Melanie Carter is the head coach of the University of Alabama in Huntsville softball program and is in her 14th season with the Chargers. After serving 10 years as an assistant coach, she was promoted to associate head coach in November 2020 and later elevated to head coach. Carter returned to Huntsville in the summer of 2010 following a highly successful four-year tenure as head coach at Shorter University in Rome, Georgia. At Shorter, she transformed a young program into a national contender, compiling 195 wins and leading the Lady Hawks to four consecutive NAIA National Championship appearances, including a program-best fifth-place finish in 2010. Her teams captured three 50-win seasons and multiple Southern States Athletic Conference championships, and she was named SSAC and Region XIII Coach of the Year in 2007.
As a player at UAH, Carter was one of the most decorated student-athletes in program and Gulf South Conference history. A four-time NFCA All-American and four-time first-team All-South Region selection, she helped lead the Chargers to the 2001 NCAA Division II College World Series. She graduated holding numerous career records, including at-bats, runs, doubles, total bases, and RBI, with her marks in runs, RBI, and doubles also standing as GSC records. Carter is a member of the GSC Hall of Fame and the inaugural class of the UAH Athletics Hall of Fame. A native of Fayetteville, Tennessee, she earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology from UAH and a Master of Arts in Teaching in Physical Education from West Alabama.
