Alabama Softball to Hire New Pitching Coach

Longtime Crimson Tide pitching coach Stephanie VanBrakle Prothro was recently announced as the head coach for Memphis.

One week after losing longtime pitching coach Stephanie VanBrakle Prothro to a head coaching gig at Memphis, Alabama softball has found a new man for the job. 

The Crimson Tide will hire Illinois pitching coach Lance McMahon. He has spent the last six seasons as the Illini pitching coach. 

Prior to his stop at Illinois, McMahon spent three years at LSU working under Beth Torina, including the 2015 World Series third-place finish team that had a pitching staff featuring Allie Walljasper and Carley Hoover. He also has experience coaching softball professionally with the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Fastpitch League. 

"Having degrees from two different SEC member institutions, it was always my dream to coach in the SEC and I would like to thank Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy for making that dream a reality," McMahon said in a press release. "It was clear from our early conversations that we had similar values and are invested in building relationships in pursuit of competitive excellence both on and off the field for our student-athletes. It is my absolute privilege to join the rest of the staff here and compete in the best softball conference in the country."

Last season at Illinois, McMahon's pitching staff set a new school record with 428 total strikeouts. (Alabama had 439 strikeouts last year.) The Illini posted a team ERA of 2.50, its lowest since 2010. 

McMahon will be directing a pitching staff that brings back redshirt sophomore Alex Salter, junior Jaala Torrence and three-time all-American and 2021 national pitcher of the year Montana Fouts. Alabama also snagged Michigan transfer Lauren Esman from the portal who only made one pitching appearance in three seasons with the Wolverines, but pitched at the Florida Gulf Coast League this summer and is listed as a pitcher on the Alabama roster. 

"We are very excited to welcome Lance to the Alabama softball family,” Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said in a statement. “He has done great things at Illinois and we look forward to having him work with our pitchers. His experiences in Champaign and at LSU, Mizzou and the NPF have more than prepared him for this position.”

This is the first major coaching change on Murphy's staff at Alabama since Prothro replaced Vann Studeman as pitching coach in 2011.