It was a mid-August summer afternoon in Portland, Oregon. Alabama softball alum Kayla Braud and husband David along with friends and family were celebrating the second birthday of their daughter, Dylan, when Braud received a call from a former coach, Patrick Murphy.

Being in the middle of hosting a party for upwards of 30 people, Braud did not answer Murphy's first call. It was only when he began to call again that Braud stepped out on the front porch to take the call.

"Would you be interested in coaching college?" Murphy asked.

A shocked Braud, who was in the middle of her first season broadcasting with MLB's Seattle Mariners, responded with: "No, but maybe? What are you talking about?"

Murphy then explained his reasoning for calling: He wanted Braud to join his staff as an assistant coach. Braud took in the initial news and reconnected with Murphy the next morning to find out more.

About three weeks and plenty of thinking later, Braud and her family made the decision to move across the country back to Tuscaloosa.

Braud is back in her former home with a different title: assistant coach. She took over the role with the retirement of Alyson Habetz, a former Crimson Tide assistant coach who stepped down following the 2023 season after 25 years. Habetz was on staff when Braud was playing at Alabama from 2010-13.

Alabama softball legend

The outfield wall at Rhoads Stadium, home of Alabama softball, carries the images of certain Crimson Tide legends and alums from their playing days. Kayla Braud is one of those pictured on the wall.

Braud came to Alabama in 2010 out of Marist High in Eugene, Oregon. The outfielder went onto be named SEC Freshman of the Year and finished her Alabama softball career as a three-time NFCA first-team All American after earning second-team honors as a freshman and a Women's College World Series championship in 2012.

Braud is still among the leaders of many Alabama softball program career marks: batting average (second, .438), stolen bases (second, 182), hits (second, 344), runs scored (third, 271) and on-base percentage (fourth, .512). For a single season, she set a program record for batting average (.505, 2010), stands second all-time in stolen bases (58, 2011) and hitting streak (28 games, 2011) with high marks in runs scored (fourth, 75, 2010) and hits (fourth, 95, 2010). She has nearly beaten a few of her own records, including her batting average record when she hit .471 as a senior, ranking second in program history and only trailing the record she set in 2010.

From player to broadcaster

Braud earned a degree in public relations from Alabama in 2013. She wanted to switch her major from public relations to broadcasting, but it was against the wishes of one of her advisors, who told Braud "it's not a great idea." Braud listened to her advisor but ultimately ended up in broadcasting anyway.

Braud began as a TV analyst, spending nine years working for ESPN and the SEC Network. She was an original host on SEC Network's "Rally Cap," a weekly baseball and softball highlight and analysis show. Most recently, she was working with the Mariners, hosting pregame and postgame studio shows.

Giving up broadcasting, Braud said, was one of the hardest decisions of her life. Coming back to her alma mater, though, was too good of an opportunity to turn down.

"That experience (broadcasting) was just unbelievable," Braud said. "I didn't want to get into coaching; this would have been the only reason, to go back to my alma mater."

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Planting the coaching seed

A couple of years ago, Braud was talking with Habetz while working with ESPN.

"I know your TV thing is working out great, but would you ever think about getting into coaching?" Habetz asked.

"Aly, the only job that I would consider getting into coaching for is your job, and you have it," Braud replied.

When Habetz retired, it happened.

Being back, Braud said, is surreal. She is constantly immersed with memories from her playing days, but now she is getting to experience it from a different perspective.

"For me, it's really cool to kind of bridge my career from the beginning of going through that as a player and now experiencing it on the other side and just being a part of helping other girls accomplish something like I did when I played," Braud said.

As a coach, Braud offers the perspective of having once been a player on the team herself. She also brings the competitiveness she had as a player.

"She adds a dimension that's really cool," Murphy said. "Her competitiveness is what really drove her as a player, but she couldn't see it outwardly. ... She is bringing that competitiveness back, which we really, really needed. ... It's been a very, very smooth transition, and we are glad to have her back."

Braud is married to her high school sweetheart, who works as a financial advisor. Daughter Dylan is 2 1/2 years old. Dylan, who Murphy said runs the team's clubhouse, joins her mom at the field everyday and loves the "girls" on the team, as she calls them.

"I love going to work every day," Braud said. "I think that I get so much excitement being around young people. ... Getting to know them has probably been the most fun thing, and especially how they treat Dylan, my daughter."

Anna Snyder covers high school sports and University of Alabama softball and football recruiting for The Tuscaloosa News. Reach her at asnyder@gannett.com. Follow her on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, @annaesnyder2

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama softball: Kayla Braud's journey back to the Crimson Tide