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After winning three state championships at Stuart, Jeff Parnell will take over the softball program at Pittsburg.
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Parnell departs Stuart following fast-pitch state titles in 2022 and 2024 and winning a slow-pitch championship in 2025. Parnell has led his teams to the state tournament 14 times in his career.
Parnell said leaving Stuart wasn’t an easy decision, but the right one.
“The five years I was there, it was great,” Parnell said. “We had some good memories and you hate to start a new journey but this was the best fit for my family right now. But I have nothing bad to say about Stuart. Tracy Blasengame is one of the best administrators around and does a really good job.”
At Stuart, Parnell coached his daughter, Lainey, and she will make the move to Pittsburg with him. Parnell credits superintendent Chad Graham’s sales pitch as to the reason for the move.
Parnell wanted to put his daughter in the best position to succeed as she’s coming into her junior year.
“Putting my daughter with a really good group is the sales pitch that got me there,” Parnell said. “Stuart was good to us, great to us, the numbers were a little low. But ultimately going over there and putting my daughter with a good group was the ultimate sales pitch.”
Graham said Parnell fits the Pittsburg culture perfectly.
“I’ve looked up to him for years,” Graham said. “The way he handles his programs are unbelievable; he’s hard-nosed, he fits in our system. I try to hire people who are like-minded, who are tough that push kids and want the best of our kids.”
Parnell will spend his first season in Pittsburg as co-head coach along with last season’s coach Hannah Guthrie. He envisions a good fit alongside Guthrie.
“I think me and her will work great together,” Parnell said. “She’s hard-nosed and holds kids accountable and I think we’ll get along great.”
Last year, the Lady Panthers were 17-15 in the fall fast-pitch season and 18-10 in the spring slow-pitch season. This week he will get a full picture of what his team looks like when they take the field for the first practice of the season Wednesday.
“We’re going to look pretty good, I think,” Parnell said. “You add four or five that moved in, plus the good ones they already had – we’ve got a chance to make a pretty good deep run in the playoffs.”
Parnell said he’s also looking forward to working with girls basketball coach Jim Jenson. Jenson is also known for his tough coaching and getting his players to buy into a system.
Last year, the Lady Panthers went 25-5 and made it to the second round of the state tournament. Parnell believes his coaching style should mix well with Jenson’s for the girls to adapt throughout the year.
“I have the same expectations that Jenson probably has in basketball,” Parnell said. “There’s not going to be much of a crazy up and down coaching style with me and him. I think we’re both intense and we do things right. I call it the ‘old school approach.’”
A successful stint at Pittsburg for Parnell will include raising a trophy at season’s end and putting his players on the track for higher education.
“I’m ready to get started,” Parnell said. “Ready to bring that culture we had at Stuart for the last five years to Pittsburg and get it going in the right direction and maybe hang a couple state banners.”