A study in Alabama could lead to more opportunities for Coast football players
Mississippi high school football athletes may soon have another opportunity in front of them.
The Alabama Community College Football Study Commission, created by a February Joint House Resolution, aims to determine the feasibility of bringing football to its junior college system.
The study, which was first reported by Al.com, could bring football to the Alabama Community College Conference and give Mississippi its first bordering state with sponsored junior college football.
“It creates competition. And anytime you create competition to recruit kids, it’s a good thing for the kids,” Pass Christian athletic director Rickey Smith told the Sun Herald. “If they decide to do that, it’s obviously going to be a good thing for the kids, and it’s going to force Mississippi (junior colleges) to step up and keep football players in the state.”
There are over a dozen junior college football teams in Mississippi that overcome the built-in challenges of recruiting at a community college with the close-to-home pitch given to athletes from within the state and in Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and Arkansas — four states with one JUCO football program among them at Louisiana Christian Community College.
Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C. had 11 players from those four states on its most recent roster with five of them hailing from Alabama.
Pearl River C.C. had eight Louisiana players on its 2025 roster and three from Alabama. Both schools recruit the Mississippi Coast heavily, with MGCCC rostering 16 last season and PRCC having 21.
“There are a ton of really good football players in the state of Alabama,” MGCCC athletic director Steven Campbell said of recruiting outside the state. “We’ve been very fortunate at MGCCC to get some really good football players outside the state of Mississippi, and particularly in Alabama.”
New opportunities possible
Campbell said a neighboring conference can bring its benefits to junior college programs in Mississippi, such as the ability to play games outside of the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference.
He also notes it would bring its challenges, as well, but the byproduct would ultimately be a positive for local athletes.
“Anytime you create an opportunity for a student athlete, especially one that may be a little undersized or maybe academically not as prepared as they need to be to play Division I football, anytime you can give them another opportunity to play, that’s a really good thing,” Campbell said. “Will there be some challenges in recruiting? Probably, but I think overall you’re helping give kids more opportunities.”
Heightened recruiting competition on out-of-state grounds that Mississippi junior colleges have had the advantage of being the sole nearby two-year offerings could lead to more open scholarships for in-state players.
South Mississippi especially stands to benefit from the depth of talent the region produces on a yearly basis. The Coast alone saw more than 40 football players sign to the junior college level in just the 2026 class.
Smith, who is set to become Gulfport’s athletic director this summer, also points out that college rosters are getting older as teams favor recruiting from the transfer portal over high school athletes. More JUCO football would mean more scholarship opportunities to help fill the new gap.
“With the way the state of college athletics is on the college level, with the transfer portal and everything else, I think this can provide opportunities for high school kids that they may not be getting now,” Smith said.
Pearl River Central athletic director and football coach John Feaster echoed the increased importance of post-high school development created by college football’s new environment.
“Everything is about the portal now so development is out of the window,” Feaster said. “At a junior college, you can get a guy to go two years or one year, and it’ll be like getting guy at a Division I program, almost, because he had a chance to grow and play. The competition isn’t equal, but our JUCO is very competitive. So I think it would be a huge benefit.”
College programs getting older
Multiple regional FBS schools have hiked their reliance on recruiting the junior college ranks, particularly Group of Four teams that have been raided by Power Conference programs.
Southern Miss signed 12 JUCO players in 2026 after bringing in one the year prior. Troy increased its total from three to 20 and ULM from nine to 20. Among those signees is St. Martin’s Noreel White at Troy.
The state of Alabama has 24 two-year colleges, though it’s unknown how many would consider adding football. The biggest obstacles are the costs involved from scholarships, equipment, insurance and a venue to host games.
The committee involved in the study comprises legislative members, ACCC representatives and coaches and athletic directors from both high schools and universities.
The commission is scheduled to make its formal report on Nov. 1.
