 doubles, seven home runs, and 71 RBIs over the three-year span.

In high school, Porter competed at Oak Mountain where she was a three-time member of the Over the Mountain team.

She Graduated from Troy in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in physical education.

UAB softball will begin their 2024 fall campaign on September 27th against Enterprise State Community College (JUCO) and Auburn University at Montgomery (DII).

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Mandy Jordan

Jordan was most recently an assistant coach at Division II powerhouse Southern Arkansas where she helped the Muleriders to three straight NCAA Regional appearances. In 2023, the team advanced to the Super Regionals where they lost a three-game series to Central Oklahoma.

Prior to Southern Arkansas, Jordan was a graduate assistant at Auburn University for two seasons.

Before starting her collegiate coaching career, Jordan played four seasons at Lipscomb University. While in Nashville, Jordan pitched 595.2 total innings with 611 strikeouts in 109 appearances. She finished her career with a 2.33 ERA, while racking up 59 wins. She was named to the ASUN All-Second Team her sophomore year when she went 23-11 with 261 strikeouts.

She graduated in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in fitness and sports studies. Most recently, she received her master's in physical education from Auburn in 2021.

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Anna Shelnutt

The 2018 NCAA National Champion, Anna Shelnutt, begins her first season as the assistant coach at UAB. Shelnutt played softball at Florida State from 2017-2021 where she made two Women’s College World Series appearances.

The former Florida State national champion joins the Blazers staff after two seasons as an assistant coach at Troy University. Shelnutt assisted the Trojans offense that ranked top five in the Sun Belt in multiple categories: runs scored (fourth-265), total bases (fifth-588), slugging percentage (fifth-.588), RBIs (fourth-232), and home runs (fourth-49). She helped Troy to 67 wins during those two seasons including wins over No. 25 Louisiana and No. 25 Texas state.

Before Troy, Shelnutt worked one year at Champions Fastpitch Academy in Marietta, Ga. She assisted with the day-to-day operations of the facility and was a lead instructor.

Shelnutt played College softball at Florida State University from 2017-2021. She was a part of the 2018 National Champion team where she hit .257 with six home runs and 30 RBIs. She hit five home runs and drove in 15 runs during the 2018 postseason earning a spot on the Women's College World Series All-Tournament Team. Shelnutt finished her career ranked 10th all-time in program history with 31 home runs and fifth all time with a .993 fielding percentage.

She graduated from Florida State in 2021 with a bachelor's degree in psychology and her master's degree a year later in sports management.