2023
September 11 – Blake Pennock
New Gulfport football head coach Blake Pennock, previously head coach at Ocean Springs and Pass Christian, led the Greyhounds to a 32-5 record in three seasons, back to back region championships, and a South State title game appearance. In his one season with the Pirates, they finished 8-4 – their first winning season in 18 years and their first-ever playoff victory.
A graduate of The University of Southern Mississippi, Coach Pennock also holds a master’s degree from Arkansas State University. He has spent the majority of his coaching career at high-level college and high school programs including Oak Grove, Southern Miss, Madison Central, and Clinton. Those stops include four State Semi-Final appearances, two State Championship appearances, a 6A Championship, and a C-USA Championship. He and his wife Brooke have three children: Bray, Avery, and Carter Ann.
September 18 – Hunter Reed
Hunter Reed enters his seventh season with the Biloxi Shuckers in 2023 and sixth as the team’s General Manager. Prior to joining the Shuckers, he worked 12 seasons for the Appalachian League’s Greeneville Astros and ten as the Assistant General Manager. Previously, Hunter served as the Director of Marketing and Media Relations for the Astros during 2006 and worked as an operations assistant during the 2005 season. Hunter’s experience also included the classroom, serving as adjunct faculty at East Tennessee State University, teaching sports marketing and public relations courses.
Hunter received his B.S. (2001) and M.A. (2005) in Sport Management from East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN. He was active in the community and served as the President of the Kiwanis Club of Greeneville and is a member of the club here in Biloxi. He is also part of the Gulf Coast Business Council and Emerging Executive Initiative. Hunter and his wife Sabrina are both natives of east Tennessee and proud parents to their daughter, Delaney. The Reed family lives in Ocean Springs.
September 25 – John Fourcade
John Fourcade, a New Orleans-area high school star, played college football at Ole Miss. After breaking Archie Manning’s school record with 6,713 total yards, Fourcade played in the Canadian Football League, United States Football League and Arena Football League and had tryouts with the Saints and New York Giants. He earned a roster spot with the Saints in 1987, leading the team to a 2-1 record during an NFL players’ strike.
He continued with the team in 1988 and 1989, and finally got the opportunity to run a team with experienced players for the final three games of the ’89 season when coach Jim Mora benched starting QB Bobby Hebert. Fourcade engineered three stunning wins and won the starting job in 1990, but was later waived after throwing for 2,312 yards and 14 touchdowns and compiling a 7-4 record in 11 starts. He then returned to arena football, playing and coaching for various teams including the Biloxi-based Mississippi Fire Dogs.
Oct. 2 – Garrett Hartley
October 9 – Keith Gill
Keith Gill, the Sun Belt Conference’s sixth commissioner, has directed the Sun Belt through an historic period in college athletics that saw it become a 14-member football conference across 10 contiguous states. James Madison, Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss all became full members on July 1, 2022. In addition, Gill has facilitated the return of men’s soccer and the launch of beach volleyball as conference sports during his tenure.
The Sun Belt has enjoyed broad-based success during Gill’s tenure, having been a multi-bid league in baseball, softball, men’s soccer and men’s golf. The conference has boasted multiple 10-win teams for five-straight seasons and has had a team listed in the final CFP rankings for four-straight years. The Sun Belt is showcased through a media rights partnership with ESPN that runs through the 2030-31 academic year. For the 12th consecutive year in 2023, every Sun Belt home football game will appear on an ESPN platform.
Gill, the first black commissioner in FBS history, recently concluded his second year of a five-year term on the NCAA Men’s Basketball Committee that runs through the 2025-26 campaign. Gill also sits on the NCAA Division I Nominating Committee and the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel (PROP).
A 25-year veteran of intercollegiate athletics, Gill previously served as Executive Associate Commissioner at the Atlantic 10 Conference (2017-19) and the Director of Athletics at Richmond (2013-17) and American (2007-12). He also worked in the athletics departments at Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, along with two stints in the membership services department at the NCAA national office, where he began his career as a postgraduate intern.
Gill graduated from Duke University as a four-year football student-athlete in 1994 and earned his master’s degree from Oklahoma in 2006.
October 16 – Ben Mintz of Barstool Sports
October 23 – Bus Cook
October 30 – Brad Peterson
Brad Peterson, one of the most successful and respected high school coaches and college football staffers in the state of Mississippi, is Mississippi State’s Associate AD for Football Administration.
No stranger to Mississippi State, Peterson returned for his second stint in Starkville after previously serving as the Bulldogs’ Director of High School Relations from 2016-20. In his new role, he oversees the football program’s day-to-day operations and serves as a liaison to the athletic department.
A native of Louisville, Mississippi, Peterson earned his undergraduate degree in physical education from Mississippi State in 1996 and later received a master’s degree in sports administration in 2000.
In 2016, Peterson joined State’s staff after compiling a 148-70-1 record in 17 years as a high school coach. A two-time Mississippi Association of Coaches Class 3A Coach of the Year and the 2012 Class 6A Coach of the Year, Peterson drastically improved each program he oversaw.
Peterson spent 2015 as the head football coach and athletic director at Madison Central, guiding the Jaguars to an appearance in the MHSAA Class 6A semifinals and increasing attendance. A year prior to his arrival, Madison Central failed to make the playoffs.
From 2010-14, Peterson was instrumental in establishing Brandon High School as one of the state’s premier programs. He compiled a 50-18 record, including three straight 10-win seasons from 2012-14. Brandon had its best season ever under Peterson’s leadership, reaching the Class 6A state championship game in 2012 and posting a 12-3 record. Peterson also served as the school’s athletic director during his tenure.
Peterson took over at Louisville High School in 2005 as athletic director and head coach. He revamped the program and led the Wildcats to back-to-back state championships in 2007 and 2008. During his tenure from 2005-09, he was twice named Class 3A Coach of the Year.
Prior to his stint at Louisville, Peterson served as the athletic director and head football coach at Forest High School from 2003-04. He inherited a program that was 6-16 in the two previous seasons, and in his two years, the Bearcats combined for a 21-4-1 record, including five straight weeks ranked No. 1 in the Class 3A polls in 2004.
Peterson got his head coaching start at Newton High School. He was named the school’s athletic director and head football coach in 2003. He made an immediate impact, improving facilities and establishing golf and softball teams. On the gridiron, Newton claimed region championships in his final two seasons of 2002 and 2003.
Peterson has held many distinguished roles in his career, serving as football chairman of the Mississippi Association of Coaches from 2010-13 and twice coaching in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game. In 2004, he represented the state at the NFL’s Youth Football Summit.
