Pass Christian hires grandson of Southern Miss coaching legend to lead football program
Pass Christian has again looked to the Jackson Metro Area for a new football coach, and this one is the son of a Mississippi coaching legend.
After hiring former Clinton offensive coordinator Blake Pennock a year ago, Pass Christian has chosen Pearl defensive coordinator Chase Carmody to be the Pirates’ head coach, the school announced on Thursday.
Carmody, 33, interviewed for the job a week ago. When he was offered the position on Saturday, he took it on the spot.
This will be his first opportunity as a head coach, and he feels like he landed at the right school.
“The school district is an amazing school district,” Carmody said. “I’ve heard great things about it. It’s somewhere I can see my family coming and being for a long time. I want to build on what the football program has already done this past season. We want to make it where a good year is not a surprise. I want that to be the expectation. I have several family and friends from the Coast. I’m excited to come down to Pass Christian.”
He is the grandson of Jim Carmody, who was the head coach at Southern Miss from 1982-87 after serving as the program’s defensive coordinator from 1978-80. Jim Carmody, who was known by the nickname of “Big Nasty,” built some dominant defenses at USM. He also had two stints at Ole Miss in 1974-77 and 1992-94. From 1989-20, he worked as the defensive coordinator at Mississippi State.
“I’ve always looked up to my grandfather,” Chase Carmody said. “We don’t talk X’s and O’s, but he’s always there to offer advice if I have to deal with players or other coaches. It’s nice having him to fall back on.”
Chase Carmondy’s career
The new coach has big shoes to fill after Pennock led the Pirates to an 8-4 season, including the program’s first playoff victory — a 35-20 win over Purvis in the first round. Pennock stepped down in December after one season as the Pirates’ head coach to take over at Ocean Springs.
Chase Carmody started his career as a defensive line coach at Pearl in 2012. In 2015, he took on the same role at his alma mater, Madison Central.
In 2016, he returned to Pearl as the team’s defensive coordinator. During his second stint with the Pearl Pirates, the program won the 2016 South State title and the 2017 state championship.
During the undefeated state title season in 2017 at Pearl, Chase Carmody’s defense allowed just 9.94 points a game.
At Pass Christian, he plans to instill an emphasis on the details.
“When coaches get done playing us on a Friday night, I want them to talk about how well prepared our guys were, how hard they played and that we had a good time doing that,” he said. “We want to do those three things — work hard, be well prepared and enjoy it.”
Chase Carmody said he will likely have to finish out the school year at Pearl, but he plans to make it to all 15 spring practices at Pass Christian.
This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 9:33 AM.
