From the linked story from the Palatka Daily News: Headline: "On second thought" Well, retirement didn’t last long. Over two months after officially stepping down as the St. Johns River State College softball coach and saying he needed a break and was exhausted, Joe Pound found himself an employed softball coach again, this time on the NCAA Division I level. Pound was officially named the new head softball coach at Radford University in Virginia on Friday, ending that short break from coaching and taking a softball coaching job that even he was surprised that came upon him. “Obviously, I had a little time off. It was just something that came about,” Pound said. While most of the country was spending time enjoying the nation’s 250th birthday on July 4, Pound answered a phone call he was least expecting to get. It was from longtime Radford athletic director Robert Lineburg, who was given Pound’s name, according to the coach, by Gulf Coast State College softball mentor Scot Thomas. “(Lineburg) asked if I was interested in the opportunity (to coach Radford),” Pound said. “I said, ‘Yes.’ I flew up to Radford on July 5, then went and met with him the next day. I came back and we had a few more conversations and we worked it out.” After a third straight trip to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II World Series in May, Pound tendered his resignation to St. Johns River athletic director Ross Jones. Easily the most successful coach in the program’s long fastpitch history, Pound, the coach of the Vikings’ first-ever national championship in 2024 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, said he was willing to take time off from coaching, though he said other offers did come and go in the time after resigning. “Really, this is a new opportunity … a different challenge, a different level, a new location,” Pound said. “I enjoy challenges. This was something that wasn’t planned when I left St. Johns, but I feel it’s a good opportunity and I’m looking forward to it.” Pound, a 1992 Crescent City High School graduate and star player in football and baseball, the latter sport he played at the University of North Florida, and who said has never left the state of Florida for any coaching position or job for that matter, heads to Radford, located 30 minutes from Virginia Tech University, with a career 196-125 mark in five years in charge, including three straight Sun-Lakes Conference, two straight Region 8 tournament crowns and three straight Division II South Region titles. The Vikings were 155-50 in the last three years and 76-12 in conference play during that time. Recently, SJR State hired Lee Kuyrkendall as its new softball coach. Pound said he is putting a coaching staff together but said it would not include his assistant the last two years, Callie Jones, who has moved back to coach at her alma mater, Jacksonville Episcopal School. Pound replaces another Florida-based coach with success, Kevin ***an. ***an, a former NFL linebacker who coached at Dunnellon High School and Central Florida College to softball titles, finished out a two-year run as Radford’s coach before moving on to Liberty University, where he will coach next season. Radford finished 24-27 this past season. Though he did not make it official, Pound said some of his Vikings players might be transferring to Radford for next season, but nothing, he said, was official. “I’m not a cold-weather fan, so my biggest adjustment is going to be a wardrobe,” joked Pound, who signed a three-year contract to coach the Highlanders, who play in the Big South Conference. “But they have a very nice facility and have put money into it. It’s an all-turf field they just put in and they have a big hitting facility with four cages. I looked at the field, and it’s lined and ready to go right now. “This is the right opportunity and I accept the challenge,” he added.