Peterson has three children and is married to Lindley Peterson.
November 6 – Mike Perrin
A lifetime Longhorn and veteran trial attorney, Mike Perrin is of counsel at Winstead PC in Houston where he works closely with the firm’s practice and industry groups as a senior advisor. Previously, he returned to The University of Texas at Austin to assume leadership duties as the Longhorns men’s athletics director, serving in that role from 2015-17. Perrin gained prominence as a partner in several Houston law firms before landing at Winstead.
In addition to earning his J.D. from Texas Law, Perrin received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of Natural Sciences in 1969. A three-year football letterman, Perrin was a starting linebacker on the 1968 Texas team that began the 30-game winning streak that still stands as the longest in UT school history and one of the longest in the modern era of the NCAA.
2022
June 20 – Willie Fritz
Willie Fritz enters his seventh season as the head coach for Tulane with high expectations following the 2021 season.
Fritz continued his model of success in 2020, as he guided the Green Wave to a third straight bowl appearance for the first time in program history. The Green Wave’s appearance in the 2020 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl marked the 14th bowl appearance in the 127-year history of the program. Three of those bowl appearances have occurred under Fritz’s watch – the most by any Tulane football head coach.
Fritz also has helped Tulane re-establish its presence on the professional circuit, as 19 of his former Green Wave players have seen action in the National Football League since he stepped foot on campus in 2016. Eight of his former Tulane pupils have been selected in the NFL Draft.
Fritz began his head coaching career at Blinn College where he led the team to two national junior college championships at 1994 and 1996. (He was also inducted into the NJCAA Hall of Fame.)
After Blinn College, Fritz was hired as the head coach at the University of Central Missouri from 1997 – 2009. He led the Mules to their first post-season berth in 32 years when they defeated Minnesota-Duluth in the 2001 Mineral Water Bowl. The following year, they earned their first NCAA Division II playoff berth after winning the MIAA championship.
In 2010, Fritz was hired as the head coach at Sam Houston State, where he led the Bearkats to two SLC (Southland Conference) championships in 2011 and 2012 as well as two NCAA Division I Football Championship games (FCS), only to fall to North Dakota State in both matches.
Following his time at Sam Houston State, Fritz became the head coach at Georgia Southern from 2014 – 2015, where he led the Eagles to a 9-3 season his first year. Fritz’s team went 8-0 in the Sun Belt Conference and won the conference championship outright – the first team to ever go unbeaten in conference play in their first FBS season. In his second season, he led the Eagles to an 8-4 record and the school’s first bowl bid, defeating Bowling Green in the GoDaddy Bowl. In 2016, Fritz was hired as the 39th head football coach at Tulane University.
September 12 – Jack Wright
Jack Wright, whose teams have won two NJCAA championships, heads into his next season at Gulf Coast having won outright or shared the last three MACCC South titles. His 31-5 record gives him the highest winning percentage (.861) for coaches with more than two seasons in school history. The 2021 team was part of a three-way tie for the South championship, missing out on the postseason by tiebreaker.
Wright brought Gulf Coast its fifth national championship in just his second season, leading the Bulldogs to the 2019 title with a perfect 12-0 season. Wright won the NJCAA Coach of the Year in 2019, as well as the Region 23 and MACJC South versions of the award. Gulf Coast had 11 players make the All-MACJC South team, three make All-Region 23, and two named All-Americans.
Wright was named NJCAA and Region 23 Coach of the Year following his Northwest championship season, after which he left to become offensive line coach at Southern Miss. Wright previously coached at Millsaps College from 2005-07, where he was offensive line coach, run-game coordinator and strength coach. He also coached high school football at Grenada, North Delta Academy and Meridian, where his teams had four 1,000-yard rushers in three seasons while improving from 3-8 to 11-2.
Wright has a bachelor’s degree in management information systems and a master’s in business administration. He earned both while playing as a center and deep snapper at Arkansas State University.
September 19 – Charlie Winfield
Charlie Winfield is an attorney who frequently serves as outside counsel to Mississippi State University and its employees in state and federal court lawsuits. In his spare time, Charlie serves as a broadcaster, including the MSU pregame and postgame football radio broadcasts and the SEC Network+ broadcasts of MSU baseball and basketball.
Since 2004, Charlie has served as a managing member of a law firm in his hometown of Starkville, where his practice has focused on civil litigation. Charlie also serves as general counsel to The Bulldog Club, Inc., a non-profit entity that provides support to MSU’s athletic teams. Charlie is a 1994 graduate of Mississippi State University and a 1997 graduate of the University of Notre Dame Law School.
September 26 – Rich Mauti
Rich Mauti played eight years in the NFL, seven with the New Orleans Saints and one with the Washington Redskins. Upon graduating with a BS from Penn State in 1977, he signed as a free agent with the Saints, where he was a special teams All-Pro, Saints MVP, and finalist for the NFL “Whizzer White” Award (now known as the Walter Payton Award).
Mauti works with Mauti Group at GreenStar Realty, a commercial and residential real estate company in Mandeville. He is also president of Rich Mauti Enterprises, Inc., which provides corporate training and consulting services including public relations, presentations and motivational speaking for numerous companies. For many years he has been a guest lecturer on leadership at Loyola University.
Mauti serves as the chairman and founder of The Rich Mauti Cancer Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit volunteer organization established to raise money and awareness to go towards cancer screenings, education for early detection and individual needs. To date, the fund has raised over $4 million dollars, primarily through memorials, donations and an annual tennis tournament. Rich is also vice president of Cancer Advocacy Group of Louisiana, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit dedicated to affecting state health insurance laws in favor of Louisiana cancer patients. In just three years, CAGLA has helped enact eight bills into law.
Rich is married to Nancy, his high school sweetheart, and together they have 3 children, Patrick, Michael, and Rachel.
October 3 – Steve Robertson
Steve Robertson has covered Mississippi State sports and college football recruiting in the state of Mississippi for over 20 years. Alpha Dawgs is Robertson’s third book.
His bestselling book Flim Flam led to the end of the Hugh Freeze era at Ole Miss. Robertson’s second book and long-running bestseller, Stark Villains, details the in-state rivalry between Mississippi State and Ole Miss from a Bulldog perspective.
He has worked for Genespage.com since 2001 and has developed a considerable following among Bulldog fans. The Boneyard, Robertson’s podcast, is available where quality podcasts are found.
Steve and his wife Dana have four children and live in Starkville, Mississippi.
