By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

HURLEY — Gary Long, who engineered East Central High School through its “Golden Era” in athletics, is stepping down from his athletics director role.
Long made the news official on Tuesday in an interview with SouthMiss6 Sports.
The former Hornet standout baseball player has spent the past 31 years as either a coach or an administrator at his alma mater. He won a state baseball championship as a player in 1981, and then guided ECHS to yet another state championship as the head baseball coach in 2008 before stepping up into the AD role a few years later.

“I had been thinking about retiring for a couple of years now, but had decided to stay another year,” Long said. “Then I had an opportunity to get another job so that was a factor.”
Long indicated he’ll be teaching at Grand Bay Middle School and coaching middle school baseball there as well.
Over the past 16 years, East Central has won three state baseball championships as well as winning a south state championship in football all on Long’s watch. In addition to playing for a football state championship, athletic teams at ECHS also played for state championships in soccer and volleyball three times apiece and played for a softball state title last year. The East Central girls golf team won a state championship last year and the Lady Hornets also had a girls powerlifting state title winner.

“We were able to have a lot of success in baseball and softball,” Long added. “We played a bunch of games for district, south state, and State championships. That is as good as you can do in high school athletics. Our football team took off and we were able win a South State and play in Oxford for the state championship. The next season we played for South State again. That’s a lot to be proud of.”
The accomplishments of ECHS athletics with Long involved have not gone unnoticed outside of Jackson County either.
“Gary Long is probably the most important figure in the history of East Central athletics, certainly in the last 30 years.” Creg Stephenson, a 1991 ECHS graduate and now an award-winning sportswriter for the Alabama Media Group, said. “Not only did he have great success as a baseball coach, but he also hired Seth Smith, who took the Hornets to never-before-seen heights in football. Many of the greatest moments in East Central athletic history came under Gary Long’s leadership.”
Long became the head baseball coach at a crucial time for the program and laid the foundation for future success.

“Gary took over a program in the mid-1990’s that was mediocre and immediately made it a program that was competitive at the highest level,” current Hornet head baseball coach Bo Long said. Bo Long guided ECHS to back-to-back Class 5A state championships in 2022 and 2023.
In addition to the team and individual success the ECHS squads enjoyed, Gary Long oversaw major improvements in campus facilities as well during his tenure as A.D.
The school has installed a turf surface on the football field and also refurbished the track. Most recently, the bleachers and press boxes at the baseball and softball fields underwent major renovations to accomplish the overflow crowds that support those successful squads.
“I am proud of our facilities, they have gotten better.” Gary Long concluded. “And I’m proud of all of the kids that worked hard and made our programs successful.”
Donnie Wallace will succeed Long as ECHS AD.