MS Coast football coaching carousel: Championship coordinator returning to Coast
The high school football offseason saw an inevitable shift in the landscape on the Mississippi Coast.
Four coaching jobs came open across the Coast and now, with the Harrison Central job spoken for, all have been filled..
The final open job on the Coast is filled
HARRISON CENTRAL: The Red Rebels have called on the services of Columbia defensive coordinator Chris Fortenberry to guide the program, according to a release from the school.
Fortenberry moves to the Coast having just won a 4A state title as the architect behind a Wildcats’ defense that held opponents to just 14.5 points a game during a 15-0 season.
“We are extremely excited about the level of experience and leadership Coach Fortenberry brings to Harrison Central,” principal Rachel Burt said in the statement. “His proven success, commitment to building strong relationships, and focus on developing young men align perfectly with our vision for Red Rebel Football. We are confident he will help strengthen community connections, instill pride in our program, and continue building a culture of excellence both on and off the field.”
Fortenberry’s coaching journey began on the Coast as an assistant at Hancock. Since then, he’s coached at Sumrall, Oak Grove and North Forrest as an assistant. His first stint as head coach came at Richton from 2013-15 where he was 16-19 with two playoff trips.
Fortenberry takes over a program with two playoff wins in the classification era and one district title from 1989. He’ll be the fourth head coach in six years, replacing Nekemia Rich.
Largest school on the market promotes from within
BILOXI: Defensive coordinator Eric Collier was announced Wednesday as Biloxi’s newest head football coach. Collier has spent the last two seasons operating the Indians’ defense under former coach Jamey DuBose.
Like DuBose, Collier is an Alabama transplant with significant head coaching experience in the neighboring state. Collier served as head coach at Theodore from 2013 to 2022, winning 71 games, three region titles and five playoff games.
Biloxi’s defense allowed 22.2 points per game in 2024 and 28.4 in the most recent season. Collier had previously accepted the role of head coach at George County in February of last year, but returned to Biloxi less than one month later.
The Indians are on their third head coach in four years for the first time since 1989-1992. Biloxi has earned a playoff spot in each of the last four season and in six of the last seven but has not won a postseason game since 2011.
Champion coordinator gets the call-up
PASCAGOULA: Zach Green was the hot name on the coaches board this offseason and Pascagoula won the sweepstakes. The school announced the Gulfport defensive coordinator as its newest head football coach, Monday.
Green takes over for the retiring Lewis Sims after 15 years and a program-record 103 wins.
“If you have a winning program and you want to keep winning it’s really simple,” Pascagoula athletic director John Archie said in a statement. “You just go get another winner.”
Green served as the Admirals DC for the last three seasons and put together the defensive unit that helped lead Gulfport to a 7A state championship in 2025.
Gulfport allowed just 15.5 points per game during the year. Green’s first two defenses at Gulfport gave up 17.5 points and 17.6 points a game.
“This is a special place with championship potential,” Green said. “I’m excited to build a program rooted in toughness, accountability, and relentless effort. Our players will compete with confidence, prepare with purpose, and take pride in wearing Pascagoula across their chest. We’re going to work every day to raise the standard and compete for championships.”
Pascagoula is coming out of a 6-6 season and its third straight to reach the second round of the playoffs.
First job of the cycle closes
SAINT STANISLAUS: The first job to open on the Coast is the first one to close. Saint Stanislaus announced Monday that Evan Gay would be the newest leader of the SSC football program.
Gay served as the team’s quarterbacks coach in 2021 under Nate Encrapera before taking over as head coach of The Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. Gay led the Feet to their first playoff appearance since 2020 in 2024 and developed four-star prospect and Tennessee signee Joel Wyatt.
“This is a school with a rich tradition, strong values, and a deep commitment to developing young men of character, discipline, and faith,” Gay said in a press release. “My vision is to build a culture rooted in accountability, toughness, and brotherhood—one that challenges our student-athletes to excel not only on the football field, but in the classroom and in their daily lives.”
Gay is the fourth coach in five years at the school and tasked with rebuilding a program that is coming out of its worst season since 2012.
Indians are looking again
BILOXI: The sleeping giant of Biloxi football continues to slumber, and the school is now searching for a ninth football coach since 2000.
Jamey DuBose has stepped down after two seasons, the school confirmed Wednesday. The Indians were 8-14 under DuBose with two one-and-done trips to the postseason. This year’s team finished 3-8, securing a playoff spot by upsetting West Harrison on Oct. 31.
Biloxi is the largest school on the Coast and has no shortage of athletes. But the program has just seven winning seasons this century, fewer than district rival Harrison Central.
Longtime coach turns in
HARRISON CENTRAL: Nekemia Rich gave Harrison Central High School over two decades of service, including the last two as head football coach, and has called it a career. At least on the Mississippi Coast.
Rich turned in his resignation this week with plans to move closer to his family in North Mississippi following the end of the school year.
“I have three little boys that live three hours away and I miss out on them a lot,” Rich told the Sun Herald. “I have a five-year-old who wants to start playing T-ball and it’s just hard for me to do a lot of that stuff when I’m not there or if I’m there on a Saturday and trying to make up for lost time.”
Rich has served in a number of roles while at the school. He’s the only coach to win a state championship in a boys sport at HCHS in the last 25 years when he did so in track and field in 2014.
When he took over the Red Rebel football program he had just 43 varsity players. Rich restarted the ninth grade football team, which has drastically improved the numbers outlook for the roster, and even ran the school’s first ninth grade spring training period.
As a result, the current ninth and tenth grade classes have around 70 players between them.
The Red Rebels have gone 3-17 over the last two seasons and 1-9 this past year. The program has just eight winning seasons since 2000 and has put together two such campaigns in a row only twice in that time.
Harrison Central has battled a student population stability battle in recent years and it’s only be exacerbated by the school’s athletic programs being frequent victims of athlete poaching.
“There’s going to be some things Harrison Central has to do, facility wise, to stay relevant,” Rich said. “And it’s also one of those things where you can’t afford to lose any of your big dogs. We took it on the chin this year because, I mean, we were playing seven freshmen.”
Harrison Central will move forward with a search to find a new leader for a program that has two playoff wins since 1982.
Revered leader calls it a day
PASCAGOULA: The longest tenured head coach on the Coast has called his last play. Actually, Lewis Sims doesn’t call any plays, save for the occasional fake punt. Pascagoula’s 15-year leader has retired from his post at the head of the Panthers’ program.
Sims leaves as the winningest coach in school history, with a 103-77 record. His 11 playoff wins are also the most for a school that has fielded a football team for about 100 years.
Before Pascagoula, Sims spent three years following in the footsteps of Jerry Alexander as Moss Point’s head coach. The Tigers were 25-11 under his tutelage. Moss Point’s 11-3 team of 2009 was the last to see double-digit wins at the school.
A head coach steps away
ST. STANISLAUS: The Rock-a-Chaws are on the market for a new head coach following the resignation of Tate Thigpen.
Thigpen led the program for two seasons following a year as Tim Lala’s offensive coordinator in 2023. The Rocks have put together a 5-16 record over the past two seasons and slogged through a 1-9 campaign this year while dealing with a depleted roster.
This was the first season since 2012 St. Stanislaus did not reach the postseason. The program does have a sizable contingent of underclassmen who logged a hefty amount of varsity snaps in 2025.
This story was originally published November 26, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