October 10 – Nicky Savoie
Nicky Savoie played for the LSU Tigers football team, and later played in the NFL after his selection by the New Orleans Saints in the 1997 draft. He also played in the Regional Football League and Spring Football League. The Louisiana native now runs a charter fishing business as a highly successful redfish angler.
October 17 – Marchant Kenney
Marchant Kenney played for the University of Southern Mississippi between 1994 and 1997 and was named first-team within Conference USA in 1996 and 1997. He is considered by many to be one of the best linebackers that USM football has ever had, and was inducted into the USM M-Club Hall of Fame in 2009.
After graduation, he trained with the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, then joined the Regional Football League in Mississippi and later NFL Europe. Following his football career, Kenney settled in his home state of Louisiana, where he works in sales and lives with his wife and children.
October 24 – Frank Allocco
Frank Allocco was born and raised in New Providence, New Jersey, where he earned high school All-State honors in football, basketball and baseball and the Scholar Athlete award for the class of 1971.
Upon graduation from high school, he attended the University of Notre Dame where he played in two Orange Bowls, the Sugar Bowl, and was part of the 1973 national championship football team. He was set to be the starting quarterback in his senior year until a separated shoulder curtailed his playing time.
Frank moved to California in 1976 and worked in the educational publishing industry. In 1981, he founded the popular Excel in Basketball summer camp (www.excelinbasketball.com) that serves as a teaching camp for basketball skills and provides a motivational base for the thousands of youngsters in California and in New Jersey who attend his camp each year. He has been a featured motivational speaker and trainer at corporate sales meetings, business groups and organizations, basketball clinics and camps, including the Nike All Asia Basketball Clinics in Beijing and Shanghai, and the Belgium Basketball Association National Clinic.
Mr. Allocco later became the Head Basketball Coach at Northgate High School and De La Salle High School in California. He is the only coach in California state history to win a state championship at 2
different schools and is second all-time in winning percentage. His teams won at least 20 games every season for 24 consecutive seasons.
He is currently the Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Relations at the University of San Francisco, where he works with the community on a number of initiatives including speaking, public service and support for the USF and San Francisco Communities.
November 1 (Tuesday) – Larry Fedora
Larry Fedora comes to head-coaching the New Orleans Breakers of the USFL with 32 years of experience as a college coach and 11 years as a head coach. He’s won more than 80 games, including 45 at North Carolina (2012-18). After serving as an analyst at Texas in 2019, Fedora spent the last two seasons (2020-21) as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Baylor University.
Working his way up the coaching ladder to his first head-coaching job at USM, he later moved to North Carolina, where he compiled a 34-19 overall record, including a 12-2 mark in 2012, advancing to four consecutive bowl games. UNC had its best season in nearly two decades in 2015, posting an 11-1 regular-season mark, making the school’s first appearance the ACC Championship Game. Fedora was named the 2015 Fellowship of Christian Athletes Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Bear Bryant National Coach of the Year Award. Fedora was a wide receiver at Austin College (1981-84), winning an NAIA championship in 1981 and earning academic All-America honors in 1983. Born in College Station, Texas, Fedora, and his wife Christi, have a son and three daughters.
2021
July 26 – Will Hall
Will Hall is the new head football coach at USM after serving the last two years as offensive coordinator at Tulane. There, he helped the Green Wave average 396.4 yards per game last season and his offense scored 30-or-more points in eight of its final nine regular-season games.
As a player, Hall was a two-time Junior College All-American quarterback at Northwest Mississippi Community College before playing his two final seasons at North Alabama, where he earned the Harlon Hill Trophy in 2003 for top player in Division II.
His assistant coaching stops included Presbyterian (2004/quarterbacks), Henderson State (2005/quarterbacks), Southwest Baptist (2006/offensive coordinator), Arkansas-Monticello (2007/offensive coordinator), West Alabama (2008-10/offensive coordinator), Louisiana-Lafayette (2017/offensive coordinator and quarterbacks) and Memphis (2018/associate head coach and tight ends).
As a collegiate head coach at Gulf South Conference (GSC) schools West Alabama and West Georgia, Hall produced a combined record of 56-21. He oversaw three GSC championship squads as well as earning two GSC coach of the year accolades. His teams played in four Division II playoffs and his UWG squads of 2014 and 2015 reached the semifinals.
Hall is a native of Amory, Mississippi. He is a graduate of Northwest Mississippi Community College and a 2003 graduate of the University of North Alabama. He and wife, Rebecca, have two sons: Tripp and Pete.
September 13 – David Spear
David Spear has been in the pyrotechnics and special effects business since 1985. Over his career, he has designed and produced pyrotechnics and special effects for 11 Super Bowls, 3 Republican National Conventions, 2 World Cup Soccer Opening Ceremonies, a Major League Baseball All-Star Game, and hundreds of NFL, NBA, NCAA, and municipal clients.
He and his wife Suzanne have been married for 42 years, live in Mandeville, and have two sons. David is now easing into semi-retirement, and turning over the reins of AFX Pro to younger son Brandon Spear.
September 20 – Richie Brown
Richie Brown is a Coast native and Mississippi State football standout, who collected the most tackles of any player during Coach Dan Mullen’s tenure. He finished in the top five in the SEC in tackles for two straight seasons and was also a two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Week. Off the field, he accomplished a 3.52 GPA in industrial technology and was a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
After college, he played for the Buccaneers, Panthers, and Falcons. He currently operates EDGE Performance Training in his hometown of Long Beach, and is married to former State softball athlete Erin Nesbit, with two daughters.
September 27 – Matt Dorsett
Matthew Dorsett is a former NFL cornerback and a member of the Super Bowl XXXI-winning Green Bay Packers team. Dorsett signed with Green Bay as a free agent, one of only two in team history to make the final roster as a free agent. He currently serves as a board member for the NFL Players Association among other leadership roles in his home state of Louisiana.
October 4 – Art Still
Art Still lettered four years at the University of Kentucky as a defensive end and was a consensus first-team All-American in 1977 after he broke the UK single-season record with 22 tackles behind the line. He was also named two-time, first-team All-SEC in 1976 and 1977. Still was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015. The legendary defensive end finished his career with 327 tackles and was named to the Lakeland (Fla.) Ledger 25-year All-SEC team (1961-1975).
A first-round draft choice by Kansas City in 1978, Still played 12 seasons in the NFL with Kansas City and Buffalo. He earned four-time Pro Bowl honors, made the NFL All-Rookie Team in 1978, and is in the Chiefs’ Hall of Fame. He remains third on Kansas City’s all-time sacks list with 48.5.
