Bradley nabbed as new softball coach at Montgomery Academy

Todd Bradley was the head coach at Alabama State and retired after the 2024 season and takes over the Montgomery Academy position this season. (Photo courtesy Montgomery Academy/Luke Lucas)

By TIM GAYLE

Todd Bradley never thought he would be in this situation again.

Bradley had retired as Alabama State’s softball coach after the 2024 season, believing his 25 years as a collegiate coach was enough. But retirement didn’t agree with Bradley, who decided it was time to return to the softball field. On Thursday, Montgomery Academy officials announced that Bradley would serve as the Eagles’ softball coach.

“I had no thoughts of coaching again,” Bradley said. “But ultimately, when (the job opportunity at Montgomery Academy) came about, I was like, I know this profession. No, I haven’t worked with a ton of high school and middle school girls, but leadership is leadership, so I want to give it a shot and see if I can make a difference.

“I think (rebuilding Montgomery Academy) will be a challenge, but I think it can be fixed. And the good thing about it is because Alabama (High School Athletic Association) allows you to play varsity when you’re not in high school, I think there’s enough younger players there to build not only for success this year but for the future.”

Bradley is the second former Alabama State head coach to be hired as a community coach for Montgomery Academy. Just last week, Montgomery Academy athletic director Wright Ward hired former ASU soccer coach Jodie Smith to coach the girls’ soccer team.

“I think it speaks about MA’s reputation,” Ward said. “Not necessarily just in athletics but as a community and as a school, I think it says a lot about MA. I look at Jodie, I look at Todd, I look at coaches we have hired and they’re not just wanting in on their sport, they’re wanting in on the MA community and on the MA experience across the board. That’s what has attracted them.”

Bradley, a native of Pendleton, Oregon, spent 25 years in collegiate coaching, including assistant coaching jobs at Utah State (2006), Campbell University (2013-14) and Fresno State (2019) and head coaching stops at Blue Mountain Community College (1999-03), Corban University (2004-05), Pfeiffer University (2007-09), Incarnate Word (2010-12), Campbell (2015-18) and Alabama State (2020-24).

While at Alabama State, he coached the Hornets to a Southwestern Athletic Conference championship in 2021, the SWAC Tournament finals in 2022 and the SWAC East Division title in 2023. He stepped down from the position in June, 2024, citing a need to deal with his health as he has battled multiple sclerosis most of his life.

“It was the right time for me to retire from collegiate coaching and now I have this opportunity to be able to teach the game again and make a real impact,” Bradley said. “I’m managing (my health). It is still an issue but when … you really break it down, it’s not the full season, the full fall, the full summer of recruiting and all the other things that go into being a collegiate coach.”

He coached his 100th win as a Hornet in the 2024 season as well as his 500th game as a head coach.

He served several months over the past year as the general manager of D-Bat Baseball and Softball Academy on the Eastern Bypass. Now, he’ll have to learn the rules and regulations associated with high school softball.

“Todd’s asking a bunch of questions right now, more about what he can and can’t do, from the perspective of what he can and can’t do with Alabama High School (Athletic Association),” Ward said. “For the last year, he’s been with D-Bat so working with kids is not new, it’s something he’s been doing

“He knows what he is walking into, he’s excited about the challenge that’s in front of him. It’s not a concern about connecting with the kids, it’s not a concern about working with the kids.”

Bradley becomes the sixth head coach since the school revived the sport five years ago. Damon Haecker restarted the program in 2021 before leaving for T.R. Miller after two seasons. Since then, the Montgomery Academy softball players have had Noah Johnson, Wendell Barr, Anna Blair Cockrell, William Carter, Cockrell again and now Bradley as their head coach.

“They’re the reason we have fought to keep this program going,” Ward said of the players. “To me, at any point over the last three or four years, they had every right and no one would have blamed them if they just said it’s not worth it. But they kept showing up. They keep showing up and they keep having good attitudes and they keep wanting to work and they keep wanting to enjoy playing the game.

“If you’ve got enough players and they all want to keep doing it, then we’ve got to find the right coach for them.”