‘It is humbling and a huge honor.’ Bay High hires alumnus as football coach.
Bay High has hired a Bay St. Louis native to lead its football program.
Jeremy Turcotte was approved by the school board on Monday night to take over as the Tigers’ head coach. He replaces Eric Collins, who left the school after one season to become Seth Smith’s replacement as the head coach at East Central.
Turcotte’s roots run deep at the Bay St. Louis school. The 1996 graduate of Bay High received his first coaching job with the Tigers and worked there seven years in his first stint. He returned to Bay High ahead of the 2018 season, working under Benji Foreman. After Foreman was let go, Turcotte was the lone holdover on the staff under Collins in 2019.
This will be Turcotte’s first head coaching job in his hometown.
“It is humbling and a huge honor,” Turcotte said. “It’s extremely emotional. At the end of the day, my biggest concern is to give these kids all I’ve got. I want to lead them to the success that they deserve. We have great kids and a great community. We have a ton of support and we have a lot of people who want to see the program do well. We’ll work tirelessly to that end.
“My phone has been vibrating nonstop. I’m fortunate that I do get this opportunity at my alma mater. At the end of the day, I’ve got a job to do.”
Jeremy Turcotte’s career
Turcotte, 41, has been on one what he describes as “a tour of the Gulf Coast” during his 19-year coaching career. He coached junior high football in the Gulfport School District following his first stint at Bay High. He then worked as a defensive coordinator under Tommy Browder at Long Beach before moving over to Hancock, where he served as both offensive and defensive coordinators during his time under Rocky Gaudin. Before returning to Bay High, he served as an assistant to Tracy Rogers at West Harrison.
After learning from a wide variety of head coaches, Turcotte plans to bring a strong work ethic to the role at Bay High.
“We’re going to bring our lunch pail to work every day,” he said. “We’re going to play with a chip on our shoulder and we’ll be smart, fast and physical. That’s my motto. We’ll have to do things differently here and there to reflect our personnel. We’ve got to outwork the competition. I’ve been under the mentorship of some incredible head coaches. The kids have started to turn the corner. They’re ready to work and they’ve been working. They do anything we ask them to do and we’ll continue to have high expectations.”
Bay High came up short of the playoffs in 2019, but there was progress made in Collins’ lone season. The Tigers finished 5-4 after going 3-27 in the three previous seasons.
Turcotte said there will be some carryover from Collins’ short stint, which included the installation of the Wing-T offense.
“Our scheme will reflect our personnel,” he said. “We’re not a huge school. We’ve got to do what makes sense for our team. We’ll be establishing an identity.”
Turcotte realizes a big part of his job is making sure the Bay St. Louis community rallies around his program.
“I am sending out a call to the Bay High Tiger family at a level that has not been seen in years,” he said. “This has got to be a community effort. We’ve got to get anybody with any connection or investment in the program to get out and get behind us and help us with all the little things. It is a daunting task to run a program and we need extreme support from the community with attendance and boosters. We’ll be knocking doors and beating bushes. You can expect to see us in the community.”
This story was originally published January 13, 2020 at 9:06 PM.