October 18 – Bo Wallace
Bo Wallace set records as Ole Miss quarterback from 2012-2014. He started every game of his career there and was the first Ole Miss QB to lead the school to three straight bowl games. Additionally, Wallace helped lead Ole Miss to its most regular season wins since 2003, highest ranking since 1964, and first ever win over the nation’s No. 1 team, a thrilling 23-17 victory over Alabama in 2014.
Wallace earned the Conerly Trophy, given annually to Mississippi’s top college football player, and earned semifinalist status for the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards as well. After his college career, he participated in the Kansas City Chiefs’ rookie minicamp but eventually opted to begin his coaching career. He currently serves as QB coach and co-offensive coordinator for the Pearl River Community College Wildcats.
October 25 – Wayne Madkin
Wayne Madkin made a name for himself as Mississippi State’s all-time winningest quarterback. From 1998 to 2001, he threw for over 6,000 yards and scored 41 touchdowns as a passer and rusher. With berths in the Southeastern Conference’s Championship game, the Cotton Bowl, the Peach Bowl and the Independence Bowl, Madkin is one of the most prolific quarterbacks in Mississippi State football history. He was named to the school’s All-Century Team in 2000 and Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.
Madkin graduated in 2001 with a degree in Agricultural Economics and received his MBA at the University of North Alabama.
November 1 – Jeff Duncan
Jeff Duncan is a columnist and reporter at NOLA.com and The Times-Picayune, where he editorializes on the Saints and other local sports teams, including the Pelicans, LSU, Tulane and UNO. He has covered the New Orleans Saints since 2000, longer than any journalist in the nation, and is the author of three books on the team — Tales from the Saints Sideline, From Bags to Riches and Payton and Brees: The Men Who Built the Greatest Offense in NFL History. He is one of forty-eight members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee.
He was a member of the Times-Picayune team that won two Pulitzer Prizes for the paper’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina, and he has been honored four times as the Columnist of the Year by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. Previously, he worked at The Athletic New Orleans, USA Today, The St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, The Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal, Nashville Weekly and The Monroe (La.) News-Star.
2019
Sept. 16 – Kristian Garic
Kristian Garic co-hosts a popular sports hybrid show – “Double Coverage – Sports & MORE” with T-Bob Hebert on legendary New Orleans media station WWL.
After high school, where Kristian played baseball in one of the most successful programs in Kentucky prep history, Garic entered the Marine Corps, serving as an infantryman with the 8th Marine Regiment. The Marine Corps mascot (Chesty the bulldog) tattooed on his right arm serves as a constant reminder of his four years as a “Devil Dog.” While in the Marines, Kristian played football and softball for Marine Corps teams.
Upon receiving an honorable discharge from active duty, he chose to renew his passion for sports. He has been with WWL’s parent company since 2004. Garic and his family live in the greater New Orleans area.
Sept. 23 – John Cox
For over 35 years, John Cox has been the voice of the USM Golden Eagle football program. Win or lose, his voice is synonymous to Golden Eagle football.
The Middletown, Ohio native came to Southern Miss for school and received his bachelor’s degree in radio, television and film in 1978. Just four years later, Cox became the director of sports broadcasting for the university and first broadcasted the same famous voice he uses to this day.
Cox, who broadcasts the men’s football, basketball, and baseball games, is a six-time Mississippi Sportscaster of the Year and host of the Southern Miss Sports Today show.
Sept. 30 – Anthony Dixon
Anthony “Boobie” Dixon was born in Jackson, Mississippi, where he attended Terry High School. As a senior, he was named to the pre-season “Dandy Dozen” and was part of the “10 Most Wanted” list for the state’s top 10 college football prospects. His senior year he racked up 304 carries for 2,683 yards (8.8 yards/carry) and 31 touchdowns, leading the Terry Bulldogs to an 11-2 season. He was named the Jackson metro-area player of the year by the Clarion-Ledger.
After high school, Dixon chose to further his football career at MSU over Alabama, LSU and Southern Miss. As a freshman, he played in all 12 games and set MSU’s true freshman records for rushing attempts, yards gained rushing and touchdowns rushing (9). His sophomore year, he played in all 13 games, starting 12. He was the first sophomore Bulldog to surpass 1,000 rushing yards in a single season and set the record for most attempts in a single season. He scored the game-winning touching in the 2007 Liberty Bowl.
He started all 12 games his junior year, compiling a career best 4.4 yards per carry. His senior year, he compiled 1,391 rushing yards, setting the single-season MSU rushing record and became the seventh player in SEC history to lead his team in rushing four times. He was also named First-team All-SEC and won the Cellular South Conerly Trophy, named for the best college football player in the state of Mississippi. He finished his career at MSU with 3,994 rushing yards and 42 touchdowns.
Anthony was then drafted with the 173rd pick in the 6th round by the San Francisco 49ers, where he played from 2010 – 2013. While with the 49ers, he had 458 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns and played in every game, including Super Bowl XLVII against the Baltimore Ravens. In 2014, Dixon began a three-year stint with the Buffalo Bills, starting out with 105 rushing attempts, 432 rushing yards, 4.1 yards per rush and 2 touchdowns.
October 7 – Danny Abramowicz
In the 1967 NFL draft, Danny Abramowicz was chosen in the 17th and last round by the New Orleans Saints. His subsequent NFL career spanned eight spectacular seasons, including being named an All-Pro wide receiver in 1969 and becoming the league’s top receiver. Recently, Danny was voted part of the Saints’ All-50th Team as part of the franchise’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
Currently, Danny is a consultant for Joe Canizaro’s Donum Dei Foundation and founder of Crossing the Goal Ministries. He has been involved in the evangelization of Catholic men for over 35 years, and serves on the Board of Directors of Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN). He has authored two books: “Spiritual Workout of a Former Saint” and his most recent, “Crossing the Goal: A Saint Goes Marching On.” Danny has been married to his wife Claudia for 52 years, with three children and four grandsons.
October 14 – Rob Portwood
For more than two decades, Gulfport native Rob Portwood led multiple teams in the world of sports betting, including oversight of betting operations for Caesars Entertainment casinos in Las Vegas. Now back on his native Mississippi coast, he manages sports betting at The Book for Harrah’s Gulf Coast.
Collectively, Rob and his staff of trained experts boast more than 50 years of combined sports betting experience and knowledge. He’ll share how the Mississippi gaming industry has exploded with the advent of legalized betting.
October 21 – Steve Campbell
With a résumé that includes three national championships as both a student-athlete and coach and a career .750 winning percentage, Steve Campbell is head football coach at the University of South Alabama.
