Sept. 9 – Steven Campbell, Jr.
Steven Campbell Jr. became Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College athletic director in 2017. Campbell, a graduate of Stone High who was selected for Mississippi’s Bernard Blackwell All-Star Game, played tight end, center and long snapper during his playing career at Gulf Coast. During his time on the team, the Bulldogs won two Mississippi Bowls and the 2010 MACJC championship.
He earned NJCAA All-Academic honors at MGCCC, then went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in economics at Ole Miss. Campbell joined his father’s coaching staff at the University of Central Arkansas, where he was quality control assistant for defense/inside linebackers. He also completed his master’s in business administration while there. Campbell then joined the coaching staff at Virginia Tech in 2016, where he was the special teams quality control assistant. The Hokies went 10-4, winning the ACC Coastal Division and the Belk Bowl.
Under Campbell’s direction, the Bulldogs golf team won the 2018 NJCAA Division II Championship in Foley, Alabama. This was the school’s first national title since 2007, when the football team captured the co-national championship with Campbell’s father at the helm. The football team followed up with another national title in 2019, and in 2024 the golf team responded with another NJCAA Division II National Championship. In 2020, Campbell was named the inaugural NJCAA Athletic Director of the Year.
Sept. 16 – 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.
Sept. 23 - Rod West
Rod West earned All-American honors as a linebacker and tight end at Notre Dame, where he was a member of the 1988 national championship team under Coach Lou Holtz. He later served as president of the Allstate Sugar Bowl, and is a current board member for the National Football Foundation.
In academics, he served for a decade on the Notre Dame board of trustees, and now serves as a Hesburgh Trustee. He also served more than 15 years on the board at LSU and Xavier University, and on the adjunct faculty of Tulane University School of Law and Tulane University, where he taught professional and amateur sports law.
He is past president and CEO of Entergy New Orleans, leading the company out of its post-Hurricane Katrina bankruptcy, and now serves as Group President of Utility Operations for Entergy Corporation.
He earned a B.S. in mathematics from Notre Dame, plus a law degree and a Master's in business administration from Tulane.
September 30 - Ben Beckwith
Ben Beckwith was a two-sport standout for Yazoo City's Benton Academy, in football and basketball. Although he did not receive any ratings by any major publications during his high school career, he walked on at Mississippi State in 2010 under Coach Dan Mullen.
Beckwith began earning playing time on special teams during his redshirt freshman and sophomore seasons. In his junior year, Beckwith started the final 12 games of the season, where he helped MSU to one of its best offensive seasons in program history.
In his senior year, Beckwith helped MSU earn a # 1 ranking in the polls. In just 5 weeks, the 2014 team went from unranked to start the season to a #1 ranking-- quicker than any team in college football history. Beckwith started all 13 games on the O-Line and earned recognition as 3rd team All-American and 1st Team All-SEC. Beckwith played in the East-West Shrine Game after the season.
Beckwith was a finalist for the Burlsworth Trophy, which is presented to the nation’s top walk-on player. He signed with the San Diego Chargers in 2015 and remained in the organization until 2017 when injuries cut his career short. Beckwith now works as First Vice President at Bank Plus in Yazoo City.
Oct. 7 - Walker Jones
Walker Jones was a 4-year letterwinner as a player at Ole Miss from 1994-1997. Through his play and leadership as a linebacker and defensive back, Jones was selected as captain of the football team his senior year, while playing for head coach Tommy Tuberville.
Since graduating, Jones has worked in the private sector as a financial analyst and attorney. In addition, Jones has worked in various roles for Ole Miss. In 2003, Jones was named as Coordinator of Football Operations for Ole Miss under Head Coach David Cutcliffe. More recently in 2022, Jones became the Executive Director to the Ole Miss brand for the NIL. Under Jones’ leadership, Ole Miss brought in the #1 recruiting class via the transfer portal in 2024.
Oct. 14 - Joe Sabin
Joe Sabin is a lawyer and a professor in the Sport Management program at Southeastern Louisiana University, where he teaches courses on sports law and sports business. His research focuses on legal issues in college athletics, with a particular emphasis on issues regarding college athlete compensation (NIL) and employment. He has multiple publications regarding NIL issues in college athletics and he is also a contributor for Forbes Sportsmoney.
Oct. 21 - Peter Boehme
Peter Boehme was born and raised in Birmingham, but moved to Hattiesburg in the summer of 2009. There, he was a preferred walk-on the Southern Miss football team under coach Larry Fedora, where he started 4 years as the punter. Boehme recently took on the full-time role as Executive Director of the "To The Top Collective," which is the Southern Miss brand for the NIL.
Boehme has been married to his wife, Miriam Clarke Boheme, for 8 years and they have two boys.
Oct. 28 - Chuck Commiskey
Nov. 4 - Tramaine Brock, Sr.
Tramaine Brock Sr. played college football at Belhaven University in Jackson and the University of Minnesota before signing with the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 2010. Brock spent his first seven years in the NFL with the 49ers, becoming a starter partway in the 2013 season. After an offseason stint with the Seattle Seahawks, he played in mostly reserve roles for the Minnesota Vikings in 2017 and the Denver Broncos in 2018.
In 2019, he returned to a starting role playing for the Arizona Cardinals, which continued after he was claimed off waivers by the Tennessee Titans partway in the season. In 2020, he had an offseason stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars and also played in one game for the Detroit Lions.
