- Brad Powell became Santa Fe College's new baseball head coach, replacing Johnny Wiggs after his 20-year tenure and retirement this summer.
- Powell was the pitching coach at University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff last season and previously coached at Northwest Florida State College.
- Santa Fe's athletic director praised Powell's energy and recruiting skills as key to advancing the program and facilities.
Santa Fe College has a new baseball coach as Brad Powell takes over as the head man of the Saints.
Powell was introduced to the media in a press conference on Tuesday. Powell, who was the pitching coach for the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff this past season, takes over for NJCAA Hall of Famer Johnny Wiggs, who announced his retirement earlier this summer after 20 years at the helm of the Saints baseball program.
“One thing that excites us about Brad is his energy and excitement,” Santa Fe athletic director Chanda Stebbins said. “At every junior college level, the question is, can you do more with less? I think he’s going to do that. He’s going to work his tail off and do a lot to make a difference for our student-athletes.”
Before going to Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Powell spent four seasons as pitching coach in the FCSAA for Northwest Florida State College in Niceville. Northwest Florida made its first trip to the Junior College World Series in nine seasons in Powell’s final year as the Raiders’ pitching coach in 2025.
“The other thing we liked about Brad is the idea that he was in the Florida system,” Stebbins said. “He was at Northwest Florida, and I think he’s going to recruit Florida really well and really hard and that’s going to make a huge difference, especially as we build these facilities out.”
Powell, a Nebraska native, says he always wanted to be a coach in Florida.
“Doug Martin (former coach at Northwest Florida) was a huge person for me because he brought me to Florida,” Powell said. “It was always a dream of mine coming from a town of 500 people to live in Florida and coach in Florida and he gave me the opportunity to do it.”
Martin also announced his retirement this past spring after 18 years as Northwest Florida’s head coach.
Powell is just the fourth baseball coach in Santa Fe College history. Wiggs and Harry Tholen led the program for most of its existence after it began in 1981, and Powell said Wiggs has been instrumental in helping him transition into the Saints’ head coaching role.
“Coach Wiggs has been awesome as far as helping me in this process,” Powell said. “He has been helping me work through and take me through a lot of things. He did an amazing job here and he left a great program in place and I’m just trying to pick it up and keep it moving and get it to where we want it to get to.”