Campbell comes to South after a four-year stint at Central Arkansas, where he guided the Bears to 33-15 mark including a record of 24-3 in the Southland Conference the last three seasons, during which time the Bears finished no lower than second in the league standings. Prior to his stint at UCA, Campbell led Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College to a record of 87-22 and the 2007 National Junior College Athletic Association national championship in 10 seasons at the helm of the program. He was twice named the national Coach of the Year, earning those honors three times at both the conference and region levels while 28 of his student-athletes received All-America accolades and 17 were selected Academic All-Americans.
Campbell was also the head coach at Delta State for three seasons from 1999-01, posting a 27-8 record that included a 14-1 mark and the NCAA Division II national championship in 2000 when he was selected the Chevrolet National Coach of the Year. In 19 seasons as a head coach, Campbell — who was inducted into the NJCAA Hall of Fame in 2014, and also served as the President of the NJCAA Coaches Association in 2012 — has never guided a team that finished with a losing record while compiling a 159-53 overall mark.
A native of Cantonment, Fla., Campbell received his undergraduate degree in economics from Troy in 1988, and a master’s degree in business administration from Auburn in 1990. He and his wife, Shellie, have three children.
Oct. 28 – Jeremy McLain
Jeremy McClain returns to USM after serving as the Director of Athletics at Troy University since August of 2015. Under McClain, the Troy football program won 31 games, tied for the most wins over the last three seasons by Group of Five conference schools with Boise State and UCF. The Trojans won three straight bowl games and a Sun Belt Conference title, while earning a national ranking and recording a historic victory at LSU. In addition, the football program enjoyed record attendance the last three seasons.
He served as the Deputy Director of Athletics at Southern Miss for three years prior to his departure to Troy. He also served as Director of Athletics at Delta State University, where he’d earned his undergraduate and MBA degrees.
Nov. 4 – Jack Wright
Jack Wright has led the 2019 Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Bulldogs through a perfect regular season of 9-0. Two years ago, Wright came to Gulf Coast with impressive credentials. Wright took over a Northwest Mississippi team that was coming off a 1-8 season and mired in probation and in two years turned it into a national champion.
The Batesville native arrived at Northwest in 2013 and his 2014 team went 4-6 and made the MACJC playoffs his first season, then lost only one game in 2015 on the way to winning the NJCAA championship with a 66-13 win over Rochester in the Mississippi Bowl. He’ll be looking to become the first coach in NJCAA history to win titles at two different schools.
Wright was named NJCAA and Region 23 Coach of the Year following his Northwest championship season, after which he left to become offensive line coach at Southern Miss. Gardner Minshew was his quarterback on the national championship team, and he went on to star at East Carolina before transferring to Washington State and finishing fifth in the 2018 Heisman Trophy voting.
Wright previously coached at Millsaps College from 2005-07, where he was offensive line coach, run-game coordinator and strength coach. The Majors had won only two games in 2005 and went on to win back-to-back conference championships in his last two seasons there. He also coached high school football at Grenada, North Delta Academy and Meridian, where his teams had four 1,000-yard rushers in three seasons while improving from 3-8 to 11-2.
Wright has a bachelor’s degree in management information systems and a master’s in business administration. He earned both while playing as a center and deep snapper at Arkansas State University.
2018
September 10 – Willie Roaf
In all, tackle Willie Roaf played in 189 career NFL games over 13 seasons and was named first-team All-NFL seven times (1994-96, 2000, 2003-05), All-NFC six times, and All-AFC three times, plus was voted to 11 Pro Bowls.
The New Orleans Saints drafted Roaf out of Louisiana Tech in the first round of the 1993 draft as eighth player overall. He was the first offensive lineman selected in that year’s draft.
Roaf started all 16 games at right tackle and did not miss an offensive snap during his first season and earned All-Rookie honors. The following year he was switched to left tackle and performed at a level that earned him more national accolades. He played nine seasons in New Orleans where he started 131 regular season games plus the franchise’s first-ever postseason win, a 31-28 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams in the 2000 NFC Wild Card game.
After a knee injury and trade to Kansas City, he rebounded to earn All-Pro honors in three of the four seasons he played with the Chiefs. He was a key part of Kansas City’s offensive line that helped the Chiefs lead the NFL in points scored in 2002 and 2003. The club also led the AFC in total yards in 2003 and the NFL in 2004 and 2005. The 6’5”, 300-pound Roaf retired after the 2005 season.
September 17 – Rick Cleveland
Rick Cleveland was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in August 2017, joining many of the sports figures he has written about in 50-plus years covering Mississippi sports. He has been honored as Mississippi Sportswriter of the Year a record 10 times by the National Sports Media Foundation. Rick was executive director and historian of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and sports editor of The Clarion-Ledger before joining Mississippi Today.
The Hattiesburg native earned degrees in journalism and history from USM, with a minor in English literature, while he worked part-time on the sports desk at the Hattiesburg American. In 2009 Cleveland published Boo: A Life In Baseball, Well-Lived. He has also written Mississippi’s Greatest Athletes, a coffee-table book that records the accomplishments of many famous Mississippi athletes.
September 24 – Damon West
Sentenced to 65 years in a Texas prison, Damon West once had it all. He came from a great family, in a home full of God, love, support, and opportunities to reach any dream. A natural born leader, with good looks and charm, and a three-year starting quarterback at the University of North Texas, he appeared to be the all-American kid living out his dreams.
Underneath this facade, however, was an addict in the early stages of his disease. Through a spiral that eventually led to the Dallas County Jail, West reconnected with his family and faith as he began his prison sentence. He promised his parents to come home as “someone they’d recognize,” and began the long journey through prison life.
Clinging close to God, his family’s unwavering support, a 12 step recovery program, and all the tools available to him, Damon emerged from prison a better man spiritually, emotionally and physically. After seven years, he walked out of prison on 58 years of parole.
Today, Damon works for the Provost Umphrey Law Firm in Beaumont, TX. When not out speaking to students and athletes about the dangers of drugs and the consequences of bad decisions, he spends his free time volunteering, doing service work, attending 12 Step Recovery groups, exercising, and enjoying his new life with his family and faith community at St. Elizabeth’s Church. His message is both a cautionary tale and one of hope and perseverance in the face of the most extreme odds.
October 1 – Reggie Collier
Reggie Collier was the first quarterback in NCAA Division I history to rush for 1,000 yards and pass for 1,000 yards in the same season, a feat he accomplished in 1981 with the University of Southern Mississippi.
The Coast native led USM to a number of outstanding victories over nationally-recognized programs such as the 58-14 victory over Florida State, a 38-29 win at Alabama in 1982, as well as six victories over intra-state rivals Mississippi State and Ole Miss. Over his four years, the Golden Eagles amassed four winning seasons and tallied a 31-13-2 mark. He also led the Golden Eagles to a pair of bowl games, including a 16-14 victory over McNeese State in the 1980 Independence Bowl. For his play in that bowl game, Collier recently was inducted into the Independence Bowl Hall of Honor.
As a junior, Collier finished ninth in the Heisman balloting. The following year, he was selected to participate in the Blue-Gray Classic in 1982 and the Senior Bowl in 1983. In 2000, he was selected, along with Brett Favre, to the Southern Miss Team of the Century.
Collier was drafted by the Birmingham Stallions of the USFL in the first round in 1983 (third player overall selected) and also played with the Washington Federals and the Orlando Renegades. He also spent several seasons in the NFL as a member of the Dallas Cowboys, who drafted him in the sixth round in 1983, and Pittsburgh Steelers.
October 8 – Bye Week, Saints on Monday Night Football
October 15 – David Greene
David Greene was the most successful quarterback in NCAA history, with 42 wins in four years at the University of Georgia. Greene’s 11,528 passing yards were also a school record, and in all four of Greene’s seasons the Bulldogs finished the year in the top 10.
In his redshirt freshman season, Greene first endeared himself to the Bulldog Nation when he led a last-second comeback win against a highly ranked Tennessee team in Knoxville, during what is known as the “Hobnail Boot’’ game. The Bulldogs finished 8-4 and played in the Music City Bowl, and Greene was named SEC Offensive Rookie of the Year, throwing for 2,789 yards and 17 touchdowns.
When Greene was a sophomore, he led the Bulldogs a SEC title, whipping Arkansas in the conference championship game and then beating Florida State in the Sugar Bowl. Greene won conference offensive player-of-the-year honors, throwing for 2,924 yards and 22 touchdowns. As a junior, Greene completed 60.3 percent of his passes and 3,307 yards and the Bulldogs finished 11-3 and went to the Capital One Bowl. As a senior, Greene threw 20 touchdowns and also 214 consecutive passes that season without an interception, then an NCAA record.
As a member of the NFL from 2005-2008, Greene played for the Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs and Indianapolis Colts.
October 22 – Larry Holder
Larry Holder is a columnist for The Athletic New Orleans, focusing on the Saints and LSU. He’s covered the Saints since 2006 and moved to an NFL columnist role in 2013. He previously worked for the New Orleans
Times-Picayune, CBSSports.com, and the Sun Herald.
Larry likes to say he’s “as local as it gets” in southeastern Louisiana sports: he grew up in River Ridge, graduated from Rummel High and LSU, and still lives in the New Orleans area.
October 29 – Tommy Hodson (Father/Son Night)
Former LSU quarterback Tommy Hodson is best known for the 1988 game against Auburn, when he threw the winning touchdown pass to Eddie Fuller, putting LSU ahead 7-6. The crowd’s reaction was so wild that it registered on the LSU Geology Department’s seismograph across campus.
Hodson was born in Raceland, Louisiana, and prepped at Central Lafourche High School, where he passed for 4,361 yards and 36 touchdowns and also averaged 27.4 points per game in basketball.
He had an illustrious career at LSU, where he set a state record with 9,115 yards passing from 1986-89. LSU’s teams were 31-14-1 with Hodson at the helm. He completed 674 of 1,163 tries and made 69 touchdowns.
Following LSU, he played for the New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins, Dallas Cowboys, and New Orleans Saints. He now lives in Baton Rouge.
October 29 is also Gulfport Gridiron’s Father/Son Night.
November 5 – Jackie Sherrill
Jackie Sherrill was a college football coach for more than three decades, including 20 seasons as the head coach at Texas A&M and Mississippi State. After playing for legendary coach Paul “Bear” Bryant at Alabama in the 1960s, Sherrill worked as an assistant at Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa State and Pittsburgh before breaking through as a head coach at Washington State in 1976.
Sherrill took over the A&M program beginning in 1982 and stayed in College Station for seven seasons. His Aggies peaked from 1985-1987, winning three straight Southwest Conference titles with a combined record of 20-3 against conference opponents in that stretch. Those teams went 10-2, 9-3 and 10-2, reaching three straight Cotton Bowls and winning two of them. Sherrill left A&M following the 1988 season with a 52-28-1 combined record. He was three-time SWC Coach of the Year from 1985-87.
He returned to coaching in 1991 as the head coach at Mississippi State. Sherrill led the Bulldogs for 13 seasons, leading them to seven winning seasons, six bowl games and the 1998 SEC West title. Sherrill’s MSU teams finished ranked in the final Associated Press poll four times.
November 12 – Mark Romig
A native of New Orleans, Mark Romig is the President and CEO of the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, the city’s official leisure travel promotion agency. In 2013, Mark began serving as stadium announcer for the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. His late father, Jerry served in the same role for 44 years and 446 consecutive games.
An established public relations and marketing professional, Mark is currently accredited by the Public Relations Society of America. Mark has been involved in a variety of historic and milestone events throughout his professional and volunteer career, including the development of the Hotel Inter-Continental New Orleans, the 1984 Louisiana World’s Fair, presidential nomination attempts by senators Elizabeth and Bob Dole, the 1999 reopening of Harrah’s New Orleans, the 2006 Sugar Bowl, Idea Village’s New Orleans Entrepreneur Week, and the New Orleans-based Super Bowl XLVII.
2017
September 11 – Jon Gilbert
Jon Gilbert is in his first year as the Southern Miss Director of Athletics. Under Gilbert’s previous leadership at the University of Tennessee, student-athletes averaged over a 3.0 grade point average, and all programs exceeded the NCAA Academic Progress Rate standard. He also trimmed operating expenses in multiple areas, negotiated a multi-million-dollar apparel deal for athletic programs, and planned, installed and managed the department’s cost-of-attendance program.
Prior to his experience at Tennessee, Gilbert worked for nearly 17 years at the University of Alabama, serving in multiple roles, including Associate Athletics Director from 2009 to 2011. There, the development office generated $82 million in gifts and pledges for the Crimson Tide Foundation, and Gilbert had oversight of the marketing and promotions department, as well as all facets of the ticket office and seat licensing program.
Gilbert is a graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, N.C., where he was a three-year letterman on the football team. He earned a master’s degree in Sport Administration at Eastern Kentucky University. He and his wife, Katie, have two teenage children, daughter Larsen and son Kent.
September 18 – Deuce McAllister
After a record-breaking collegiate career with Ole Miss, Mississippi native Deuce McAllister set more records as a running back with the New Orleans Saints. The first-round draft pick broke the 1,000-yard rushing mark four different times for New Orleans, and at the time, set the all-time franchise mark for career touchdowns with 55. McAllister earned a Super Bowl ring with the Saints when they won Super Bowl XLIV in 2010.
Now several years removed from his playing career, McAllister has found a new home in the radio booth as the color commentator for Saints radio broadcasts on WWL. Knowing the ins-and-outs of football as well as anyone, the two-time NFL Pro Bowler aims to relay his knowledge of the game into his programs.
September 26 – Phil Savage
Phil Savage joined the Senior Bowl as its Executive Director in May of 2012 after working in the NFL as a coach, scout and executive for 20 years. As the Director of College Scouting and later as the Director of Player Personnel with the Baltimore Ravens, Savage helped assemble a roster that included 12 Pro Bowlers – and won Super Bowl XXXV.
In his four years as General Manager of the Cleveland Browns he drafted or acquired five Pro Bowlers, including OT Joe Thomas and KR Josh Cribbs. He is a graduate of the University of the South – Sewanee and earned his Masters at the University of Alabama.
October 2 – Charlie Hussey
Charlie Hussey, a native of Oxford, is Associate Commissioner and COO for the Southeastern Conference. Since joining the SEC 17 years ago, there’s hardly an aspect of SEC business he hasn’t touched. From ticketing to championships, he has played a vital role in the evolution of the conference. Most recently, that includes overseeing the launch and growth of the SEC Network from the conference’s perspective.
Hussey grew up as an Ole Miss sports fan, and graduated from the university in 1999. While in school he worked at University Sporting Goods and held close family ties to the UM Athletic Department. As a senior he earned an internship at the SEC home office in Birmingham, which led him to his current position.
Former Commissioner Mike Slive brought Hussey onto the SEC’s TV team to learn the media side of the business in 2008, working with partners ESPN and CBS on programming. From there, Hussey gained the trust of the networks and became the SEC’s point person for the formation of the SEC Network, which enjoyed the most successful launch in cable history from its debut in 2014.
October 9 – Dr. James Andrews
Dr. James R. Andrews, orthopaedic surgeon, is one of the founding members of Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center and the American Sports Medicine Institute located at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, and the Andrews Institute located in Gulf Breeze, Florida. To date, Dr. Andrews has mentored hundreds of orthopaedic and sports medicine Fellows.
Dr. Andrews graduated from Louisiana State University in 1963, where he was Southeastern Conference indoor and outdoor pole vault champion. He is a member of several established orthopaedic boards and academies, and holds positions with prestigious medical schools across the Southeast. He also serves as a medical consultant to numerous professional sports teams and associations, including the Washington Redskins, Tampa Bay Rays, Auburn University, and the University of Alabama.
Dr. Andrews and his wife Jenelle have six children as well as six grandchildren.
October 16 – John Cohen
John Cohen serves as Mississippi State University’s director of athletics. The former MSU head baseball coach and two-time Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year spent over two decades coaching college baseball and had been the head baseball coach at MSU since 2009.
A Tuscaloosa native and MSU alumnus, Cohen was a head coach in the SEC for 12 years. At MSU, he has led the Bulldogs to a College World Series finals appearance, an SEC regular season championship and an SEC Tournament championship. Since 2009, MSU baseball has had 133 players selected to the SEC Academic Honor Roll, including three straight SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year winners from 2013-15.
As a baseball player at MSU, Cohen was a key player on the Bulldogs’ 1989 SEC championship team and 1990 College World Series team. He graduated from MSU with a degree in English in 1990 and received a master’s degree in sports management from the University of Missouri in 1994.
Cohen and his wife, Nelle, are active members of the Starkville community. The couple has two daughters, Jordan Baker and Avery Lawson.
October 23 – Tommy Bowden
Tommy Bowden comes from one of the most storied families in the history of college football. He coached Division 1 football for 32 years including stints at Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, West Virginia, Kentucky, Duke, Tulane, and Clemson. Coach Bowden holds a record as head coach for 90 wins in eleven and a half years and never had a losing season.
A three-time conference Coach of the Year, Bowden has committed his life to faith-based speaking, in addition to his SEC and ACC analyst work on Fox Sports South and Raycom. His desire is to serve churches and organizations by sharing his story and challenging men to live with commitment, accountability, responsibility, discipline and sacrifice. Coach Bowden is often the featured speaker for Fellowship of Christian Athletes fundraisers and conferences, as well.
October 30 – Brittany Wagner
Brittany Wagner is a nationally respected athletic academic counselor and life coach. She was the “mother” to the most dominant junior college football program in the United States – the East Mississippi Community College (EMCC) Lions.
With more than a decade’s worth of combined experience at the NCAA and NJCAA levels, Brittany spent eight years on the EMCC athletic administrative staff where she was responsible for monitoring the academic well-being of the school’s 200 student-athletes. EMCC’s athletic teams achieved tremendous classroom success during Wagner’s association with the college.
Ms. Wagner has recently garnered world-wide fame as the television star of the hit Netflix documentary series, “Last Chance U,” which follows the three-time NJCAA national champions during their 2015 football season. Known for giving “troublemakers” their last chance at making it to the NFL, Ms. Wagner is the vivacious, mentor and mother-figure to the these men – often times the driving factor behind their future successes.
November 6 – Tom Osborne
In his quarter-century as Nebraska head coach, Tom Osborne was a model of consistency. His teams never won fewer than nine games in a season, finished in the top 15 of the final AP poll 24 years out of 25, and were ranked in every single weekly AP poll barring one week in 1977 and two in 1981. Osborne’s teams won outright national championships in 1994 and 1995, and a share of another in 1997.
Osborne’s Huskers also won or shared 12 Big Eight Conference titles and one Big 12 Conference title. His 255–49–3 record gave him the best winning percentage (83.6%) among active NCAA Division I-A coaches at the time of his retirement. Osborne went on an NCAA record 60–3 run over his final five seasons, winning 250 games faster than any coach in Division I-A history. Osborne finished his coaching career with a bowl record of 12–13.
Osborne was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999, and in 2000, he received the Jim Thorpe Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1999, ESPN honored Osborne as the coach of the decade for the 1990s.
2016
September 12 – Kristian Garic
Kristian Garic co-hosts a popular sports hybrid show – “Double Coverage – Sports & MORE” with T-Bob Hebert on legendary New Orleans media station WWL.
After high school, where Kristian played baseball in one of the most successful programs in Kentucky prep history, Garic entered the Marine Corps, serving as an infantryman with the 8th Marine Regiment. The Marine Corps mascot (Chesty the bulldog) tattooed on his right arm serves as a constant reminder of his four years as a “Devil Dog.” While in the Marines, Kristian played football and softball for Marine Corps teams.
Upon receiving an honorable discharge from active duty, he chose to renew his passion for sports. He has been with WWL’s parent company since 2004. Garic and his family live in the greater New Orleans area.
September 19 – Marcus Dupree
Marcus Dupree lit the college football scene on fire as a freshman in the early 1980s. The Neshoba County native broke the national high school record of 86 touchdowns scored, originally set by Herschel Walker, on his way to becoming one of the most highly sought college recruits in the country.
Dupree earned second-team All-American honors at Oklahoma his freshman year, but after injuries plagued the remainder of his college career, Dupree played in the United States Football League and the NFL.
September 26 – No Meeting, Saints Home Game on Monday Night Football
October 3 – Chris Reis
Chris Reis is a loyal follower of Christ, devoted husband and father, philanthropist, Super Bowl champion, NFL player, author, inspirational speaker, and lifelong athlete. Best known for his historic, game-changing play made during Super Bowl XLIV, Reis ultimately helped lead the New Orleans Saints to victory.
Chris is a graduate of the Georgia Tech, where he was the president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes throughout his entire college experience. It was here that Chris met his wife, Michelle. It was also within these walls of fellowship that Chris’ father Mike felt his own calling to surrender his life to Christ.
Today Chris travels the country speaking to men’s groups, churches and religious organizations, rotary clubs, youth groups, touchdown clubs and corporations, inspiring others by sharing his story of living a faith-based lifestyle in an ego-centric culture. His “Live for More” motto inspires many who may find trusting God in today’s culture to be more and more daunting.
Chris lives in Lafayette, Louisiana with his wife Michelle, daughter Piper, and son Rowan.
October 10 – Bill McGillis
Bill McGillis was named the Southern Miss athletic director in 2013 and quickly articulated his vision for Golden Eagle Athletics: Winning in the Classroom, Winning on the Playing Field and Winning in the Community. Since then, McGillis’s contagious energy has helped facilitate the restoration of excellence within Southern Miss athletics, highlighted by unprecedented academic achievement and significant competitive success, including the resurgence of the storied Golden Eagles football program.
With the aim of igniting a loyal and passionate fan base, McGillis and his staff launched one of the most innovative football marketing campaigns in college athletics in 2015. As a result, football season ticket sales increased nearly 30 percent and a home game against Mississippi State drew the largest crowd in Southern Miss history. All-time high single game attendance marks have also been recorded for baseball, softball and women’s basketball while under McGillis’s leadership.
McGillis’s focus on staff development and synergy led to a well-received reorganization of the development team and operations, that stimulated growth within the Eagle Club – the fundraising arm of Southern Miss athletics – including the addition of four new members in the Circle of Champions (individual commitments of $125,000+) and the successful solicitation of other major gifts utilized to fund scholarships and special projects.
Prior to his arrival at Southern Miss, McGillis served in roles at several universities around the U.S., plus two years as the General Manager of two professional women’s basketball teams in the American Basketball League (ABL).
McGillis earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in sports administration from St. Thomas University (Fla.) in 1984 and graduated from the Sports Management Institute Program in 1996. He and his wife Margie, both natives of Seattle, have five children – sons Jordan, Taylor and Will, and daughters Marissa and Gabrielle.
October 17 – Derrick Brooks
Derrick Brooks, widely considered to be one of the best linebackers in NFL history, was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round of the 1995 NFL Draft, where he remained to play his entire fourteen-season professional career. An eleven-time Pro Bowl selection and nine-time All-Pro, Brooks was named AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2002, and earned a Super Bowl ring with the Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII. In February 2014, Derrick received one of the highest honors of his life by being named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Brooks graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business communications at Florida State University where he was a three-time first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection, two-time first-team All-American, and a member of the 1993 Seminoles National Championship team. In November 2010, Florida State retired Seminoles jersey number 10 in honor of Brooks and inducted him into their Hall of Fame. He went on to earn his Master’s in Business Communications from FSU in 1999, and his Doctorate in Humane Letters from St. Leo’s University in 2006.
Recognized as often for his hard work in the community as for his hard hits on the football field, Brooks has been the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the 2000 Walter Payton/NFL Man of the Year award, the 2003 Bart Starr Award, and the 2004 Bryon “Whizzer” White Award, and the 2008 JB Award through the NFL Players association, all of which recognize an NFL player annually for their commitment to the communities in which they live. Derrick also has received numerous community awards in Tampa for his work and dedication to the community.
November 1 – Hal Mumme
Hal Mumme serves as head football coach for the Belhaven University Blazers in Jackson. A longtime head and assistant coach at various programs in Divisions I, II, and III, Mumme’s high-octane offense has set Belhaven game records for several passing and total offenive categories. The Air Raid offense has also set season records for pass attempts, total plays, total yards and fewest punts.
Mumme began his coaching career in the NAIA at Iowa Wesleyan in 1989 and led the Tigers to the playoffs in 1991. In 1992, he moved on to NCAA Division II Valdosta State and then to Kentucky in the SEC where he coached #1 NFL draft pick Tim Couch. In 1998, the Wildcats went 7-5 and played in the Outback Bowl, making Mumme the first Kentucky coach to bring the school’s team to a New Year’s Day bowl game since Bear Bryant in 1951. He is the only coach in the modern era at Kentucky to beat Alabama, and numerous college head coaches are part of his coaching tree.
November 7 – Bo Bounds
Bo Bounds hosts the Out of Bounds sports radio show on 105.9 The Zone in Jackson. The Mississippi State grad books guests, develops topics, and drives the creative for the three-hour daily weekday show, which focuses on football at the high school, college, and professional levels.
November 14 – Pat Dye
Coach Pat Dye won 99 games and four Southeastern Conference championships in 12 years as Auburn’s head coach, but perhaps he will be remembered most for bringing Auburn’s “home” game with Alabama to the Auburn campus on Dec. 2, 1989, a 30-20 Tiger victory.
Under his leadership as athletic director, Auburn football facilities were elevated to some of the finest in the nation, with additions to Jordan-Hare Stadium increasing the seating capacity to 85,214 and 70 luxury suites. In 2005, the university recognized his contributions to Auburn athletics by naming the football field in his honor.
